handbook of abhidhamma studies i

8/9/2019 Handbook of Abhidhamma Studies I

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Handbook

ofAbhidhamma

StudiesbyVenerable Saydaw U Slnanda

(VolumeI)


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First edition: Otober !"#!

$ !"#! %o&yri'ht by SVS*

Selan'or uddhist Vi&assana editation Soiety (SVS)!+, -alan SS+.+/, 0/+"" 1etalin' -aya,

Selan'or, 2est alaysia*

1rinted and ound in 3uala 4um&ur, alaysiaby a5u5aya 6ndah Sdn hd7el: "+ 8 0!9# ""# . ""!

Fa;: "+ 8 0!9! !"


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Sabbadna dhammadna 5inti

The Gift of Dhamma excels all gifts

Handbook ofAbhidhamma Studies

Venerable Saydaw U Slnanda

1rinted For Free Distribution by:

Selangor Buddhist Vipassana Meditation Society (SBVMS)

2! "alan SS#$! %$&& 'etaling "aya!

Selangor! est Malaysia

Tel# fax &*$+$ ,-.+ email s/0ms1yahoocom

Sharin' of merits

ay all bein's share in the merits 'ained

=n5oy 'ood health, &ros&erity and ha&&iness%ulti>atin' lo>in'8kindness and wisdom

%ulminatin' in the essation of all sufferin'*

Sdhu! Sdhu! Sdhu!


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?amo tassa ha'a>ato Arahato Sammsambuddhassa

Veneration to the 3xalted 4ne! the 5omage*orthy!

the 'erfectly Self*3nlightened

7he uddha is an Arahat and He is worthy of the hi'hest>eneration* All bein's inludin' de>as and brahms >enerate

the uddha beause the uddha is the Su&reme One, who has

e;tin'uished all defilements, who has beome &erfetly self8

enli'htened throu'h the reali@ation of the Four Ariya 7ruths,

and who is endowed with the si; 'reat ualities of 'lory,

namely, 6ssariya (su&remay), Bhamma (knowled'e of the&ath to ?ibbna), Casa (fame and followin'), Siri (noble

a&&earane), 3ma (&ower of aom&lishment) and 1ayatta

(dili'ent mindfulness)*


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Editorial Preface

Handbook of Abhidhamma Studies is a series ofletures 'i>en by the late Venerable U Slnanda on thesub5et of Abhidhamma* Atually the talks ori'inated fromourses he offered to Amerian students on theAbhidhammatthasa gaha * 7his book, Handbook ofAbhidhamma Studies, is desi'ned to su&&lement the study of

theAbhidhammatthasa gaha *

7heAbhidhammatthasa gaha is a small book that was&robably written by an 6ndian monk named Dariya Anuruddhain about the twelfth entury* 7hat small book &ro>ides anintrodution to sub5ets tau'ht in the Abhidhamma te;ts of the7i&i aka* Atually in order to understand the Abhidhamma te;ts in the 1 i %anon, it is essential that the Abhidhammatthasa gaha be thorou'hly mastered*

urmese monks in &artiular first memori@e this bookand then &ursue e;tended studies of it with their teahers* 7helate Venerable U Slnanda followed this ourse of trainin'*7he result was that he had a thorou'h and &reise knowled'eof this small book, as well as the Abhidhamma te;ts in the7i&i aka, the %ommentaries, and the Sub8ommentaries*

2hen Venerable U Slnanda ame to the UnitedStates, he tau'ht ourses on the Abhidhammatthasa gaha * 6nthese ourses he often 'a>e detailed e;&lanations of thesub5ets found in that book for the benefit of his students*7hese e;&lanations are >ery hel&ful as sometimes theinformation 'i>en in the Abhidhammatthasa gaha is uiteterse and not easy for the uninitiated to understand*

6


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6 be'an to study this book about one year beforeSaydaw arri>ed in the United States* 7herefore, 6 >ery muha&&reiated what a 'reat differene his e;&lanations made inmy understandin'* 6t ourred to me that it would be >eryhel&ful for others interested in this sub5et to ha>e aess tothese letures in the written form* 7herefore, 6 deided totransribe these talks* 7he talks ha>e been as auratelytransribed as &ossible* Saydaw was >ery &reise, or'ani@edand metiulous in his &resentation* 6t has been my ho&e toemulate his fine e;am&le in these transri&tions*

?onetheless, it is &ossible that some mistakes or errorsha>e esa&ed notie* Ho&efully they are >ery minor*Abhidhamma is a >ery hallen'in' and dee& sub5et,sometimes uite &reise and subtle* 2hate>er mistakes arefound 6 a&olo'i@e to the readers for those and 6 ae&t fullythe demerit that omes from lak of skillfulness* At the sametime 6 ho&e that muh merit may result from sharin' the 'reat

knowled'e that my teaher had on this im&ortant sub5et withothers*

As the transriber, 6 would like to take the o&&ortunityto e;&ress my 'ratitude to all Bhamma teahers as well asfriends for their tireless work for the uddha8Ssana* First ofall, 6 wish to e;&ress my 'ratitude to many Bhamma teaherswho ha>e e;&lained >ery &atiently, o>er the ourse of many

years, many as&ets of the uddhaEs teahin's* 7hey inludethe late Venerable Saydaw U Slnanda, Venerable eelinSaydaw, Venerable U -otalankara, Venerable Ashin U Osadha,Venerable U -atila, Venerable U 3osalla, Venerable U hosita,Venerable U arudhamma, Venerable U 3a>inda, hanteu aratana, hikkhu U ?andisena* ost es&eially 6 am indebted to Venerable Ashin U Bhamma&iya* ?ot only has hee;&lained with &reision and thorou'hness the uddhaEsteahin's, he also onei>ed the idea of &ublishin' these

series of Abhidhamma letures to enable many more &eo&le to'ain 'reater larity of understandin' of the Abhidhamma*

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SdhuG SdhuG SdhuG 7o all these meritorious deedsG

Finally 6 wish to e;&ress my 'ratitude to the &eo&le ofalaysia and Sin'a&ore* 6 am es&eially 'rateful to rother%hew How 7in', rother 4im on' Sen' and Sister 1auline%hon' of Sin'a&ore and alaysia who hel&ed me edit thesetalks* 7heir &atiene and kindness ha>e been immeasurable*2hile the late Venerable Saydaw U Slnanda >isited thereand tau'ht there, they were always >ery su&&orti>e to him*

SaydawEs >isits to alaysia and Sin'a&ore were so brief thathe ould not o>er e>ery ha&ter in theAbhidhammatthasa gaha with his students there* =ah oursehe tau'ht in the United States lasted about a year* O>er theyears he tau'ht many ourses to many audienes, sometimes&rimarily to urmese Amerians, or to =uro&ean Amerians, orto Vietnamese Amerians*

2e are fortunate that the Vietnamese Amerianommunity reuested Venerable U Slnanda to teah theourse a'ain in #9908#99otees of both the 7hera>daand ahyna traditions*

2e are 'rateful to Saydaw for his 'reat om&assion*2e are 'rateful to all the de>otees who su&&orted Saydaw inso many ways so that he ould share so muh Bhammawisdom with us* ?ow de>otees in alaysia ha>e 'raiouslyoffered to &ublish this series of talks*

ay Bhamma wisdom ontinue to 'row and flourish in

the worldGSarah arks, USA*

666


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Editor's Note

As editor of this work, 6 am aware that forei'n wordsare usually &ut in italis* Howe>er, it is allowable to a&itali@ewords that ommuniate im&ortant information or&hiloso&hial one&ts* ost of the 1 i words in this

manusri&t are >ery si'nifiant terms in the uddhaIsteahin's and onstitute a firm base for the reader to build aorret understandin' of uddhism* Saydaw U Slnanda hase;&ertly defined most of these words in his &resentation* A'reat many of these 1 i words refer to 1aramattha Bhammas (ultimate realities) whih are so essential for ourunderstandin' and e;&eriene of the Bhamma* 7herefore, 6&ur&osefully a&itali@ed these 1 i words beause they are key &hiloso&hial one&ts in uddhism* 7he &resentation done in

this manner is to also enoura'e the readerIs attention* 6naddition terms in =n'lish referrin' to the Su&ramundane andim&ortant dotrines ha>e been a&itali@ed out of res&et*

Sarah arks, USA*

6V


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Table of Contents

=ditorial 1refae****************************************************************6=ditorEs ?ote*******************************************************************6V6ntrodution*********************************************************************#

#* ettin' Auainted****************************************************#7wo Bi>isions of uddhism*****************************************#How uddhaEs 7eahin's were Jeorded and Handed

Bown***********************************************************************!7he First uddhist %ounil******************************************!7he Seond uddhist %ounil**************************************+7he 7hird uddhist %ounil*****************************************07he Fourth uddhist %ounil***************************************07he Fifth uddhist %ounil******************************************isions of uddhaEs 7eahin's**********************************/6nto ?ikyas*************************************************************/

6nto 1i akas **************************************************************K7he 2ord LAbhidhammaI*******************************************#"2hat is 7au'ht in AbhidhammaM*******************************##2hat is AbhidhammaM*********************************************#!7he 6m&ortane of Abhidhamma*******************************#06s 3nowled'e of Abhidhamma =ssential for editationM#entional 7ruth**************************************************!K?ma8&aNNatti********************************************************+"Attha8&aNNatti********************************************************+#1aNNatti is 7imeless*************************************************+!Ultimate 7ruth*********************************************************+0

Four 3inds of Ultimate 7ruth*****************************************0"%itta**********************************************************************0"%etasika*****************************************************************0!J&a**********************************************************************00

?ibbna*****************************************************************0iew*******************************************************************9K3m>aara Sobhana %ittas***************************************#"aaraI*************************#"aara 3usala %ittas******************************##"Sahetuka 3m>aara Vi&ka %ittas************************##0Sahetuka 3m>aara 3iriya %ittas**************************##aara Sobhana %ittas******************##/7he %auses for ein' P a8sam&ayutta ********************#!"

J&>aara %ittas**************************************************#!+-hna*******************************************************************#!0?>ara as *************************************************************#!e J&>aara 3usala %ittas: Fi>e -hna %ittas*******#!K

J&>aara %ittas******************************************************#+"Fi>e -hna Fators*************************************************#+#Fi>e 3inds of 1ti****************************************************#+07wo 3inds of -hna************************************************#+KJ&>aara Vi&ka %ittas***************************************#00

J&>aara 3iriya %ittas*****************************************#0efold ethods*********************************#09ore about -hna Fators***************************************#aara %ittas****************************************************#


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%ontents

Arahatta***************************************************************#K0?o 3iriya in 4okuttara %ittas***********************************#9"Je>iew of %ittas****************************************************#9#Forty 4okuttara %ittas********************************************#9+

Je>iew of %ha&ter One***********************************************!"!Je>iew uestions******************************************************!"K

%ha&ter 7wo*****************************************************************!#ato Arahato Sammsambuddhassa

Introduction

1. Getting Acquainted

7oday we be'in a new lass on Abhidhamma* =>er sine 6ame to this ountry, 6 ha>e been teahin' Abhidhamma* 6ha>e tau'ht about three or four ourses and then 6 sto&&edteahin'* So 6 thou'ht it was time to teah a'ain* So we ha>ethis lass now*

Two Divisions of Buddhism

7odayEs talk is 5ust an introdution* 6 all it, ettin'AuaintedT, i*e*, to 'et auainted with the Abhidhamma what Abhidhamma is, what is found in Abhidhamma and soon* efore we understand what Abhidhamma is, we shouldunderstand the two ma5or di>isions of uddhism nowadays inthe world* 7he first one is alled 7hera>da uddhism orSouthern uddhism* 7he seond is alled ahyna uddhismor ?orthern uddhism* 7here was one uddhism ori'inally* utlater there was differene of o&inion amon' the =lders*Bifferent shools of uddhism a&&eared in the ourse of time*?owadays there are two ma5or di>isions of uddhism*

7hera>da uddhism is belie>ed to be the losest to theori'inal teahin's of the uddha* As a 7hera>da uddhist, 6belie>e the ori'inal teahin's of the uddha are reorded inthe sri&tures of 7hera>da uddhism* 7hera>da uddhism

s&read to the southern &art of Asia, or to the southernountries* 7herefore, it is sometimes alled Southernuddhism* 6t may not be #"" aurate, but &eo&le all it

#


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Southern uddhism* 7hera>da uddhism s&read to Sri 4anka,urma, 7hailand, %ambodia and also to Vietnam*

ahyna uddhism is a later form of uddhism* 6t isdifferent from 7hera>da uddhism in many ways* 7his kind ofuddhism s&read to northern ountries* 2hen 6 say north, 6mean from the middle of 6ndia* 6t s&read to northern ountrieslike ?e&al, 7ibet, on'olia, %hina, Vietnam, 3orea andultimately -a&an* Sine these are northern ountries, it is

sometimes alled ?orthern uddhism*

Sometimes 7hera>da uddhism is alled 1 i uddhism, and ahyna uddhism is alled Sanskrituddhism, beause they ado&ted 1 i and Sanskrit lan'ua'es as their sared lan'ua'es res&eti>ely*

6n both 7hera>da and ahyna, there isAbhidhamma* 7he Abhidhamma you will be studyin' with meis 7hera>da Abhidhamma* 6 belon' to 7hera>da* 6 am a7hera>da uddhist monk* 6 know 7hera>da Abhidhamma,but 6 am not so familiar with Abhidhamma in other shools*7herefore, Abhidhamma you are 'oin' to study with me is thattau'ht in 7hera>da uddhism*

ow Buddhas Teachings were "ecorded and andedDown

The First Buddhist #ounci$

First we should know how uddhaEs teahin's werereorded and handed down to this day* uddha did not writeanythin' down* He 5ust tau'ht by word of mouth* His

immediate disi&les learned His teahin's by heart* 7hreemonths after the death of the uddha, the sur>i>in' disi&les

!


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of the uddha headed by the Venerable ah 3assa&a held aounil, a uddhist %ounil* At that %ounil all the teahin's ofthe uddha were olleted and &resented to the %ounil* 7he%ounil onsisted of ided at that time* 7he other 'rou& was alled hsa 'hika * 7heori'inal Sa 'ha in order to &reser>e the ori'inal teahin's of the uddha held the Seond %ounil* 6t was held in Vesl in6ndia* 7hat %ounil reaffirmed the teahin's that wereolleted and ae&ted at the First uddhist %ounil* Atuallyno new teahin' was added and nothin' was taken away fromthe teahin's reorded at the First uddhist %ounil*

+


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The Third Buddhist #ounci$

From that time on, different shools of uddhisma&&eared* About !"" years after the death of the uddha,there were as many as #K or e>en more shools of uddhism*At that time there were disa'reements about not only thedisi&linary rules, but other teahin's as well*

At the 7hird uddhist %ounil whih was held !+0 yearsafter the death of the uddha by our rekonin', all these

different o&inions were e;amined* Aordin' to 7hera>datradition, they were found to be false* So the 7hird %ounilwas held at that time* At that %ounil one book was definitelyadded* 7hat book, as we ha>e it now, is the 3ath>atthu* 7hat%ounil was held durin' the time of 3in' Asoka*

Cou may ha>e heard of 3in' Asoka* He was a >eryfamous kin'* He is sometimes alled =m&eror Asoka beause

he ruled o>er almost the whole of 6ndia* He was an e;em&larykin'* He 'a>e u& war while he was onuerin'* He ould ha>eeasily anne;ed the southern ti& of 6ndia to his kin'dom if hewanted to* ut he 'a>e u& war and followed the &ath ofBhamma* 6t was durin' his time that the 7hird uddhist%ounil was held* At that %ounil also the teahin's handeddown from the First and the Seond uddhist %ounils werereaffirmed, and 5ust a little bit of addition was made*

The Fourth Buddhist #ounci$

7hen from that time on until 0


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for shelter* 7he monks found it diffiult to sur>i>e durin' thatrebellion* Some monks went to Southern 6ndia* any monksremained in Sri 4anka* Althou'h it was diffiult for them toli>e, i*e*, to stay ali>e, they ne>ertheless &roteted theteahin's of the uddha in their memory* After the rebellion,the monks who went to 6ndia ame bak to Sri 4anka* 7hemonks who remained in Sri 4anka said that sine they had'one throu'h diffiult times their memories mi'ht ha>e failedand they mi'ht ha>e made some mistakes in the teahin's* Sothey om&ared the teahin's those teahin's of the monks

who had remained in Sri 4anka with those teahin's of themonks who had 'one to 6ndia and returned to Sri 4anka*2hen they om&ared the teahin's, it is said there was nodifferene or disre&any* After that the monks deided that inthe future it would be >ery diffiult for monks to retain all theteahin's of the uddha in their memory* So they deided towrite down the teahin's on &alm lea>es* 6t was about 0


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hi'h and about three and a half feet aross* 7he 7i&i aka was written down on these /!9 marble slabs* =ah slab was &ut ina brik house* 7hey were situated in a &a'oda near andalayHill* 6t was >ery luky that none of these houses were hit byany bomb or any shell* Burin' the Seond 2orld 2ar therewas fi'htin' around that &lae* 2e an still see these marbleslabs intat in andalay* 6f you >isit urma and 'o toandalay, it is a must that you 'o to see these marble slabs*7hat %ounil was held to oinide rou'hly with !0""th yearafter the death of the uddha* And !0"" monks &artii&ated in

that %ounil* 7hat %ounil was held in #K/# A*B*

1iture of the marble slab

(&iture soure: htt&:..en*wiki&edia*or'.wiki.2orldEsWlar'estWbook)

The Si%th Buddhist #ounci$

After that kin', there was another kin'* He wasa&tured by the ritish and urma beame a ritish olony*After the Seond 2orld 2ar, urma 'ained inde&endene in#90K* After inde&endene both the Sa 'ha and the &olitial leaders of the ountry deided to all for another uddhist

%ounil* 7hey said the Si;th uddhist %ounil would be themost om&rehensi>e beause it would inlude all 7hera>da


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ountries* Je&resentati>es from ahyna ountries also werein>ited to the %ounil* 6 was in>ol>ed in the &roeedin's ofthat Si;th uddhist %ounil, but 6 was too youn' to bementioned by name in the reords*

7he Si;th uddhist %ounil was held in Jan'oon,urma* 6n order to imitate the First uddhist %ounil whihwas held in a bi' a>e, the 'o>ernment of urma built a man8made a>e whih ould hold !e ome down to us,the &resent 'eneration* ?owadays it has reahed the UnitedStates of Ameria*

Divisions of Buddhas Teachings

&nto 'i()as

2hen the uddhaEs teahin's were reorded at theFirst uddhist %ounil, the =lders of that %ounil di>ided theuddhaEs teahin's into different ate'ories* 7here are se>eraldi>isions or se>eral ate'ories* 6 want to tell you about two

di>isions only* One di>ision is into ?ikyas, fi>e ?ikyas orolletions* All the teahin's of the uddha were di>ided into

/


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6ntrodution

fi>e 'rou&s, or fi>e %olletions* 7he first %olletion is of lon'disourses, the seond is of medium len'th disourses, thethird is of the kindred disourses or misellaneous disourses,the fourth is 'radual disourses, and finally the fifth is minordisourses* All the uddhaEs teahin's were di>ided into thesefi>e ?ikyas %olletion of 4on' Bisourses, %olletion ofedium 4en'th Bisourses, %olletion of isellaneousBisourses, %olletion of radual Bisourses!, %olletion ofinor Bisourses or %olletion of Smaller Bisourses* 6n 1 i they are alled:

B'ha ?ikya (4on' Bisourses), a55hima ?ikya (iddle 4en'th Bisourses),

Sa yutta ?ikya (3indred Bisourses),

A 'uttara ?ikya (radual Bisourses), and

3huddaka ?ikya (inor Bisourses)*

&nto *i a(as

A'ain, the uddhaEs teahin's were di>ided into three'rou&s* 7hey are alled 7i&i aka * 7he word L1i akaI means a ree&tale, a >essel or a basketX or L1i akaI means Lthin' to be learntI* 7he word L1i akaI is usually translated as LbasketI* 7here are three 1i akas or askets* 7hey are:

Vinaya 1i aka,

Sutta or Suttanta 1i aka, and

Abhidhamma 1i aka*

?ikyas and 1i akas are se&arate or different sorts of di>isions* any &eo&le misunderstand this* 7hey think ?ikyadi>ision is a subdi>ision of 1i akas* ut that is not so* Atually

! radual Bisourses means disourses with numbers of sub5et matter 'raduallyinreasin'* 7here are Suttas whih ontain only one sub5et matter and so on untilele>en sub5et matters are reahed*

K


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6ntrodution

eah uddhist book in the 1 i %anon belon's both to a &artiular 1i aka and a &artiular ?ikya* 4etEs look at the first book amon' the 7e;ts, the ah>ibha 'a* 6t belon's to 3huddaka ?ikya* And as to 1i aka, it belon's to Vinaya 1i aka*

Nettippakara a , Pe akopadesa and Milindapaha these three are not mentioned in the Vinaya and B'ha ?ikya%ommentaries as &art of the %anon* 7hat is why some &eo&ledonEt inlude them in the 1 i %anon* ut in urma these are

also inluded in the 1 i %anon* 2hen they were rehearsed at the Fifth and the Si;th uddhist %ounils, they were inluded*2ith re'ard to the 3ath>atthu: this book, as we ha>e ittoday, was added at the 7hird uddhist %ounil* Cou may readthe Expositorfor the aount in detail*

7here is a 1 i >erse found in the Vinaya %ommentary (Prjikaka a-a hakath , !!) and the Abhidhamma %ommentary

(A haslini-a hakath , !)* 6t reads:

ha&et> aturo &Eete, ?ikye B'ha8dike,

7a8d8aNNa uddha>aana , ?ikyo 3huddako mato*

7he meanin' is as follows: 7he rest of the words ofthe uddha e;ludin' these four ?ikyas suh as B'ha (thatmeans B'ha, a55hima, Sa yutta and A 'uttara) should be understood as 3huddaka ?ikya*T 6t is stran'e that the wholeof Vinaya 1i aka and the whole of Abhidhamma 1i aka belon' to the 3huddaka ?ikya* 3huddaka ?ikya means minorteahin's or minor disourses* Abhidhamma is not minor* AndVinaya is not minor either* ut both of them are inluded in3huddaka ?ikya* 7he di>isions into ?ikyas and the di>isioninto 1i akas are two different di>isions* ?ikyas are not subdi>isions of the 1i akas* 7he Abhidhamma we are 'oin' to study belon's, as to ?ikya, to 3huddaka ?ikya, and as to1i aka, to Abhidhamma 1i aka*

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The +ord ,Abhidhamma-

?ow we ome to the word LAbhidhammaI itself* 7hisword is om&osed of two &arts LAbhiI and LBhammaI* LAbhiIhere means e;ellin' or distin'uished* LBhammaI meansteahin'* LAbhidhammaI means e;ellin' teahin' ordistin'uished teahin'* =;ellin' does not mean that theteahin's in Abhidhamma 1i aka are better than or loftier

than, or nobler than those tau'ht in the Sutta 1i aka* 7he only differene between those tau'ht in Sutta 1i aka and Abhidhamma 1i aka is the method of treatment, the method of &resentation* 7he same thin's are tau'ht in Sutta andAbhidhamma* Cou find the same Bhamma, the same sub5ets,in both Sutta 1i aka and Abhidhamma 1i aka* ut in Abhidhamma 1i aka they are minutely analy@ed* 6t e;els the teahin's in Sutta 1i aka, it is distin'uished from the teahin's in Sutta 1i aka, with re'ard to the method of treatment*

4et us take, for e;am&le, the fi>e a''re'ates* 6 ho&eyou are familiar with the fi>e a''re'ates (a''re'ate of matter,a''re'ate of feelin', a''re'ate of &ere&tion, a''re'ate ofmental formations, a''re'ate of onsiousness)* uddhatau'ht the dotrine of fi>e a''re'ates* 2e are om&osed ofthese fi>e a''re'ates* ost bein's are om&osed of fi>ea''re'ates* 7hese fi>e a''re'ates are treated in the Sa yutta

?ikya on one &a'e only* ut the same fi>e a''re'ates aretreated in the seond book of Abhidhamma in K &a'esG 2eha>e K &a'es >ersus one &a'e* Cou see how different themethod of treatment is in Suttanta 1i aka and Abhidhamma 1i aka* 6n the Suttanta 1i aka the uddha may elaborate on the fi>e a''re'ates a little more, but it is not a om&leteanalysis, a om&lete treatment, as in the Abhidhamma* 6n theAbhidhamma 1i aka, es&eially in the Vibha 'a, they are treated by way of e;&lanation of Suttanta method, by way of

e;&lanation of Abhidhamma method and by way of uestionsand answers* Atually e>erythin' to be known about the fi>e

#"


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a''re'ates is treated in Abhidhamma, not in Suttanta 1i aka* So this is why it is alled Abhidhamma* 6t differs only in themethod of treatment, not in the ontent, not in the Bhammastau'ht in it* Cou find the same fi>e a''re'ates in Suttas andAbhidhamma* Cou find the Four ?oble 7ruths in Suttas andAbhidhamma and so on*

+hat is Taught in Abhidhamma

2hat is tau'ht in AbhidhammaM 6t is >ery hard totranslate this word into =n'lish atually* 2e will see that* 6t isultimate teahin' in ontrast to on>entional teahin' in Sutta1i aka* 6n Sutta 1i aka the uddha used on>entional terms like L6I, LyouI, La &ersonI, La womanI* 2ithout these on>entionalterms we annot s&eak at all* 2e annot ommuniate withother &eo&le at all beause we li>e in this on>entional world*So in the Sutta 1i aka, uddha tau'ht in on>entional terms* ut in Abhidhamma 1i aka most of the terms used are not

on>entional terms but terms of ultimate reality* 7hey aredifferent* 7here are almost no &ersons, no man, no woman inthe Abhidhamma 1i aka* Cou will find fi>e a''re'ates, bases, elements, Four ?oble 7ruths and so on* Althou'h the sub5etmay be the same, the way of &resentation is different*

4et us take the e;am&le of water* Atually 6 donEt ha>ethe knowled'e of hemistry* 6 only know that water is H!O* So6 always take that e;am&le* 2hen 6 say, 6 drink waterT, 6 amusin' a on>entional term* 6t is true that what 6 am drinkin' iswater* 6 am not lyin'* ut if you 'o to a lab and analy@e theelements, you will not all that liuid LwaterI, but H!O* 7heterms we use in Abhidhamma are like the usa'e of the term

LH!OI in hemistry* Cou are not a man* Cou are not a woman*Cou are fi>e a''re'ates* 7he fi>e a''re'ates are sittin' ri'htnow* A 'rou& of fi>e a''re'ates is talkin'* Other fi>ea''re'ates are listenin'* 7hat is somethin' like Abhidhamma*6n Abhidhamma the terms used are of ultimate realities andnot of on>ention*

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7hese realities are tau'ht in many different ways* 7herealities, those that are ae&ted as realities, are four innumber* 2e will ome to that later*

6n Abhidhamma, mind and matter are minutelyanaly@ed* A &erson is om&osed of mind and matter* ind isa'ain om&osed of %itta whih is translated as onsiousness,and %etasikas whih is translated as mental fators* 2hat we

all mind is a 'rou& of two thin's %itta and %etasika*

7here are K9 or #!# ty&es of %ittas* %itta is di>ided intoK9 or #!# ty&es of onsiousness* ental fators are di>idedinto

+hat is Abhidhamma

2hat is AbhidhammaM 6s it &hiloso&hyM 6s it&syholo'yM 6s it ethisM ?obody knows* Saydaw U 7hittila isa urmese monk who s&ent many years in the 2est* He is stillli>in' in urma* He may be about 9/ years old now+* He said,

6t is a &hiloso&hy in as muh as it deals with the most 'eneralauses and &rini&les that 'o>ern all thin's*T So it an bealled a &hiloso&hy* Cou find in it the auses and &rini&lesthat 'o>ern all thin's* 6t is an ethial system beause itenables one to reali@e the ultimate 'oal, ?ibbna*T 7here are

no ethial teahin's in Abhidhamma atually* 7here are no+ Venerable Saydaw U 7hittila &assed away in #99/*

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teahin's like Lyou are not to do this or that, you are to refrainfrom thisI* 7here are no suh teahin's in Abhidhamma* utwhen it desribes onsiousness, it be'ins with what isunwholesome* 6t 'oes to onsiousness of sensuous s&here*7hen it 'oes to hi'her states of onsiousness alled fine8material8s&here onsiousness* 7hen a'ain it 'oes toimmaterial8s&here ty&es of onsiousness* And ultimately it'oes to Su&ramundane onsiousness* 6t 'oes from ones&iritual sta'e to another* So it an be alled ethis*

As it (Abhidhamma) deals with the workin' of themind with thou'ht &roesses and mental fators it an bealled a system of &syholo'y*T 6t is really a system of&syholo'y beause it deals with mind, matter, onsiousness,mental fators and material &ro&erties* 7hereforeAbhidhamma is 'enerally translated as &syho8ethial&hiloso&hy of uddhism*T 6 want to all it 5ust Abhidhamma* 6think that is better*

2hen we say it is uddhist &syholo'y, it is &syholo'y,but it is more than that* 2e may all it L&hiloso&hyIX a'ain it ismore than that* 2e may all it LethisIX it is LethisI, but it ismore than that* So, we will ne>er do 5ustie to translate it as&syholo'y, &hiloso&hy or ethis* 6t is better to 5ust all itAbhidhamma as we urmese do*

6 always tell &eo&le we urmese are smart &eo&le* 2edo not translate these terms into urmese* 2e 5ust

Lurmani@eI them* So letEs 5ust all it Abhidhamma*

6n Abhidhamma you find somethin' of &hiloso&hy,muh of &syholo'y and also of ethis*

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The &m/ortance of Abhidhamma

?ow let us talk about the im&ortane of Abhidhamma*6s the knowled'e of Abhidhamma im&ortantM 6f you ask me, 6will say, CesT* Abhidhamma is not only neessary in myo&inion but essential for a orret and thorou'h understandin'of uddhaEs teahin's* 1lease do not be disoura'ed when 6say this* Cou will not understand the Suttas orretly andthorou'hly if you do not understand the teahin's ofAbhidhamma* any teahin's in the Suttas ha>e to beunderstood a'ainst the bak'round of Abhidhamma* 6t is

somethin' like a 'uide or 'uideline for understandin' theteahin's in the Suttas*

6n Bhamma&ada (this is a Sutta) the uddha said, Bonot do any e>il or do not do what is badX do what is 'ood*T 6fwe are to a>oid e>il, we need to know what is e>il, what isunwholesome* Sometimes we may think somethin' iswholesome, while atually it is unwholesome* Or sometimes

we may think somethin' is unwholesome, while it iswholesome* 2e need to understand whih is e>il and whih is'ood* 7hat we an understand with the hel& of Abhidhamma*Abhidhamma teahes us that whate>er is assoiated with'reed, hatred and delusion is e>il, is unwholesome* 2hate>eris assoiated with the o&&osites of these three unwholesomestates, that is, non8'reed, non8hatred (that means lo>in'8kindness) and non8delusion or knowled'e or understandin' iswholesome* 6f you donEt know Abhidhamma, you may be at aloss as to what is e>il and what is not*

6n some Suttas uddha said, A monk de>elo&s the1ath*T 1ath onsiousness is a ty&e of onsiousness thatarises at the moment of enli'htenment* Aordin' toAbhidhamma, 1ath onsiousness arises only one* 6t ne>erre&eats* 6n that Sutta the uddha said, 7he monk de>elo&sthe 1ath*T ut aordin' to the teahin's of Abhidhamma, 1athonsiousness only arises one* 7he meanin' to understandthere is that the monk &ratises meditation further to reah

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the hi'her sta'es of enli'htenment, to reah the hi'her 1aths*6f we do not understand that, we will understand it inorretly*7here are many &laes like this in the Suttas* 2ithout theknowled'e of Abhidhamma you will always misunderstand oryou will not fully understand* So, in my o&inion theAbhidhamma is essential for the orret understandin' and forthe thorou'h understandin' of the teahin's 'i>en in theSuttas*

&s 0now$edge of Abhidhamma ssentia$ for 2editation

7hen there is another uestion* 2hen we want to&ratise meditation, do we need the knowled'e ofAbhidhammaM 7here an be different answers yes and no*

7here is a book alled isuddhimagga* 6t was writtenby the Venerable uddha'hosa in the fifth entury A*B* 6t is

atually a handbook for meditatin' monks* 6t desribes the&ratie of meditation from the foundation of &urity of moralsu& to the attainment of enli'htenment* 2hen desribin'Vi&assan meditation0, the author tau'ht in that book theessentials of Abhidhamma about a''re'ates, bases,elements, faulties, 1a ia8samu&&da (Be&endent Ori'ination)* He said this is the basis for knowled'e*3nowled'e means Vi&assan knowled'e* -ust lookin' at it wemi'ht onlude that we must study Abhidhamma before wean &ratise Vi&assan meditation* ut when we look at thestories where a &erson ame to the uddha and the uddha&reahed to him and he 'ained enli'htenment or he beamean Ariya, he did not know Abhidhamma* Still he beameenli'htened* So in my o&inion knowled'e of Abhidhamma isnot absolutely essential for reali@ation of truth* =>en if you donot know Abhidhamma, you an &ratise Vi&assan and youan 'et results* 6t is e;tremely hel&ful, howe>er, to ha>eknowled'e of Abhidhamma* 6t is like readin' a ma& before you

0 7here are two kinds of meditation Samatha (tranuility) and Vi&assan (insi'ht)meditation*

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'o to a &lae* 2hen you reah that &lae, you donEt ha>e to betold beause you already know whih is whih* 6t is somethin'like that* 3nowled'e of Abhidhamma is >ery hel&ful* 6t is 'ood,as you are doin' now, to study the Abhidhamma a little beforeyou &ratise meditation* ut there are some teahers whothink that it is essential* Cou must know Abhidhamma beforeyou &ratise Vi&assan* 3nowled'e of Abhidhamma is 'ood toha>e*

&s Abhidhamma 'ecessar) for 3nderstanding theTeachings

7here are some, es&eially sholars, who thinkAbhidhamma is not neessary for understandin' the Suttas*One &erson wrote like this, 7he third di>ision of the 1 i %anon, the Abhidhamma 1i aka, need not be onsidered at len'th for it differs from the Sutta literature already disussedonly in bein' drier, more in>ol>ed and more sholasti*

Ori'inality and de&th are om&arati>ely lakin'* And ourknowled'e of uddhist &hiloso&hy would be little less if theAbhidhamma 1i aka were alto'ether i'nored *T He means thatthou'h you donEt know Abhidhamma, your knowled'e ofuddhist &hiloso&hy would not be lessX you donEt needAbhidhamma to understand uddhist &hiloso&hy* 7he authorof that uote was Ananda 3* 3umaraswami* 7his was writtenin his book, !uddha and the "ospel of !uddhism* He said,

Ori'inality and de&th are om&arati>ely lakin'*T aybeori'inality is lakin' beause the same thin's are tau'ht inAbhidhamma as in the Sutta 1i aka and Vinaya 1i aka* 7here may be no new sub5ets tau'ht in Abhidhamma* ut de&th 6will let you deide for yourself* 6 will not say anythin' more*So whether you think it is shallow, or it is dee&, or it is&rofound or whate>er, you will understand later after you 'othrou'h this ourse*

7here is another &erson who wrote somethin' like that*1erha&s 3umaraswami 'ot his idea from that book* 6t is alled

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#he Histor$ of %ndian &iterature by a erman author, ori@2internit@* He wrote somethin' like this: 7here are so manysynonyms 'i>enX there is no ori'inality*T 7hey mi'ht ha>e&iked u& a book of Abhidhamma and 5ust saw enumerations,synonyms and others, and beame disillusioned withAbhidhamma* efore you an &ik u& a book of Abhidhammaand read it and understand it, you ha>e to ha>e someknowled'e of the fundamentals of Abhidhamma* 2ithout afundamental knowled'e, you annot 'o diret to books inAbhidhamma 1i aka* 6f you donEt know the multi&liation table,

you annot do math* Cou annot 'o to arithmeti and do thesums without the multi&liation table* 7hat is, until some timea'o* ?owadays &eo&le use alulators* Cou donEt need to learnmulti&liation tables* 2ithout basi knowled'e it is almostim&ossible to 'o into any kind of knowled'e* So you needsome kind of fundamental knowled'e of Abhidhamma beforeyou 'o to the Abhidhamma itself* 2ithout that knowled'e,whate>er book you &ik u& it will be like reek to you*

Saydaw U 7hittila said, Abhidhamma is hi'hly &ri@edby the &rofound students of uddhist &hiloso&hy, but to thea>era'e student it seems dull and meanin'less*T 6f you &ik u&an Abhidhamma book, e>en if you understand 1 i, you will find it >ery dull and borin'* 7his is beause it is so e;tremelysubtle in its analysis, and so tehnial in its treatment that it is>ery diffiult to understand without the 'uidane of an ableteaher*T Cou may read a book on Abhidhamma and

understand to some e;tent* ut 6 think you need a teaher to'uide you throu'h Abhidhamma* 7hat is &robably why theAbhidhamma 1i aka is not as &o&ular as the other two 1i akas amon' 2estern uddhists maybe not only 2esternuddhists but also modern sholars* Ananda 3umaraswamiwas not a 2esterner* He was an Oriental* So it is not so&o&ular e>en with sholars in the Orient beause it ise;tremely subtle in its analysis and e;tremely tehnial in itstreatment*Ten by Ashin 7hittila, &a'e #0"*

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Abhidhamma and read it* 6 will not say whose statement istrue* Cou an find out for yourself later after you ha>e 'onethrou'h the ourse*

ow Buddha Taught Abhidhamma

4etEs 'o to the se>en books of Abhidhamma and the%ommentaries* Abhidhamma is a >ast literature* uddhatau'ht Abhidhamma to 'ods and not to human bein's* 6n the

se>enth rainy season after His enli'htenment, the uddhawent u& to 7>ati sa Hea>en and &reahed Abhidhamma to the 'ods there* His mother who died se>en days after his birthwas born as a Be>a, as a deity in another hea>en alled 7usitHea>en* She or he (2e belie>e she was reborn as a maledeity*) ame down to 7>ati sa Hea>en and listened to the Abhidhamma tau'ht by the uddha*

6t is said that the uddha tau'ht nonsto& for threewhole months* 2hen 6 say Lnonsto&I, 6 really mean nonsto&*uddha was a human bein'* So He needed to eat and so on*2hen it was time for alms round, He reated another uddhaby His mental &ower* He willed that the reated uddha teahAbhidhamma from suh and suh a &lae to suh and suh a&lae durin' His absene* 7hen He went down to human worldfor alms* At that time the reated uddha took o>er* 2hen Hewent down to the human world, the Venerable Sri&utta metHim there* 2hen uddha met Sri&utta, He told him that Hehad tau'ht a &artiular &ortion of Abhidhamma durin' theinter>al* 7hat means between their meetin' the day beforeand the &resent today* 2hat the uddha said to Sri&utta was

5ust somethin' like a table of ontents* 2hen Sri&utta heardthis, he was able to understand, down to the smallest detail,what the uddha had tau'ht* He was so endowed withanalytial knowled'e* He understood all that uddha tau'htdurin' the interim* 2hen Sri&utta went bak to his &lae, hetau'ht the Abhidhamma he had learned from the uddha, to


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s&endin' the day in the human world went bak to 7>ati sa Hea>en in the e>enin' and resumed His teahin'*

Bid the deities know that the uddha had left and thata reated uddha was &reahin' at that momentM Some didand some did not* 7hose who had 'reater &ower knew andthose who had lesser &ower did not* eause there was nodifferene between the uddha and the reated uddha asre'ards their rays, their >oies, their words e>erythin' was

e;atly the same, it was an e;at re&lia those deities oflesser &ower did not know*

6t is said that the uddha s&oke >ery uikly* HowuiklyM Burin' the time an ordinary &erson s&eaks one wordthe uddha ould s&eak #!K words* uddha s&oke >ery fast*=>en a disourse 'i>en after takin' a meal at a house ouldrun into the si@e of one ?ikya* ?ow ima'ine the uddha

talkin' in that way for three months without sto&&in',ontinuously &reahin'* So the >olume of Abhidhamma ouldbe >ery 'reat* 2e ha>e three >ersions of Abhidhamma thattau'ht to the 'ods whih is >ery lar'e, then the seond thatwas tau'ht to the Venerable Sri&utta like a table of ontents,and the third one that the Venerable Sri&utta tau'ht to hisdisi&lesX that is neither too lar'e nor too small* 7he VenerableSri&utta made it suitable for those monks to ae&t* He didnot teah all that he knew* He tau'ht 5ust enou'h for them*

So, there are three >ersions of Abhidhamma* Fortunately thatlast >ersion whih is neither too lar'e nor too small wasreorded at the first uddhist %ounil* 7hat >ersion is what weha>e as Abhidhamma now*

6 want to show you the Abhidhamma books* 7here aretwel>e books* 6 added u& the &a'es* 7he &a'es are alto'ether09K#* 7here are se>en books of Abhidhamma, but in our

edition there are twel>e >olumes* 7hose 09K# &a'es ontainmany elli&ses* 7here are re&etitions or there are some that are

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not diffiult for the reiters to &ut in and so, they are left out*6f e>erythin' were &rinted in full, it ould be ten times 'reaterthan what we ha>e here* 7he Abhidhamma is >ery wide and>ery lar'e*

The Seven Boo(s of Abhidhamma

7here are se>en books of Abhidhamma* 7he first one isBhammasa 'a , %lassifiation of Bhammas* 7hat means

lassifiation of %ittas (onsiousness), %etasikas (mentalfators), and J&a (matter)* 7he seond book is alledVibha 'a, that is, Analysis of Bhammas* 7he sub5ets tau'htin the Bhammasa 'a are further analy@ed* 7he third one is alled Bhtukath, Bisussion of the Bhammas* 6t is adisussion of Bhammas tau'ht in the Bhammasa 'a * 7he fourth one is alled 1u''ala&aNNatti, Besi'nation of 7y&es ofein's* 7his book is not like Abhidhamma* 6t is like Suttadisourses* Bifferent ty&es of indi>iduals or different ty&es of

bein's are lassified or mentioned* 7his is one book whih isnot like Abhidhamma* 7he ne;t one is 3ath>atthu, 1oints of%ontro>ersy* 6t is also not like Abhidhamma* 6t is a book ofdebate* Bifferent o&inions urrent at that time were e;aminedon the basis of debate* 6t is >ery different from other books* 6tis a dialo'ue between 7hera>da monks and other monks* 7hesi;th book is alled Camaka, ook of 1airs* 7hat means, thereare uestions and answers in &airs* 7here are uestions in&airs* 7here are answers in &airs* For e;am&le, 7here arewholesome states* Are all of those wholesome stateswholesome rootsM 7here are wholesome roots* Are all thosewholesome roots wholesome statesMT 6t is somethin' like that*And also with re'ard to a''re'ates, bases and so on there areuestions and answers like that whih 'o in &airs* 7he se>enthbook is alled 1a hna* 6t is the ook of %ausal Jelations* 7here are !0 modes of ausal relations* 7he 1a hna is the lar'est of the se>en books of Abhidhamma* And to us it is thedee&est, the most &rofound, book of Abhidhamma*

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6n our books it is said that the uddha ontem&lated onthe Abhidhamma in the fourth week after His enli'htenment*He did not &reah to anyone* He 5ust sat down andontem&lated on the Abhidhamma* 2hen He ontem&lated onthe first si; books, nothin' ha&&ened* He 5ust ontem&lated onthem* ut when He ontem&lated on the se>enth book, the si;olored rays were emitted from His bodyX they ame out of Hisbody* (2e donEt ha>e a uddhist fla' here* A uddhist fla're&resents these si; rays blue, yellow, red, white, oran'eand the mi;ture of these fi>e*) 2hy was thatM 7he other si;

books were not dee& enou'h for the uddhaEs su&er wisdom*2hen He was ontem&latin' on these si; books, it was like awhale &ut in a small tank* He ould barely mo>e in the tank*ut when omin' to the se>enth book, the sub5et matter wasmeasureless and His wisdom was measureless* His wisdomould 'o as far as the sub5et matter went, and the sub5etmatter ould 'o as far as His wisdom ould 'o* 2hen Hereahed the se>enth book, He was like that whale &ut in theoean* He ould mo>e about >ery easily and so He beame

>ery 'lad* 2hen the mind beomes 'lad, it affets the &hysial&arts of the body* So the rays ame out of His body* 1a hna is the most &rofound of the se>en books and also the lar'est*

7hese are the se>en books of Abhidhamma* ut we arenot 'oin' to study these se>en books* 2hat we are 'oin' tostudy is 5ust an a&&roah to these books* So you ha>e to 'o alon' way*

The #ommentaries4 Sub5commentaries and Sub5sub5commentaries

7hen we ha>e the %ommentaries* 7hese Abhidhammabooks as they are annot be understood >ery well* So we needsomebody to e;&lain and to ask about the thin's tau'ht inthese books* 7herefore, we need the %ommentaries* 7here are%ommentaries by the Venerable uddha'hosa* 7he Venerableuddha'hosa was a >ery famous and elebrated %ommentator

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who li>ed in the en in his%ommentaries may be those 'i>en by the uddha Himself*7herefore, we ha>e 'reat res&et for his %ommentaries*Venerable uddha'hosa wrote the %ommentaries* 7hey are:

A haslin( , Sammoha)inodan(, and

Pa'appakara a -a hakath *

7hose three are the %ommentaries on the se>en booksof Abhidhamma*

Sometimes we find it diffiult e>en to understand the%ommentaries* 2e need some other books to e;&lain those%ommentaries* So we ha>e what are alled Sub8ommentariesthat are alled M*la (k * 7he Sub8ommentaries are written byDnanda 7hera* 2e donEt know the e;at a'es of these authors*So all the a'es are a&&ro;imate, say < thentury A*B* and ira##th entury A*B** Sub8sub8ommentaries that are alledAnu (k , are written by Bhamma&la 7hera* 2e donEt knowe;atly when he li>ed, but he is definitely later than the

Venerable uddha'hosa* 7hen there are treatises onAbhidhamma by another monk named uddhadatta 7hera* Hewas a ontem&orary of the Venerable uddha'hosa 7herahimself* He wrote some ondensations of Abhidhamma* 7henthere are treatises by many other monks* Amon' them theAbhidhammatthasa gaha is the best or the most &o&ular* 2ewill be usin' theAbhidhammatthasa gaha for our ourse*

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Abhidhammatthasa gaha

Abhidhammatthasa gaha was written in the ##thentury A*B* by Anuruddha 7hera* He was a nati>e of South6ndia* 7hat is definite* He wrote three books* 6n another bookhe wrote that he was born in 3aNi&ura, South 6ndia* So hewas a nati>e of South 6ndia* 2hen he wrote this book, it isbelie>ed that he was li>in' in Sri 4anka* And in that smallbookall the fundamentals of Abhidhamma are treated* 6f youare familiar with that small book, that is the key to all ofAbhidhamma 1i aka* Cou an o&en any Abhidhamma book,

read it and understand it* 6t is so &reise and soom&rehensi>e* 6 mean this book is enou'h for us tounderstand the books of Abhidhamma* 6t is the most &o&ularhandbook for the understandin' of the fundamentals ofAbhidhamma* 6t is now an indis&ensable 'uide forAbhidhamma* 2hoe>er wants to understand Abhidhammashould first study that book* 7here are other books too, butnot as 'ood as this one*

6t is still a te;tbook for be'inners in urma and other7hera>da ountries* 2ith re'ard to urma, it is ae&ted thatAbhidhamma beame >ery &o&ular sub5et with urmesemonks* Abhidhamma beame >ery &o&ular sub5et sine theintrodution of uddhism to U&&er urma in #"


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introdution, the list of books a>ailable or the list of bookswritten by urmese authors is 'i>en* 7here are as many as+++ some in urmese, some in 1 i written by urmese authors* 7hat shows how &o&ular Abhidhamma is withurmese monks es&eially*

'ight 6essons

7hen there are what are alled ni'ht lessons* 7hey are

found only in urma* Some books of Abhidhamma ha>e to belearned at ni'ht* 7hat means we learn it durin' the day* Atni'ht we 'o to the teaher and reite what we learned durin'the day* 7he teaher e;&lains diffiult &assa'es* Or if we ha>emade mistakes, he may orret them* Atually we ha>e tolearn from the teaher without li'hts* 7here is not enou'h li'htto read* 2e do not take books with us* 2e learn the sub5etdurin' the day* 7hen we 'o to the teaher and reite* 7hen weask uestions and so on* Some &ortions of the first book of

Abhidhamma, the third book, the si;th book and the se>enthbook are the sub5ets of ni'ht lessons* 7hat is why 6 thinkurmese monks are more familiar with the to&is ofAbhidhamma than monks from other ountries* 2e ha>e thistradition of ni'ht lessons* 6t is still 'oin' on*

7he Abhidhamma is a om&ulsory sub5et for e>erymonk, no>ie and nun in urma* 6f you are ordained and 'oin'to be a monk or a no>ie, then you will be 'i>en that book*Cou will be asked to learn it by heart before you know what itis all about* 6t is a om&ulsory sub5et* =>ery urmese monkor no>ie or nun knows Abhidhamma* Also many lay &eo&lestudy Abhidhamma* 7hey e>en write books on Abhidhamma*7hey are teahin' their brothers and sisters* So there are lay&eo&le teahin' lay &eo&le, not monks only teahin' lay&eo&le* 7here are e;aminations in Abhidhamma and so on*

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ng$ish Trans$ations of Abhidhammatthasa gaha

6 said we will be usin' Abhidhammatthasa gaha (hereinafter referred to as ManualT) or its translation for thisourse* 7here are three =n'lish translations of theAbhidhammatthasa gaha * 7he first one is alled +ompendiumof Philosoph$by U Shwe Yan Aun'* 6t first a&&eared in #9#"*7he introdution to this book is >ery 'ood* BifferentAbhidhamma to&is are disussed and e;&lained in it* 6t aloneonsists of / &a'es*

7he seond book is alled Abhidhamma Philosoph$,Volume # by hikkhu -* 3ashya&* 6t first a&&eared in #90!* 6tis another translation ofAbhidhammatthasa gaha *

?umber three is A Manual of Abhidhammawritten by?rada 7hera* 6t first a&&eared in #9ised edition of the Venerable ?radaEsbook* At first the editors thou'ht they mi'ht ha>e to edit onlya few &laes* As they went alon', they found they had to doe;tensi>e editin'* Atually it is almost a new translation of theAbhidhammatthasa gaha * 6 ha>e a &ersonal attahment tothis book* 7he harts 6 use here are inluded in this book andare aknowled'ed in the introdution* Another monk whohel&ed edit this book is my friend, Br* U Je>ata Bhamma* Heli>es in =n'land* 6 think u& to now this is the best handbookfor the study of Abhidhamma*

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Some "eferences

6f you want to read or if you want to 'et a desri&tionof the uddhist %ounils and some history of uddhism oruddhist Sa 'ha, this %n'eption of ,is'ipline and ina$aNidna is the book* Atually this is the translation of

6ntrodutory SetionT of the %ommentary to Vinaya 1i aka* 7he Venerable uddha'hosa, at the be'innin' of the%ommentary on Vinaya, 'a>e us a history of uddhism u& tothe time uddhism was introdued to Sri 4anka* So the First,the Seond and the 7hird %ounils are mentioned there and

also how 3in' Asoka sent his son and dau'hter to Sri 4anka tos&read uddhism there* Cou 'et almost ori'inal writin' or7hera>da desri&tion of history of uddhism to some e;tent*6f you want to know about ?ikyas and 1i akas and also about these %ounils, this is the book you should read* 7he book isalled %n'eption of ,is'ipline and ina$a Nidna* ina$aNidna is in 1 i* 7he translation is 'i>en first and then the 1 i* 6f you want to 'et the >iew of 7hera>da uddhists about the history of uddhism to some e;tent, this is the book to

read* 6 think that is all for today*

SdhuG SdhuG SdhuG

Be *atient

4et me tell you somethin'* For many of you,Abhidhamma is a >ery new sub5et* 1lease be &atient withyour study* 6f you donEt understand somethin' here or there,do not 'et disoura'ed easily* Cou ha>e to be &atient* 6 alwayssay it is like a 5i'saw &u@@le* Until you &ut in the last &iee, the&iture is always not om&lete* Sometimes you may want toknow somethin'* 1lease hold it* Cou will understand later*1lease be &atient*

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A$so Do 'ot be Afraid of * i

Also &lease do not be afraid of 1 i words* 2e annot alto'ether a>oid usin' the 1 i words* 2e always use 1 i words beause sometimes the =n'lish translation is notadeuate* 6n order not to ha>e you misunderstand, 6 will useboth 1 i and =n'lish* So &lease do not be afraid of 1 i words* After you memori@e some words, you will see it is not sodiffiult* 6t is ine>itable and una>oidable that you ha>e to knowsome 1 i words* 6f you learn or study somethin' new, you ha>e to learn some tehnial words* 6f you study Yen, you

ha>e to study -a&anese words* 6n the same way, you ha>e tolearn some 1 i words* So &lease do not be afraid of the 1 i words* 6n the %A, the 1 i te;t of Abhidhammatthasa gaha is'i>en* Cou an try readin' the 1 i te;t*

7. Two 0inds of Truth

+hat is Truth

2e will study two kinds of truth reo'ni@ed inuddhism or in the teahin's of the uddha* 2hene>er &eo&letalk about truth, they say there is only one truth* Bifferent&eo&le inter&ret it in different ways* ut sine different &eo&leinter&ret it in different ways, there annot be one truth, but

there are many truths* 6f you ask a %hristian what truth is,you 'et one answer* 6f you ask a Hindu, you will 'et a stilldifferent answer* So truth an be different de&endin' u&onwhat kind of &erson you ask*

Aordin' to uddhism, truth means sim&ly somethin'that is true, that is real either in the on>entional sense or inthe ultimate sense* Some thin's are true only aordin' to the

on>ention, only aordin' to the usa'e or mode of e;&ressionae&ted by a ertain 'rou& of &eo&le or ae&ted by &eo&le at

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lar'e* Some are true aordin' to the ultimate sense* 2hetherit is true aordin' to on>ention or aordin' to ultimatesense, it is alled truth or it is alled reality in uddhism*

Sine somethin' whih is true, whih is real, is alledtruth, truth need not be 'ood only* 7ruth need not be loftyonly* 6t an be anythin' whih is true as it is desribed* 6t issu&&orted by the fat that ra>in' whih is an unwholesomemental state is tau'ht by the uddha as the Seond ?oble

7ruth* 7he Seond ?oble 7ruth is ra>in'* %ra>in' is anunwholesome mental state whih 'i>es bad results, whih isbad, whih is not lofty* Still it is alled truth in uddhism* Sotruth need not neessarily be 'ood or lofty* 6t may be 'ood orit may be bad* 6t may be lofty or it may be lowly, but it mustbe true* 2hen 6 say the fire burns, the burnin' is the truth offire* 7hat is truth* So in uddhism ra>in' is the truth*indfulness you all &ratise mindfulness meditation is thetruth* 2isdom is truth* %onentration is truth* 6n uddhism

truth need not be 'ood only* 6t may be either 'ood or bad,lofty or lowly* 2hate>er is true in the on>entional sense or inthe ultimate sense is truth*

Two 0inds of Truth "ecogni8ed in Buddhism

6n uddhism two kinds of truth are reo'ni@ed* 7hefirst is the on>entional truth* 7he seond is ultimate truth* 2ean all truth reality* 7hey are interhan'eable words* 7here ison>entional reality somethin' that is true in on>entionalsense, and somethin' that is true aordin' to ultimate sense*7here are always these two kinds of truth in the world*

#onventiona$ Truth

2hat is on>entional truthM %on>entional truth is thatwhih onforms to the on>ention or usa'e of the world* ?ow

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in the be'innin', in the early days of human life on this earth,by ommon onsent a name for somethin' is ae&ted* 7hatname was ae&ted by all &eo&le* A thin' omes to be knownby that name* For e;am&le, a ertain kind of animal is knownas, or is desi'nated as La atI* 7hat was ae&ted by all the&eo&le* 6f you want to refer to that animal, you say the word

LatI* 7hat is on>entional* %on>entional truth is somethin'whih is ae&ted by the &eo&le at lar'e* 6t is ae&ted by

Lommon onsentI* 6 was afraid of usin' the e;&ressionLommon onsentI before* 7o be e;at 5ust yesterday 6 &iked

u& this book and there that >ery e;&ression is 'i>en* So 6 was'lad* 6t is said there: 1eo&le ha>e sim&ly a'reed by ommononsent that a &artiular 'rou& of written letters or oralsounds shall re&resent or stand for a &artiular ob5et or idea*T2e an ha>e ommon onsent* 7hat is a'reement by all&eo&le: 4et us all this a man* 4et us all this a woman* 4et usall this a at, a do' and so on* 7hat is on>entional truth*

Su&&ose there is a at here* 7hen 6 say, 7here is aat*T 6 am tellin' the truth* 6 am not tellin' you a lie beausethe animal whih is ae&ted as a at is here* 7hat is one kindof truth whih is on>entional truth or on>entional reality* Orwe an take the e;am&le of a ar* How did you ome hereMCou ame in a ar* 2hen you say you ame in a ar, you arenot lyin' to me* Cou are tellin' the truth, the on>entionaltruth* 6tEs true that you ame in a ar* 7he on>entional truth

LarI or the thin' re&resented by the name LarI is a reality, a

on>entional reality* 7he same is true for a house, a man, awoman* Cou an 'i>e as many e;am&les as you like*=>erythin' in the world whih is 'i>en a name an be aon>entional truth*

7his on>entional truth is alled Sammuti8saa in 1 i* 6 want you to be familiar with these words, Sammuti8saa*

LSammutiI means 5ust ommon one&t or ommon

a'reement* LSaaI means truth* Cou may ha>e met with a&hrase L%attri AriyasaniI* 7he word LSaaI is truth* 7his

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kind of truth is alled Sammuti8saa or on>entional reality*

Sammuti8saa is also alled 1aNNatti* 1aNNatti istranslated as one&t* Venerable P amoli in his translation of the isuddhimagga, the Path of Purifi'ation, 'i>es someinformation about the one&ts, 1aNNatti* He onluded that,

All this shows that the word L&aNNattiI arries themeanin's of either a&&ellation or one&t or both to'ether,and that no =n'lish word uite orres&onds* (isuddhimagga, V666,n*##, &*/K#)

7here is no =n'lish word whih orres&onds suarelywith the word L1aNNattiI* 4et us ae&t the word Lone&tI asthe translation of this word*

'ma5/a99atti

1aNNatti is in ontrast to 1aramattha whih will omene;t* 7he on>entional truth is also alled 1aNNatti* 7here aretwo kinds of 1aNNatti* 7his muh 6 think you need tounderstand* 6f you are im&atient, if you want to know moreabout 1aNNatti, you an read the end of the ei'hth ha&ter ofthis book (Abhidhammatthasa gaha ) (also see %A, V666, ZZ!98+!,&*+!entions*Here we 5ust need to understand two kinds of 1aNNatti, twokinds of one&ts* 7he first one is alled ?ma8&aNNatti* ?ma

here means name* 7he word L?maI means name or mind,mental &henomena* ut here it means name* 7herefore,?ma8&aNNatti means name8one&t* ?ame8one&t means

5ust the names 'i>en to ob5ets* 7hese names make thin'sknown* 7herefore, they are alled in 1 i L?ma8&aNNattiI* 7he word L1aNNattiI has two meanin's* One is ati>e and the otheris &assi>e* L1aNNattiI means somethin' that makes some otherthin' known* 2hen we say LarI, the name LarI makes the realar known* y the word LarI we know the real thin', a >ehile

with four wheels and so on* L1aNNattiI here means somethin'that makes some other thin' known, a name that makes

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thin's known* ?ma8&aNNatti is names 'i>en to ob5ets* 7hereare thousands and thousands of ?ma8&aNNattis* Here in thisroom you an ha>e how many 1aNNattisM Cou may find ten,twenty, thirty* Any name 'i>en to a thin' or to a bein' isalled ?ma8&aNNatti* A man, a woman, a house, a amera, ata&e reorder they are alled ?ma8&aNNatti*

Attha5/a99atti

7he seond one is alled Attha8&aNNatti* LAtthaI meanshere a thin'* Attha8&aNNatti is thin'8one&t* 7hat means theob5ets on>eyed by the names or one&ts are Attha8&aNNatti* 7hat means the ob5ets re&resented by these names*7hey are alled 1aNNatti beause they are made known* Herewe 'et the &assi>e meanin' of the word L1aNNattiI* Sometimesit is 'ood to ha>e two meanin's to a word* ut sometimes it isonfusin' beause it an mean both thin's* So we ha>e tounderstand whih meanin' is bein' used in a 'i>en onte;t* 6n

the word LAttha8&aNNattiI the word L1aNNattiI means somethin'whih is made known, somethin' whih is made known by a?ma8&aNNatti, by the name* A'ain let us take the e;am&lear* 2e ha>e the name LarI* And we ha>e the thin' whih weall La arI* 7hat thin' is Attha8&aNNatti, thin'8one&t* 7hename LarI is ?ma8&aNNatti* 6n most ases there are alwaysthese two 1aNNattis 'oin' to'ether ?ma8&aNNatti andAttha8&aNNatti* A house the name LhouseI is ?ma8&aNNatti*7he real house, the house itself, is Attha8&aNNatti* A man the name LmanI is ?ma8&aNNatti* 7he &erson, the man isAttha8&aNNatti* 6n most ases we an 'et both ?ma8&aNNattiand Attha8&aNNatti for these thin's*

2hen we say ob5ets, we mean both mental and&hysial ob5ets* ental states are ob5ets* aterial states areob5ets*

2hat about the name 'i>en to a mental state alled

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ontatM 6t is 1hassa* 7hat mental ontat, the ontat of mindwith the ob5et, with res&et to that mental fator, an we 'ettwo 1aNNattis there, ?ma8&aNNatti and Attha8&aNNattiM 2eha>e not ome to 1aramattha, ultimate truth yet* %ontat or1hassa is one of the ultimate realities* So in the ase of1hassa we an ha>e ?ma8&aNNatti beause 1hassa is aname* 7he ontat itself, howe>er, is not alled Attha8&aNNatti*6t is 1aramattha* 6t is ultimate truth* 2ith re'ard to names'i>en to those belon'in' to ultimate truth we an ha>e ?ma8&aNNatti and 1aramattha, ultimate truth not ?ma8&aNNatti

and Attha8&aNNatti* 2ith re'ard to other thin's, those that donot belon' to ultimate reality, there an be these two one&tsor 1aNNattis, ?ma8&aNNatti and Attha8&aNNatti* Cou an seemany ?ma8&aNNattis and Attha8&aNNattis all around you*

7hese one&ts, these on>entional usa'es we annotdo away with them* 2e annot a>oid usin' on>entionalterms, on>entional lan'ua'e when we ommuniate with

other &eo&le* 7hat is beause we li>e in this on>entionalworld* 2e ha>e to use the terms of on>ention to make themeanin's known to other &eo&le* Otherwise there would be'reat onfusion* A man is made u& of fi>e a''re'ates* Awoman is also a 'rou& of fi>e a''re'ates* 6f one says a 'rou&of fi>e a''re'ates omes to the monastery, you donEt know ifit is a man or a woman* So we annot do away withon>entional terms when we s&eak, when we ommuniatewith eah other* ut we must understand what ultimate reality

we are talkin' about when we use these on>entional terms*

*a99atti is Time$ess

7hese are alled one&ts* %one&ts are said to be outof time, beyond time, timeless* 7here are &eo&le who want toar'ue a'ainst this* 1aNNatti or on>ention or one&t has noe;istene of its own, in its own ri'ht* 2hat is 1aNNattiM Couannot 'ras& it in your hands* For e;am&le, a name a nameis a name* 2e annot say a name arises, stays for some time

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and disa&&ears* A name is a name beause it is in our minds*7hey are &roduts of mental onstrution* 2e think of them assomethin' and then we use that desi'nation* Sine it is said toe;ist only in our minds, it atually has no reality, no e;istene*7hat is why it annot be said that one&t is &ast, or one&tis &resent, or one&t is future* 6t is beyond this time frame*7hat is why 1aNNatti is said to be timeless* Only these&henomena whih ha>e an arisin', and then a stati sta'e,and a disa&&earin', only those that ha>e these sta'es are saidto be e;istent* 7hose that do not ha>e these three arisin',

a'in' and dyin' if somethin' does not ha>e these three&hases of e;istene, we do not say it e;ists* 7he on>ention orthe names 'i>en to the thin's and the thin's themsel>es aresaid to be non8e;istent in reality* As a man you e;ist* A man isa on>ention or a one&t* 7he name is a one&t and the&erson is also a one&t* 7he &erson does not really e;ist*2hat really e;ists is the fi>e a''re'ates* ut we all this'rou& of fi>e a''re'ates a man, a woman, a &erson, a bein'and so on* A man, a woman, an animal or whate>er is only our

mental &ro5etions or mental onstrutions* 2e think of themas e;istin' althou'h atually they do not e;ist in the ultimatesense* 6n the on>entional sense they e;ist* Sine one&tsha>e no arisin', no a'in' and no disa&&earin', they are saidto be out of time* 7hey are timeless* So 1aNNatti is said to betimeless, like ?ibbna* ?ibbna has no be'innin', no arisin'*So it has no disa&&earin', no end* 7hat is why ?ibbna is alsoalled timeless* 6n the same way, 1aNNatti is alled timeless*

2e may say if we all somethin' by some name that itarises at that moment* 4etEs take a ar* 7hatEs my fa>oritee;am&le* Somebody in>ented a ar and then he alled it a ar*Cou may ar'ue that the on>ention or 1aNNatti LarI arises atthat time* Atually sine the 1aNNatti is in your mind only andis not an ultimate thin', we annot say that it arose at thatmoment or that it e;ists*

2e an understand more with names* Cou 'i>e a name

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to a hild* Cou all it by that name* ut we annot say whenthat name first ame into bein'* And then when &eo&le usethat name it seems to e;ist* 2hen &eo&le for'et that name, itseems to disa&&ear* 4ater on somebody will ome and saythere was suh a &erson by this name &erha&s a hundredyears a'o* 2e then remember that name a'ain* So that namewhih is a one&t is beyond time* 6t is not &resent, not &astand not future* So it is timeless*

3$timate Truth

7he seond one is ultimate truth* 2e are moreonerned with ultimate truth beause Abhidhamma deals withultimate truth* 2hat is ultimate truthM Ultimate truth is thatwhih onforms to reality* 6n this book (see %A, 6, uide to Z!, &*!e a''re'ates* 7hese fi>e a''re'ates ha>ea be'innin'* Also they a'e* And ultimately they die* 7hey ha>ethis e;istene of their own, e;istene in their own ri'ht* Sothey are alled ultimate reality* 6f we redue what we all a&erson to the irreduible elements, we 'et the fi>e a''re'atesor we an say we 'et mind and matter* 7he fi>e a''re'ates orthe members of these fi>e a''re'ates are alled ultimate truthbeause they are real* 7hey ha>e a real e;istene* 7hey ha>ean e;istene in their own ri'ht*

%onsiousness means %itta* %itta would be an ultimatetruth* 6t really is* 6t has the three &hases of e;istene arisin', a'in' and disa&&earin'* After remainin' for thesethree &hases or these three sta'es, one onsiousness

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disa&&ears and then another onsiousness arises* Sineonsiousness has arisin', a'in' and disa&&earin', we saythat it e;ists in the ultimate sense* Ultimate truth is that whihonforms to reality*

6t is alled 1aramattha8saa in 1 i* 1aramattha is defined as the ultimate or orret thin'* 2e an say ultimateor orret reality* 2hyM eause it is real as it is* 6t is nototherwise than is stated* 6t is not turned round* 6t is not the

re>erse of what it is said to be* 6t is not the o&&osite of what itis said to be* 6t is not wron'* 7hat is what we all the ultimatethin' or the ultimate truth* 2hen we say there isonsiousness, there really is onsiousness* %onsiousnessreally e;ists* So onsiousness is said to be the ultimate truth*

7he ultimate truth is not like thin's in ma'i shows orin mirrors* At ma'i shows they will &rodue somethin' out of

nothin'* 2e think they are &roduin' a real thin'* ut atuallythey are triks* Sometimes they seem so real that we want tobelie>e they are &roduin' real thin's* 7hin's shown at ma'ishows are not real* 7hey are 5ust illusions* 6n the same way,what we all a man, or a woman, or a ar, or a house is anillusion* 6t is not a real thin'* ut what is real is theom&onents ontained in these thin's*

6 think you ha>e seen a mira'e* 6t is like water* From adistane &eo&le who see it may think there is water there* Coufollow the water, but you ne>er 'et to that &lae* 6t mo>eswith yourself* 6n 1 i it is alled LdeersE ra>in'I* 7he deer see the mira'e in the distane* 2hen they are thirsty, they willfollow the mira'e until they fall and die* A mira'e is not a realthin'* 6f you ha>e seen it, it looks like it is real* 6t looks likethere is water u& there* 2hen you 'et loser to it, it mo>esfurther and further away from you* 7hat is an illusion*

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1aramattha, the ultimate thin', is not like that* 6t isreal and it really e;ists* 7hat is why it is alled ultimate thin'*

Another meanin' of 1aramattha is it an be seen byoneself* 6t an be reali@ed by oneself* 2e an say it is to beseen by oneself* 6t is to be e;&eriened by oneself* 7heultimate realities an be seen by oursel>es, by us* 7hey an bee;&eriened by us*

Ultimate realities are not like thin's known by hearsaywhih may or may not be true* 2hen we hear somethin'about somebody from someone, it may or may not be truebeause it is hearsay* 2e annot be sure that it is really true*6t may be false* 2e ha>e not seen it for oursel>es* One wesee it for oursel>es, then we know it really is* 7hen we know itis true* 7hin's we know from hearsay, thin's we know fromre&ort from others may or may not be true* Suh thin's are

not alled 1aramattha* 6n order to be alled 1aramattha theymust be e;&eriened by oursel>es*

4et us take onsiousness* =s&eially when you &ratisemeditation, you know there is onsiousness* Cou know thatyour mind 'oes out here and there* Cou an e;&eriene it oryou an see it for yourself* 6t is not throu'h readin' books orattendin' talks, or by s&eulation, but by e;&eriene that you

an see that* Some thin's, whih are e;&eriened byoursel>es, are alled ultimate truths*

For e;am&le, feelin' it is too real* Cou sit formeditation and after some time you 'et &ain there*Sometimes it beomes so intense that you ha>e to 'i>e u&* 6tis >ery real* Cou an e;&eriene it* Cou know that there isfeelin'* Cou know there is &ainful feelin'* Or if you are ha&&y,

you know there is &leasurable feelin'* Cou know it for yourselfbeause you ha>e e;&eriened it for yourself* Cou donEt ha>e

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to 'o to another &erson to >erify this* 2hat you diretlye;&eriene for yourself is alled ultimate reality* Ultimatereality an be >erified by oneEs own e;&eriene*

7his definition shows that until we see them foroursel>es, they are not ultimate realities for us* 2e may take,for e;am&le, ?ibbna* ?ibbna is the hi'hest of the ultimaterealities* Until we see ?ibbna for oursel>es, until we reali@e?ibbna for oursel>es, it is not yet an ultimate reality for us* 6

may say, ay 6 attain ?ibbnaT or ay you attain ?ibbnaTor 6 do this meritorious deed so 6 may 'et to ?ibbna*T 2ealways say that* 2hen we say, ?ibbnaT, the ?ibbna we aretakin' in our mind is not the real ?ibbna* 6t is 5ust the name8one&t, ?ibbna* ut when we see it for oursel>es, when wee;&eriene the enli'htenment for oursel>es, then we will know?ibbna throu'h diret e;&eriene* Only then will ?ibbnabeome ultimate reality for us* Until we reah that sta'e,althou'h ?ibbna is an ultimate reality, it is not yet an

ultimate reality for us*

For somethin' to beome an ultimate reality it must bereal as it is stated* 6t must not be otherwise than is stated* 6fit is said there is onsiousness, there is onsiousness* Also itmust be e;&eriened by oneself* 6t is to be seen by oneselfthrou'h diret e;&eriene*

7here are similes or e;am&les to e;&lain ultimatereality and on>entional reality* 7he most ob>ious is a house*2hat we all a house is not ultimate reality* 7he ultimatereality is the &arts* 2ithout these &arts there an be no house*6f you take away these &arts one by one, you donEt ha>e ahouse*

7he same is true for a man* 6f you ut that man into&iees one by one, you lose the man* 7here is 5ust a hea& of

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different &arts of the body* 6t is 5ust a simile* 2hat is real in aman is 5ust the &arts and not the whole* 2ithout the &artsthere is no whole*

Another e;am&le is a irle of fire* 7hat is >ery ob>ious*Boes a irle of fire really e;istM 6f 6 &ik u& a torh and mo>eit round, you say that you see a irle of fire* ut you knowthere is no irle of fire* 7here is fire at different &laes on theirumferene of the irle* Cour mind takes all these &oints

and onstruts a whole irle* Atually there is no irle of fire*=>erybody knows that* 7he irle of fire is 1aNNatti* 6t does notreally e;ist* 2hat really e;ists is the li'ht of the fire atdifferent &laes one at a time, one at eah moment* 2e are soade&t at onstrutin' these thou'hts, these ima'es into awhole that we think we see a irle of fire* ut atually wedonEt see a irle of fire*

7hat is beause our minds work >ery, >ery fast* 2edonEt reali@e it when we are ordinarily talkin' or s&eakin'*2hen we onsider a hild learnin' to read, we an see how themind works >ery uikly* 2hen a hild learns to read, it has tos&ell* 6t annot read ri'ht away* He has to s&ell out the word

LtwoI, for e;am&le* 7hen he knows it is the word LtwoI, but nowyou know it ri'ht away* Cou donEt ha>e to think of anythin'*Cou think you donEt ha>e to onstrut it* 6t is like seondnature to you* Cou 5ust read the word, the word LtwoI or a lon'

word like Lom&rehensionI or LmeditationI or whate>er* 6n orderto read a lon' word like Lom&rehensionI, you ha>e to read allthe letters* 7hen your mind onstruts or om&oses all theseletters into one whole* For a hild it may take two seonds, butfor you it does not take e>en a seond* 7his thinkin' is alwayswith us, but with thin's familiar to us we are not aware of thatthinkin'* 2ith thin's unfamiliar to us suh thinkin' beomesa&&arent*

4et us look at a line of ants* 6s there a line of antsM Cou

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take the indi>idual ants away and you lose the line* 7here isno line of ants* ut &eo&le say, 6 see a line of ants*T Our mindonstruts it into a line, but atually there is no line of ants* Aline is a one&t* A line is an illusion* Only the indi>idual antsare real*

A &iee of ro&e is made u& of small fibers or strands* 6fyou take away the small strands one by one, you will not ha>ea ro&e at all* 2hat really e;ists is 5ust the small threads, 5ust

the small strands* 6f you &ut them bak to'ether, then you saythere is a ro&e* 2hat you all a ro&e atually is an illusion*2hat e;ists are those threads or small fibers*

Cou look at a ri>er and you think the water is alwaysthere* Cou know that e>ery seond there is new water flowin'*7here are many similes to demonstrate the ultimate truth andthe on>entional truth* 7hese are 5ust some of the similes* For

e;am&le, a ar, we say that a ar is a on>ention and the &artsare ultimate truth* Of ourse e>en the &arts are not ultimatetruth yet* 6f you break it down to the smallest &artile, that&artile is the ultimate truth* 7he smallest &artile of matter isthe ultimate truth*

7here are two kinds of truth on>entional truth andultimate truth* Abhidhamma deals mostly with ultimate truth*

6 say LmostlyI beause there are se>en books of Abhidhammaand one book deals with one&ts* Besi'nation of 7y&es ofein's (1u''ala&aNNatti) that book does not deal withultimate truth* 7hat book is about kinds of &ersons* 4etEs sayAbhidhamma deals mostly with ultimate truth*

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Four 0inds of 3$timate Truth

#itta

7here are four kinds of ultimate truths ae&ted inAbhidhamma* 7he first is %itta* %itta is translated asonsiousness* 2hat is %ittaM %itta is the &ure awareness ofthe ob5et* Here awareness means 5ust &ure awareness, notthe awareness we use in meditation* 6n meditation we use theword LawarenessI* Awareness in meditation is atually

mindfulness* 6n definin' the word L%ittaI, awareness means5ust the bare awareness* 6t is knowin' that somethin' is there*6t is somethin' like that* 7hat &ure or bare awareness of theob5et is what is alled L%ittaI in Abhidhamma* 7he word

LonsiousnessI is not an adeuate word for the 1 i word L%ittaI* 7here is no better word for it, so we ha>e to ae&t itas the translation for the word L%ittaI* 2hene>er we use theword LonsiousnessI, &lease understand in the Abhidhammasense and not in the sense known by ommon &eo&le*

%onsiousness is the &ure or bare awareness of the ob5et* 6tis like water whih is lear*

%itta is ne>er without an ob5et* Aordin' toAbhidhamma, we annot blok our minds from ob5ets e>enthou'h we are fast aslee&* 2e still ha>e this flow ofonsiousness 'oin' on* And so lon' as there isonsiousness, there is the ob5et of that onsiousness* 7hat

ob5et is obsure* So we are not aware of that ob5et* Atuallythere is an ob5et* 7hat ob5et ser>es as somethin' for theonsiousness to hold on to* =>en when we are fast aslee&,e>en when we ha>e fainted or e>en when we are underanesthesia, there is onsiousness 'oin'* %onsiousness isne>er without an ob5et* 6t is always with us* 2hether we areaslee& or awake, or whate>er we are doin', there is alwaysonsiousness* 6n our life there is not a sin'le moment whenwe are without onsiousness* %on>entionally we say he is

unonsious* 7hat means he has lost onsiousness* 6n anordinary sense that is true* Aordin' to Abhidhamma, he still

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has onsiousness* 7here is still awareness of an ob5et* 6nthat ase it is awareness of an obsure ob5et* %itta is ne>erwithout an ob5et* And %itta is always with us*

2e uddhists ae&t rebirth* %itta always 'oes on andon, not that it is &ermanent* 7his flow of %itta, this ontinuityof %itta 'oes on and on* %ittas are always with us*

7here are synonyms for the word L%ittaI* 6 think youshould understand these words* 7he first one is ViNN a* 6n the formula for Be&endent Ori'ination the word LViNN aI is used* Sa khra8&aay ViNN a * LViNN aI means %itta* Sometimes LanaI is used* Sometimes L%etaI is also used* Couwill find the word L%etasikaI* 7he ne;t ultimate reality is%etasika* 7here you ha>e %eta* L%etaI means mind* 7hensometimes mind or %itta is alled anasa* Sometimes it ise>en alled Hadaya* LHadayaI means the heart* oth in =n'lish

and in 1 i and &erha&s in other lan'ua'es as well, the heart and the mind are onneted* 7he word LheartI is a synonym for%itta or onsiousness or the mind* 2e say, He has a 'oodheartT or somethin' like that* 7hat does not mean the &hysialheart* 6t means he has a 'ood frame of mind* 7hese words arethe synonyms of the word L%ittaI* Sometimes es&eially whensomethin' is written in >erses, writers may use these words toonform to the meter of the >erse* Sometimes you need onlytwo syllables* Other times you need three syllables* 2hen you

need three syllables, you will use ViNN a* 2hen you need only two syllables, you may use %itta or ana* 7hese are thesynonyms of %itta*

7here are K9 or #!# ty&es of %ittas or onsiousnessreo'ni@ed in Abhidhamma or tau'ht in Abhidhamma* 6n thisfirst ha&ter we will study the different ty&es of onsiousnessin detail*

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#etasi(a

7he seond ultimate reality is %etasika* Cou find theword L%etaI there* 6t is translated as mental fators, mentalonomitants or maybe by some other names also* 7hedefinition is these whih are yoked on %itta or those whih areyoked with %itta* 7hat means those whih arise to'ether with%itta de&endin' on it* 7hat is why they are alled %etasika*%eta is synonymous with %itta* 7hose that de&end on %eta fortheir arisin' are alled %etasika* %etasikas are those that ariseto'ether or at the same time with %itta* Only when %itta arises

an they arise* 6f there is no %itta arisin', they annot arise*%itta and %etasikas arise at the same moment, at the sametime, but if there is no %itta, there an be no %etasikas*

%itta is bare awareness of the ob5et, that is like aonnetion between yourself and the ob5et* 2ithout thatonnetion how an one e;&eriene the ob5etM How an therebe feelin' for that ob5etM How an there be understandin' of

that ob5etM How an there be rememberin' of that ob5etMHow an there be attahment to that ob5etM 6n order forthese mental states to arise there needs to be %itta* %itta issomethin' like the onnetion between you and the ob5et*%etasikas are those that de&end on %itta for their arisin'*7hey arise to'ether with %itta*

7here are four harateristis of %etasikas* Atually youwill learn these four harateristis in the seond ha&ter* -ustso you will ha>e a taste of what %etasikas are 6 &ut them here*

#* 7hey must arise to'ether with %itta at the samemoment, at the same time*

!* 7hey must &erish or disa&&ear with %itta* So they ariseand disa&&ear to'ether with %itta*

+* 7hey must ha>e the same ob5et as %itta* 6f the %ittatakes >isible ob5et as ob5et, then the %etasikas also

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take >isible ob5et as ob5et* 7here is no suh thin' as%itta takin' one ob5et and %etasikas takin' anotherob5et* 7hat is im&ossible* 7hey must ha>e the sameob5et* 7hey must take the same ob5et as %itta takes*

0* 7hey must ha>e a ommon base* %ommon base means for e;am&le, seein' onsiousness de&ends on theeye* 6f you ha>e no eyes, you do not see* 7here will beno seein' onsiousness* Seein' onsiousness is saidto de&end on the eye* Hearin' onsiousness de&endson the ear* Smellin' onsiousness de&ends on the

nose* 7astin' onsiousness de&ends on the ton'ue*7ouhin' onsiousness de&ends on the body* 3nowin'onsiousness de&ends on the mind* 7hey must ha>e aommon base* 6f %itta de&ends on the eye, then%etasikas must also de&end on the eye* 7hese are thefour harateristis* 6f any &henomenon answers tothese four harateristis, that &henomenon is alled a%etasika*

7here are some material &ro&erties that arise with %ittaand &erish to'ether with %itta* ut they do not take an ob5et*7hey do not ha>e a ommon base* So they are not alled%etasikas* Cou will understand that later*

7hese are the four harateristis of %etasikas* 6n orderto know if somethin' is a %etasika, we an hek with thesefour harateristis* 6f they ha>e four harateristis, then wean say they are %etasikas* 7hey must arise simultaneouslywith %itta* 7hey must disa&&ear simultaneously with %itta*7hey must ha>e the same ob5et with %itta* 7hey must ha>e aommon base or de&end on the same base with %itta*

How many %et

handbook of abhidhamma studies i

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