ធម្មបទ Dhammapada
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Wednesday, June 12, 2013
By Panduka Mahanama in
Daily News,
Wednesday march 29, 2000
Abhidhamma as the name implies is the higher or special
teaching of all Samma Sambuddhas. The teachings of Gotama Buddha, the last
Samma Sambuddha were recorded in the Theravada Tipitaka. It is composed of
three sections, namely the Vinaya, Sutta and Abhidhamma. The Vinaya Pitaka
contains the 220 rules of conduct mainly for bhikkhus and bhikkhunis and the
regulations governing the Sangha. The Sutta Pitaka is a collection of the
summaries of the important discourses of the Buddha, which he delivered to
various persons, including celestial beings (Devas and Brahmas).
These discourses were delivered on various occasions,
during the last 45 years of his life after he became the Buddha. There is no
continuity or coherence in the Suttas as they have been directed to individuals
or groups of beings of various levels of mental development, to suit them. The
Abhidhamma Pitaka contains a gist of the Buddha’s special teaching in a
systematic and graduated manner. According to the Abhidhamma philosophy there
are two kinds of Truths, (1) The Conventional Truth –Sammuti Sacca, and (2) The
Ultimate or Absolute Truth –Paramattha Sacca, Conventional truth is used in
everyday speech, to understand each other. The Absolute truth or paramattha,
the real nature of ourselves and what is there, all around us have been
expounded. Ultimate truths are those that actually exist by reason of their
intrinsic nature of phenomena. They are final, irreducible components of
existence. These ultimate entities are called Dhammas.
In the Sutta Pitaka, the Buddha has mostly used the
conventional terms, such as man, tree, table etc. whereas in Abhidhamma, the
items referred in conventional terms, have been expounded in terms of Absolute
truth. Even Buddha has used the conventional terms in everyday speech, to
explain the teaching, as they are accepted as true by convention. An example of
a conventional truth is “the sun rises in the morning and sets in the
evening’ which is conventionally accepted as true. But scientifically
it is now known that the rising and setting of the sun is an illusion we see
due to the rotation of the earth. Thus Conventional truth is a relative truth.
Abhidhamma is scientific and accurate as they are Absolute Truths, as seen by
the Buddha Eye. In Abhidhamma, inanimate things such as tree is referred to as
a collection of Elements of Matter of Rupa. Animate objects, such as Man are
explained as primarily composed of two components namely, Mind and Matter, or
Nama and Rupa. These two are further examined as formed of the Five Aggregates
or Pancakkhandha, 12 Sense Bases of Ayatana, 18 Elements or Dhatu, and 22
Faculties or Indriya. These are clearly explained in the Abhidhamma.
Both the Sutta and Abhidhamma are based upon the Buddha’s
one and only mission, namely, to get rid of all suffering in Samsara, the cycle
of births and deaths. In Abhidhamma there is a thorough and complete exposition
of the path leading to Nibbana. The Sutta discourses can be
compared to a collection of prescriptions
of a doctor while the Abhidhamma is like the graduated, systematic teaching
imparted to students, in the medical faculty of a university.
In the Suttas the
Buddha usually used conventional language (vohara-vacana). There he refers to
man, women, I, you, etc., even self as they are accepted as true in ordinary
life. Abhidhamma explains the Ultimate or Absolute Truths, (Paramattha-sacca)
as the final elements or Dhatu, their characteristics, their functions and
their inter-relations. However, to some extent the two overlap, hence a
knowledge of Abhidhamma helps one to easily and correctly understand the
abstruse Suttas, such as Satipathana Sutta, Dhatuvibhanga Sutta, etc. Ahidhamma
initially enumerates four Ultimate Realities-‘Paramattha Dhamma’, They are:
(i) Consciousness- citta or Vinnana,
(ii) Mental factor-cetasika,
(iii) Elements
of matter-rupa, and
(iv) Nibbana.
Mind is a series of thoughts. An element of thought is a
combination of Vinnana or consciousness and the appropriate mental factors,
cetasikas. For thought to arise there must be an object,-‘arammana’, and a
thought base- ‘vatthu’. An element of thought exists only for a minute fraction
of a second, called cittakhana. An element of Rupa exists for 17 such thought moments or cittakhana.
Consciousness or Vinnana has been defined as the knowing, cognizing or
awareness of an object- tarammana. The Abhidhammattha Sangaha is a book which
summarizes the seven books of the Abhidhamma Pitaka. There the Four Common
Characteristics of Cetasika, mental factors are stated as follows:- ‘Ekuppada
nirodhaca, ekalambana vatthuka, Cetoyutta dvipannasa, dhamma cetasika mata’
(i)
ekuppada-arise together with consciousness,
(ii) ekanirodha-cease together with
consciousness,
(iii) ekalambana- have the same object as consciousness, and
(iv) ekavatthuka-have the same base as consciousness.
Buddha has identified 52 different mental factors, which
combine with the Consciousness or Vinnana to form 89 different types of
thoughts or Citta. The 52 cetasika have been broadly classified into (i) 07-
Universals or sabbacitta-sadharana, those common to all 89 thoughts.
(ii)
06-Occasionals or pakinnaka, similar to universals but occurring only in some
thoughts.
(iii) 14- Unwholesome or akusala
(iv) 25-wholesome or beautiful-Sobhana.
In Abhidhamma the Buddha has analyzed the 89 types of citta and has
stated the cetasika that are associated with each citta. He has also clearly
stated the cittas in which a particular cetasika will be found and not found.
This explanation is accurate, useful and interesting. It is called the ‘sangaha
and sampayoga naya’ the laws of combination of mental factors. The difficulty
of this exercise can be realized by the example given in the Milinda Panha,
namely, that it is much more difficult to analyze thought elements, that lasts
only for a minute fraction of a second, than taking a cup of water from the
ocean and separating same as to the different rivers from which they flowed
into the sea. Only a Samma Sambuddha will be able to do such a feat.
This alone shows that the Abhidhamma originated from the
Buddha and not a later development as stated by some writers of Buddhism,
particularly of the West. The third absolute reality Rupa, refers to the
ultimate elements of all matter. They are primarily four in
number and are
named the great
Elements or Mahabhuta-rupa. All
material
objects including our bodies are composed of these four,
namely- pathavi, apo, tejo, and vayo. These four
are explained in the Sutta Pitaka as earth, water, fire, and air, respectively,
but in Abhidhamma they are more accurately defined as follows. Pathavi as the
energy of the elements of hardness or softness. Apo as the element of cohesion,
Tejo as the element of heat or cold etc., and Vayo as the element of expansion
and contraction etc. The truth of this can be realized by the fact that water
is not apo alone but contains all these four elements. In fact
all matter is composed of these four primary elements and the other 24 derived
or Upadaya Rupa, which are different manifestations of the primary four
elements. Matter differs according to the percentage of each component.
Nibbana, the last of the parama-sacca explained in Abhidhamma is the supreme
eternal happiness.
It is the only
unconditioned element-asankhatha dhatu, as it is not formed due to conditions.
The others are conditioned –Sankhata. All that tis formed due to varies
conditions perish as soon as they are formed, hence impermanent or anicca. Nibbana
is a permanent reality as it is unconditioned. It is the object of all
Supramundane or lokuttara citta. In
Abhidhamma, how the mind develops up to the Supramunane level is clearly
explained. Nibbana can be experienced in this life by eradicating the
unwholesome cetasika. The lokuttara magga citta has the power of eradicating
the unwholesome cetasika. For supramunadane thoughts to arise and experience
Nibbana, Moha, the mental factor, which prevents the true nature of other
phenomena to be observed, must be gradually eliminated. Moha is common to all
unwholesome thoughts i.e. akusala-sadharanacetasika. It is the root cause of
all evil and leads to the arising of the other two akusak roots namely,
lobha-attachment and dosa-resentment, these three causes all the suffering in
the world. According to Abhidhamma, the 14 unwholesome cetasika with
Moha at the head, give rise to only 12 types of akusala citta unwholesome
thoughts.
Moha or avija can be gradually eliminated with
wisdom-Panna. Learning Abhidhamma intelligently and thinking and pondering over
it, leads to Sutamaya Panna and Cintamaya Panna respectively. In sight or
Vipassana meditation leads one to develop wisdon and completely eliminate moha,
which leads to the realization of Nibbana through Bhavanamaya Panna. Vipassana
meditation reveals the Absolute Truth contained in Abhidhamma. Another
distinguishing feature in Abhidhamma is the explanation given in the last book
of the Abhidhamma Pitaka, called Patthana, where He has explained the Law of Cause
and Effect in more detail than in the Paticca Samuppada, the law of dependent
origination. There 24 conditional relations are explained in full. Buddha has
stated that when he was pondering over intricacies of the Patthana, which is
found only in the Abhidhamma, near the Bodhi tree, a few weeks after He was
enlightened, He was so happy that coloured rays started to emanate from His
body for the first time. The Theravada school, which is the Original Buddhism
maintain that the Abhidhamma Pitaka except the Kathavattu, (book in which some
controversies have been cleared) is the authentic world of the Buddha.
Kathavattu was added to the abhidhamma Pitaka, in the time
of King Asoka, after the third convention- Sangayana by Arahat Moggaliputta
Tissa. He presided at that convention of 1000 Arahats, where misconceptions
that were prevalent at that time were discussed and rectified.
Abhidhamma Pitaka
was approved by the thousands of Arahats who participated at the three councils
or Sangayana. Most of them catu-patisambhida Arahats, who had four special
analytical knowledged, comprising attha, dhamma, nirutti and patibhana, attha
means the ability to know the exact and true meaning of the Buddha word. The Tipitaka was written down in Sri Lanka
about 400 years after the Buddha, not by ordinary monks but by Arahats.
They had realized Nibbana and had perfect memories; hence
it is not prudent of doubt the veracity of the contents of Abhidhamma Pitaka.
The Abhidhamma is simultaneously a Philosophy, a Psychology and an Ethics. All
explained with the liberation of a person from suffering in the cycle of births
and death, in view. It is a philosophy as it proposes an ontology, which is a
branch of metaphysics dealing with the nature of a real being. It is a psychology
as it reveals the true nature of the mind and its activities in full. It is an
ethical system as the wholesome-kusala, unwholesome-akusala and their
Resultants-Vipaka are completely classified, analyzed and explained in clear
terms. It is a complete guide to noble living and mental purification.
A basic knowledge of Abhidhamma is useful to lead a
contented life. It enables one to identify and avoid evil-akusala, which
invariably has the potency to produce suffering as Akusala-vipaka, in this
birth itself or anytime in the future. By cultivating powerful trihetuka-kusala
with wisdom, it is possible to suppress to past Akusala Vipaka.
Labels:What is Abhidhamma?
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