{"id":54729,"date":"2016-05-16T15:48:02","date_gmt":"2016-05-16T22:48:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=54729"},"modified":"2016-05-16T15:55:26","modified_gmt":"2016-05-16T22:55:26","slug":"controversies-on-the-origin-of-the-theravada-abhidhamma-pitaka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2016\/05\/16\/controversies-on-the-origin-of-the-theravada-abhidhamma-pitaka\/","title":{"rendered":"Controversies on the Origin of the Theravada Abhidhamma-pitaka"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Bhikkhu Karmananda Tanchangya<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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Editor’s note: This feature was first published in the now-retired Bodhi Journal, Issue 6, December 2007. <\/em><\/p>\n

The\u00a0Abhidhamma-pitaka<\/em>\u00a0is the third Basket\u00a0(pitaka<\/em>)<\/em>\u00a0of the\u00a0Theravada Tipitaka.\u00a0<\/em>The Pali<\/em>\u00a0term\u00a0\u2018Abhidhamma\u2019<\/em>\u00a0has an ambiguous meaning, of which two primary meanings given in the\u00a0Pali\u00a0tradition are noteworthy:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0auxiliary\u00a0(atireka)<\/em>\u00a0doctrines and<\/div>\n
2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0exceptional\/superior\/highest\u00a0(visesa\/vasisaha\/uttama)<\/em>\u00a0doctrine.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Ven. Buddhaghosa,<\/em>\u00a0the great\u00a0Pa<\/em>li<\/em>\u00a0commentator, defines the term\u00a0\u2018Abhidhamma\u2019<\/em>\u00a0as \u2013 \u2018that which exceeds and is distinguished from the\u00a0Dhamma<\/em>\u2019.\u00a0Abhidhamma,\u00a0<\/em>therefore, holistically conveys the meaning of \u2018special\/supplementary teachings of the Buddha\u2019. Traditionally, the\u00a0Abhidhamma-pitaka<\/em>\u00a0contains seven books viz.: (i) The Book of Enumeration of Phenomena, (ii) The Book of Analysis, (iii) The Book of Discussion on Elements, (iv) The Book of Individual Concepts, (v) The Book of Points of Controversy, (vi) The Book of Pairs, and (vii) The Book of Synthesis.<\/div>\n
\"The<\/div>\n
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Unlike the unanimously accepted Sutta-Vinaya-pitakas, the authenticity and authority of\u00a0Abhidhamma<\/em>\u00a0as direct Words of the Buddha\u00a0(Buddha-vacana)\u00a0<\/em>remains as a controversy.<\/div>\n
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The\u00a0Theravada\u00a0orthodoxy, nonetheless, based on the\u00a0Atthasalini<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>(Buddhaghosa\u2019s commentary to the 1st book of\u00a0Abhidhamma<\/em>), holds the popular traditional view that Buddha himself was the first\u00a0A<\/em>bhidhammika,\u00a0<\/em>adding that in the fourth week after His enlightenment, Buddha contemplated the seven books of the\u00a0Abhidhamma-pitaka.<\/em>\u00a0The commentary further mentions that prior to his 7th annual rainy retreats, Buddha, having ascended to the\u00a0Tavatimsa\u00a0<\/em>heaven, preached the\u00a0Abhidhamma<\/em>\u00a0at a full stretch of three months to the gods assembled from ten thousand world systems headed by his mother goddess\u00a0Mahamaya Devi<\/em>. The reason for this is that in order to have a complete picture of\u00a0Abhidhamma,<\/em>\u00a0it should be taught unceasingly from the beginning to the end; and only the gods, it is said, could remain in one position for full three months. Being human, however, Buddha came down onto earth for his\u00a0midday\u00a0meals leaving behind a self-created image of himself to continue the session in his absence. While on earth He met\u00a0Ven. Sariputta\u00a0and transmitted the\u00a0Abhidhamma<\/em>\u00a0to him who in return taught to his own set of disciples. Subsequently, the\u00a0Abhidhamma<\/em>\u00a0was retained in an oral transmission for generations up until the final writing down of the\u00a0Tipitaka\u00a0<\/em>in\u00a0Sri Lanka\u00a0in the 1st century B.C.<\/div>\n
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The traditional view, as we shall see below, has a number of inconsistencies, if not defects, which hardly correspond with the evidential information we have in\u00a0Suttas,<\/em>\u00a0Commentaries and Chronicles about the origin of the\u00a0Abhidhamma-pitaka.<\/em><\/div>\n
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Firstly, the\u00a0Pali\u00a0commentaries state that one of the conditions under which\u00a0Ven.\u00a0Ananda\u00a0became Buddha\u2019s chief attendant was that the latter should repeat to the former what has been preached to others in his absence. Accordingly, Buddha should have transmitted the\u00a0Abhidhamma,<\/em>\u00a0preached in\u00a0Tavatimsa\u00a0to\u00a0Ven. Ananda,<\/em>\u00a0not to\u00a0Ven. Sariputta.\u00a0<\/em>Further, why did Buddha preach\u00a0Abhidhamma<\/em>\u00a0in\u00a0Tavatimsa\u00a0and not in\u00a0Tusita\u00a0where his mother was supposed to have reborn as a\u00a0deva?<\/div>\n
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Secondly while referring to His teachings, Buddha explicitly said\u00a0\u2018<\/em>Dhamma\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Vinaya\u00a0(Disciplines) preached and promulgated by me would be your teacher when I am gone\u2019. This suggests that if\u00a0Abhidhamma<\/em>\u00a0ever existed in the first place, Buddha would have mentioned alongside the\u00a0Dhamma<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Vinaya.<\/em>\u00a0The\u00a0Cullavaggapa<\/em>li\u00a0<\/em>of the\u00a0Vinaya-pitaka,<\/em>\u00a0one of the most authentic\u00a0<\/em>Theravadin\u00a0texts, records the proceedings of the first Buddhist council held just three months after the demise of the Buddha. In that account, quite surprisingly, there is no mention of the recital of the\u00a0Abhidhamma-pitaka.<\/em>\u00a0However \u2018the three parts of the\u00a0(<\/em>Pali)\u00a0Canon are referred to for the first time in a late part of the\u00a0Sutta-vibhanga<\/em>\u00a0in the\u00a0Vinaya-(pitaka)<\/em>\u2019. This is followed by the\u00a0Sumangalavila<\/em>si<\/em>ni<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>(the commentary to the\u00a0Digha Nikaya<\/em>\u00a0by\u00a0Ven. Buddhaghosa<\/em>),which says in its introduction that the\u00a0Abhidhamma-pitaka<\/em>\u00a0was also recited alongside the\u00a0Dhamma<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Vinaya-pitakas<\/em>. This claim is supported by the\u00a0Dhi<\/em>ga-<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Majjhima-bhan<\/em>akas<\/em>\u00a0of the\u00a0Pali\u00a0Bhan<\/em>aka<\/em>\u00a0tradition.<\/div>\n
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However, the\u00a0Maha<\/em>vamsa<\/em>, a prominent Sri Lankan\u00a0<\/em>Pali\u00a0chronicle, concludes its introduction to the account of the first Buddhist council saying\u00a0\u2018Dhamma-vinaya\u2019<\/em>\u00a0was recited (no mention of\u00a0Abhidhamma<\/em>). Nonetheless the fourth chapter of the same chronicle says that the participants in the second Buddhist council, held a century after Buddha\u2019s demise, were\u00a0\u2018Pitakattayadh<\/em>a<\/em>rins\u2019<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 a term suggesting that the participants were \u2018Bearers of the\u00a0Tipitaka<\/em>\u2019 (i.e.\u00a0Sutta, Vinaya<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Abhidhamma).<\/em><\/strong><\/div>\n
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Further the fifth chapter of the same chronicle claims that the participants of the third council, held roughly three hundreds after Buddha\u2019s demise, were\u00a0\u2018Tipitakas\u2019<\/em>\u00a0a term also suggesting the participants were \u2018Masters of the\u00a0Tipitaka<\/em>\u2019. According to the\u00a0Maha<\/em>vamsa\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0and some other authentic texts like\u00a0Cullavaggapa<\/em>li\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0accounts, it\u2019s much justifiable to assume that the recitation or perhaps the formation of the\u00a0Abhidhamma-pitaka<\/em>\u00a0probably took place after the first Buddhist council.<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Bhikkhu KL Dhammajoti, referring to the\u00a0Abhidhamma-pitaka<\/em>\u00a0as the last of the\u00a0Tipitaka,<\/em>\u00a0says, without coming to a specific conclusion regarding the origin of\u00a0Abhidhamma<\/em>, \u2018this very probably reflects the historical fact that the\u00a0Abhidharma<\/em>\u00a0texts were evolved and compiled as a\u00a0pitaka<\/em>\u00a0later than the other two\u2019. Here if it was so, then it was also logical to conclude that the\u00a0Vinaya-pitaka<\/em>\u00a0was composed later than the\u00a0Sutta-pitaka<\/em>\u00a0for, the former position comes after the latter. But from the ongoing discussion we are aware that the\u00a0Sutta-<\/em>\u00a0and the\u00a0Vinaya-pitakas<\/em>\u00a0were recited almost simultaneously at the first Buddhist council. It was only a matter of naming the\u00a0pitakas<\/em>\u00a0rather than determining their respective origins by their traditional sequence.<\/div>\n
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Frauwallner<\/em>\u00a0is one of the few scholars who say that the \u2018Abhidhamma-pitaka<\/em>\u00a0originated between 2nd century BC and 2nd century AD\u2019.<\/strong> This date, to a large extent, is contradictory because the\u00a0Atthakathas\u00a0and the\u00a0Vatsakathas\u00a0have it that the\u00a0Abhidhamma-pitaka<\/em>\u00a0came to an end after\u00a0Ven. Moggallaputta Tissa,<\/em>\u00a0the president of the third council, composed and compiled the last book of the\u00a0Abhidhamma-pitaka<\/em>\u00a0immediately after the council and that the whole of the\u00a0Pa<\/em>li Tipitaka<\/em>\u00a0together with its commentaries was committed to writing in the first century B.C. Accordingly, the full\u00a0Abhidhamma-pitaka<\/em>\u00a0was already extant one century before the date given by\u00a0Frauwallner\u00a0as the origin of the\u00a0Abhidhamma-pitaka.<\/em><\/div>\n
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Thus the modern scholarship is yet to arrive at a unanimous conclusion on the origin of the\u00a0Abhidhamma-pitaka.\u00a0<\/em>What the modern scholars like\u00a0Hinuber<\/em>\u00a0could suggest is that \u2018the\u00a0Abhidhamma-pitaka<\/em>\u00a0is considerably younger than both\u00a0Sutta-<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Vinaya-pitakas\u2019<\/em>. Hence, the modern scholarship concludes that\u00a0Abhidhamma<\/em>\u00a0was a gradual development, interpretation, further elaboration, organization and systematization of the teachings found in the\u00a0Sutta-pitaka.<\/em>\u00a0Terms like\u00a0\u2018abhidhamme\u2019<\/em>\u00a0often alongside\u00a0\u2018abhivinaye\u2019<\/em>\u00a0occur in the\u00a0Sutta-<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Vinaya-pitakas,<\/em>but this particular term does not necessarily mean the form of standardized\u00a0Abdhidhamma<\/em>\u00a0we have today. However since some\u00a0suttas<\/em>\u00a0have the characteristics of\u00a0Abhidhamma<\/em>\u00a0we shall see some of them below so to determine how far it\u2019s logical to say that\u00a0Abhidhamma<\/em>\u00a0has its origin in the\u00a0Sutta-pitaka.<\/em><\/div>\n
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The\u00a0Maha<\/em>gosihgasutta<\/em>\u00a0of the\u00a0Majjhima<\/em>\u00a0Nika<\/em>ya<\/em>\u00a0refers to monks like Venerables\u00a0Sariputta, Mahakassapa,\u00a0Moggallana\u00a0and so on engaged in\u00a0\u2018abhidhammakatha<\/em>\u2019<\/em>\u00a0in the form of questioning and answering.<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Similarly we find\u00a0\u2018vedalla-katha<\/em>\u2019<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 also a question and answering session on doctrinal issues either between the Buddha and disciples or among the disciples themselves. Accordingly the\u00a0Maha<\/em>vedallsutta<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Ca<\/em>lavedallasutta<\/em>of\u00a0Majjhima Nika<\/em>ya\u00a0<\/em>are a testament to this category.<\/div>\n
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Further in the\u00a0Suttanta<\/em>\u00a0we also find\u00a0\u2018Vibhanga\u00a0<\/em>(exposition)-methodological teachings in brief and summarized manner which are to be further elaborated on either by Buddha himself or by a proficient disciple.<\/div>\n
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Apart from these, the most important of the\u00a0Abhidhammic<\/em>\u00a0style teachings found in the\u00a0suttanta<\/em>\u00a0are the\u00a0\u2018mi<\/em>tikas\u2019<\/em>\u2013 meaning (as defined by\u00a0Bhikkhu KL Dhammajoti<\/em>) \u2018a matrix in the form of a list summarily enumerating topics to be elaborated upon\u2019. Long lists of such\u00a0mi<\/em>tikas<\/em>\u00a0can be found in\u00a0suttas<\/em>\u00a0like\u00a0Sangi<\/em>tisutta<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Dasuttarasutta<\/em>\u00a0of the\u00a0Di<\/em>gha Nika<\/em>ya<\/em>. Accordingly these\u00a0mi<\/em>tikas<\/em>\u00a0are the basis of all the seven texts of the present day\u00a0Abhidhamma-pitaka.<\/em><\/strong><\/div>\n
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Thus\u00a0mi<\/em>tikas<\/em>\u00a0found in the\u00a0Suttanta<\/em>\u00a0are considered to have served as a major basis for the development and origin of the\u00a0Abhidhamma-pitaka.<\/em>\u00a0This is further pushed forward by the fact that \u2018\u2026in the ancient triple designations given to the specialists of the Buddhist Canon \u2013\u00a0vinaya-dha<\/em>ras, sutta-dha<\/em>ras,<\/em>\u00a0(and)\u00a0mi<\/em>tika-dha<\/em>ras<\/em>\u2019\u00a0were mentioned in stead of\u00a0abhidhamma-dha<\/em>ras<\/em>\u00a0for the last one. So it\u2019s highly logical that\u00a0Abhidhamma<\/em>\u00a0could have resulted from the further elaboration and systematization of such\u00a0mi<\/em>tika<\/em>-type teachings already found in the\u00a0Suttanta<\/em>\u00a0and to a lesser extent the\u00a0<\/strong>Vinaya-pitaka<\/strong>.<\/em><\/div>\n
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Given the highly technical, profound and penetrative teachings contained in the\u00a0Abhidhamma-pi?aka,<\/em>\u00a0often said to be the philosophical, psychological & ethical teachings of the Buddha, it, (the\u00a0Abhidhamma-pitaka<\/em>) is unmistakably the genius work produced by enlightened persons or person, a Buddha or a person equal to Buddha. This is supported by\u00a0Na<\/em>rada<\/em>\u00a0when he says, \u2018whoever the great author or authors of the\u00a0Abhidhamma<\/em>may have been, it has to be admitted that he or they had intellectual genius comparable only to that of the Buddha\u2019. Even though\u00a0Abhidhamma<\/em>\u00a0is said to surpass the\u00a0Suttanta,<\/em>\u00a0the\u00a0voh<\/em>ra-vacana<\/em>, it is certainly not suggested that one is inferior or superior to the other. Both differs only in the scope of exposition and method but both have the enlightenment potentiality \u2013 the door to\u00a0nibbana, for Buddha\u2019s teachings have only one taste\u00a0\u2013\u00a0the taste of\u00a0nibbana, the apex of Buddhist spiritual practice.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Bhikkhu Karmananda Tanchangya Editor’s note: This feature was first published in the now-retired Bodhi Journal, Issue 6, December 2007. The\u00a0Abhidhamma-pitaka\u00a0is the third Basket\u00a0(pitaka)\u00a0of the\u00a0Theravada Tipitaka.\u00a0The Pali\u00a0term\u00a0\u2018Abhidhamma\u2019\u00a0has an ambiguous meaning, of which two primary meanings given in the\u00a0Pali\u00a0tradition are noteworthy: 1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0auxiliary\u00a0(atireka)\u00a0doctrines and 2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0exceptional\/superior\/highest\u00a0(visesa\/vasisaha\/uttama)\u00a0doctrine. \u00a0 Ven. Buddhaghosa,\u00a0the great\u00a0Pali\u00a0commentator, defines the term\u00a0\u2018Abhidhamma\u2019\u00a0as \u2013 \u2018that which exceeds and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-buddhism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54729\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}