ABHIDHAMMĀ There are three Divisions or Baskets of the Buddhist Canon, namely, Division of Discourses (Suttanta Piṭaka), Division of the Code of Discipline for the Order (Vinaya Piṭaka) and Division of Higher Teachings (Abhidhammā Piṭaka). Abhidhammā …. Higher Teachings of Lord Buddha — is so called, because these teachings are special: higher, wider and more profound than the Discourses. Up till now, except for a small number of learned monks and lay people, Abhidhammā remains to be a closed book to the large majority of Buddhists and non-Buddhist foreigners alike. There are seven Books of Abhidhammā, namely, Book of Classification of States (Dhammasaṅgaṇī); Book of Analysis (Vibhaṅga); Book of Discourse on Elements (Dhātukathā); Book of Classification of Individuals (Puggalapaññatti); Book of Points of Controversy (Kathāvatthu); Book of Pairs (Yamaka); and Book of Conditional Relations (Paṭṭhāna). As a matter of fact, Abhidhammā grows out of our daily life. It also comes out of the empirical observation of the insight meditation of mindfulness (vipassanā bhāvanā). As such, it is down-to-earth, realistic, practical and applicable in the handling of our daily life problems. There exist close interrelationships between Abhidhammā and Discourses (Suttanta) and between it and the Code of Discipline. What is special about Abhidhammā is that it is much wider, deeper, more profound and more detailed than the Discourses in the analysis of realities, namely, consciousness, mental factors, matter and Nibbāna. The Institute will devote itself to the teaching in English of Abhidhammā, ranging from basic courses to advanced studies of the original texts of Abhidhammā and new-frontier research work thereon.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Jul 2013 09:03:09 +0000
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