Our navigation bar is loading . . .

Helping San Diego, California and beyond since 1997.

Do you need volunteer, community service, work, military or court hours?

Click here and add this page to your favorites!

Encyclopedia Britannica

ABHIDHAMMA

This article appears in Volume V01, Page 62 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: A10-ADA

ABHIDHAMMA , the name of one of the three Pitakas,_ or baskets of tradition, into which the Buddhist scriptures (see BUDDHISM) are divided. It consists of seven works: 1. Dhamma
Sangani (enumeration of qualities). 2. Vibhanga (exposition).
3. Kathy Vatthu (bases of

opinion

OPINION (Lat. opinio, from opinari, to think)

). 4. Puggala Pannatti (on
individuals). 5. Dhatu Kathy (on relations of moral dispositions). 6. Yamaka (the pairs, that is, of ethical states). 7. Patthana (evolution of ethical states). These have now been published by the

Pali

PALI

Text Society. The first has been translated into English, and an abstract of the third has been published. The approximate date of these works is probably from about 400 B.C. to about 250 B.C., the first being the oldest and the third the latest of the seven. Before the publication of the texts, when they were known only by hearsay, the

term

TERM

Abhidlzamma was usually rendered "Metaphysics." This is now seen to be 'quite erroneous. Dhamma means the

doctrine

DOCTRINE

, and Abhidlzamma has a relation to Dhamma similar to that of by-law to law. It expands, classifies, tabulates, draws corollaries from the ethical doctrines laid down in the more popular

treatises

TREATISES

. There is no metaphysics in it at all, only psychological ethics of a peculiarly dry and scholastic kind. And there is no originality in it; only endless permutations and combinations of doctrines already known and accepted. As in the course of centuries the

doctrine

DOCTRINE

itself, in certain schools, varied, it was felt necessary to rewrite these secondary works. This was first done, so far as is at present known, by the Sarvastivadins (Realists), who in the century before and after Christ produced a fresh set of seven Abhidlamma books. These are lost India, but still exist in Chinese translations. The translations have been analysed in a masterly way by Professor Takakusu in the article mentioned below. They deal only with psychological ethics. In the course of further centuries these books in turn were superseded by new

treatises

TREATISES

; and in one school at least,: that of the Maha-yana (

great

GREAT

vehicle) there was eventually developed a

system

SYSTEM

of metaphysics. But the word Abhidhamma then fell out of use in that school, though it is stillused in the schools that continue to follow the

original

ORIGINAL

seven books.
See Buddhist Psychology by Caroline Rhys Davids (London, 1900), a

translation

TRANSLATION

of the Dhamma Sangani, with valuable introduction; "Schools of Buddhist Belief," by T. W. Rhys Davids, in

Journal

JOURNAL
JOURNAL (through Fr. from late Lat. diurnalis, daily)

of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1892, contains an abstract of the Kathy Vatthu; "On the Abhidlamma books of the Sarvastivadins," by Prof. Takakusu, in

Journal

JOURNAL
JOURNAL (through Fr. from late Lat. diurnalis, daily)

of the

Pali

PALI

Text Society, 1905.
(T. W. R. D.)

End of Article: ABHIDHAMMA

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/A10_ADA/ABHIDHAMMA.html">
ABHIDHAMMA
</a>

(Previous)
ABGENTON

(Next)
ABHORRERS

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email