The Tree of Enlightenment
An Introduction to the Major Traditions of Buddhism
by Peter Della Santina
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Part Four
The Abidharma
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Chapter Thirty
An Introduction to the Abhidharma
In Chapters 30 through 41, I will discuss the philosophical and
psychological aspects
of Buddhism presented in the seven books
of the Abhidharma Pitaka of
the Pali canon.
I will not look in great
detail at the lists of factors, or dharmas,
found in many competent
books on the Abhidharma. Instead, my objectives here are three:
(1) to
outline and
describe the principal methods and
characteristics of the Abhidharma,
(2) to relate the
Abhidharma to
what we generally know about the teachings of the Buddha,
and
(3) to
relate Abhidharma philosophy to our situation as lay
Buddhists.
Throughout the history of Buddhism, the Abhidharma has
been held in
high esteem. In
the books of the Pali canon, for
example, the Abhidharma is spoken of
in terms of praise
and
special regard. There the Abhidharma is the special domain of the
elder monks;
novices are even asked not to interrupt the Elders
when they are
engaged in a discussion
of the Abhidharma. We also
find the Abhidharma recommended only for
those who
sincerely
strive to realize the goal of Buddhist practice, and that a
knowledge
of it is
recommended for teachers of the Dharma.
This traditional regard for the Abhidharma is found not only in
the
Theravada tradition
but in other major Buddhist traditions as
well. For instance,
Kumarajiva, the great Central
Asian translator
renowned for his translation of Madhyamaka works into
Chinese,
is said
to have firmly believed that he must introduce the
Abhidharma to the
Chinese if he
wished to teach them Buddhist
philosophy. In the Tibetan tradition,
also, the Abhidharma
is an
important part of monastic training.
Why is the Abhidharma held in such high esteem? The basic
reason is
that a knowledge
of the Abhidharma, in the general sense
of understanding the ultimate
teaching, is
absolutely necessary to
achieve wisdom, which is in turn necessary to
achieve freedom.
No
matter how long one meditates or how virtuous a life one leads,
without insight into
the real nature of things, one cannot achieve
freedom.
A knowledge of the Abhidharma is necessary in order to
apply the
insight into
impermanence, impersonality, and
insubstantiality that we gain from a
reading of the
Sutra Pitaka to
every experience of daily life. All of us may glimpse
impermanence,
impersonality, and insubstantiality through reading the Sutra Pitaka,
but how often can
we apply that momentary intellectual truth to our
daily existence? The
system in the
Abhidharma teaching provides a
mechanism for doing so. A study of the
Abhidharma is
therefore
extremely useful for our practice.
Let us consider the origin and authenticity of the Abhidharma.
The
Theravada school
holds that the Buddha is the source of the
Abhidharma philosophy and
was himself the
first master of the
Abhidharma because, on the night of his
enlightenment, he
penetrated
the essence of the Abhidharma. According to a
traditional account, the
Buddha also spent
the fourth week after his
enlightenment in meditation on the
Abhidharma. This is the
week
known as 'the House of Gems.' Later in his career, it is said that
the
Buddha
visited the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, where his mother
was, and
taught the
Abhidharma to her and the gods. It is said that
when he returned to
earth, he passed on
the essentials of what he
had taught to Sariputta--hardly a
coincidence, since Sariputta
was
his foremost disciple, renowned for his wisdom.
Thus it is claimed in general that it is the Buddha to whom we
owe the
inspiration of the
Abhidharma teaching. This inspiration
was passed on to his disciples
who were
philosophically gifted, like
Sariputta, and by the effort of these
gifted disciples the
general
outline and contents of Abhidharma philosophy were established.
Let us go on to consider the meaning of the term abhidharma.
If we look
carefully at the
Sutra Pitaka, we find this term occurring
frequently, usually in the
general sense of
'meditation about
Dharma,' 'instruction about Dharma,' or 'discussion
about Dharma.'
In a more specific sense, abhidharma means 'special Dharma,'
'higher
Dharma,' or
'further Dharma.' Here, of course, we are using
Dharma in the sense of
doctrine or
teaching, not in the sense of
phenomenon or factor of experience (in
which case it would
not be
capitalized).
There is an even more technical sense in which the term
abhidharma is
used in the Sutra
Pitaka, and in this context dharma
no longer means doctrine in general
but, rather,
phenomenon. This
technical use is associated with another function,
that is to make
distinctions. This most technical use of the term abhidharma has five
aspects, or
meanings: (a) to define dharmas; (b) to ascertain the
relationship
between dharmas; (c) to
analyze dharmas; (d) to
classify dharmas, and (e) to arrange dharmas in
numerical order.
The Buddhist canon is divided into three collections (literally,
'baskets'): the Sutra
Pitaka, the Vinaya Pitaka, and the Abhidharma
Pitaka. The Sutra Pitaka
is ordinarily
termed the basket of the
discourses, the Vinaya Pitaka contains the
rules covering the
monastic community, and the Abhidharma Pitaka is normally
referred to
as the books of
Buddhist philosophy and psychology.
Here I would like to look at the
relationship
between the
Abhidharma Pitaka and the Sutra Pitaka. There is a great
deal of
Abhidharmic material in the Sutra Pitaka. Remember the technical
definition of
abhidharma that we considered a moment ago.
Keeping that in mind, we
find in the Sutra
Pitaka a number of
discourses that are Abhidharmic in character: the
Anguttara
Nikaya,
which presents an exposition of teachings arranged in
numerical order;
the Sangiti Sutta
and Dasuttara Sutta, in which
Sariputta expounds on items of the
teachings arranged in
numerical
order; and the Anupada Sutta, a discourse in which Sariputta
analyzes his
meditative experience in Abhidharmic terms.
How, then, can we arrive at a distinction between the Abhidharma and
the sutras? To do
this we need to look at the second meaning of the term abhidharma,
namely, its use in the
sense of 'higher doctrine.' In the sutras the Buddha speaks from two
points of view. First
he speaks of beings, objects, the qualities
and possessions of beings,
the world, and the
like, and he is often
found making statements such as 'I myself will go
to Uruvela.'
Second, the Buddha proclaims in no uncertain terms that there is
no 'I'
and that all things
are devoid of personality, substance, and
so forth.
Obviously, the two standpoints in operation here are the
conventional
(vohara) and the
ultimate (paramattha). We have
everyday language like 'you' and 'I,'
and we also have
technical
philosophical language that does not assume personality,
objects,
and so forth.
This is the difference between the Sutric contents and
the Abhidharmic
contents of the
teachings of the Buddha. By and
large, the sutras use the conventional
standpoint
while
the
Abhidharma uses the ultimate standpoint. Yet there are passages in
the sutras that
describe impermanence, impersonality or
insubstantiality, elements, and
aggregates, and
hence reflect the
ultimate standpoint. In this context there is also a
division of texts
into
those whose meaning is explicit and direct, and those whose
meaning is
implicit and
indirect.
Why did the Buddha resort to
these two standpoints, the conventional
and the ultimate?
For the
answer we need to look at his excellence as a teacher and skill
in choosing
methods of teaching. If the Buddha had spoken to all his audiences only
in terms of
impermanence, insubstantiality, elements, and aggregates, I do not
think the Buddhist
community would have grown as quickly as it did during the sixth
century B.C.E. At the
same time, the Buddha knew that the ultimate standpoint is
indispensable for a profound
understanding of the Dharma, so his teachings do contain specific
language for
expressing the ultimate standpoint.
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Contents
|
01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11
| 12 | 13
| 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41
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Layout: Nhi Tuong
Update : 11-05-2002
