Abhidharma: Difference between revisions

From Rigpa Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
mNo edit summary
(internal link)
(12 intermediate revisions by 5 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
'''Abhidharma''' (Skt.; Tib. ''chö ngönpa''; [[Wyl.]] ''chos mngon pa'') — the third of the [[three pitakas]], or collections (literally ‘baskets’), into which the Buddhist teachings are divided. This pitaka, which is associated with the training in [[wisdom]] (Skt. ''prajñā''), defines many of the topics mentioned in the [[sutra]]s, and arranges them in classifications, such as the [[five skandhas]], [[twelve ayatanas]] and [[eighteen dhatus]], thereby providing tools for generating a precise understanding of all experience.
[[image:Vasubandhu.JPG|frame|[[Vasubandhu]], author of the [[Treasury of Abhidharma]]]]'''Abhidharma''' (Skt.; Pal. ''Abhidhamma''; Tib. [[ཆོས་མངོན་པ་]], [[མངོན་པ་]], ''chö ngönpa'', [[Wyl.]] ''chos mngon pa'') — the third of the [[three pitakas]], or collections (literally ‘baskets’), into which the Buddhist teachings are divided. This pitaka, which is associated with the training in [[wisdom]] (Skt. ''prajñā''), defines many of the topics mentioned in the [[sutra]]s, and arranges them in classifications, such as the [[five skandhas]], [[twelve ayatanas]] and [[eighteen dhatus]], thereby providing tools for generating a precise understanding of all experience.


Artemus Engle writes:
:Often viewed as little more than a dry and uninspiring catalog of lists and definitions, this material is in fact a repository of the fundamental concepts and ideas that inform all of the major Buddhist philosophical schools and traditions. Great [[Mahayana]] figures like [[Nagarjuna]] and [[Asanga]] should properly be seen as presenting a critical analysis of the early realist tendencies in Buddhist thought, rather than positing views that reject the very framework on which all Buddhist philosophical theories are constructed. On a more practical level, Abhidharma literature contains the subject matter that allows one to investigate and learn with minute precision every aspect of the [[Three higher trainings|three Buddhist trainings]] of morality, one-pointed concentration, and wisdom. <ref>Artemus B. Engle, ''The Inner Science of Buddhist Practice: Vasubhandu's Summary of the Five Heaps with Commentary by Sthiramati'', Ithaca: Snow Lion, 2009</ref>
==Major Texts==
*[[Asanga]], ''[[Compendium of Abhidharma]]''
*[[Vasubandhu]], ''[[Treasury of Abhidharma]]''
==Subdivisions==
*Upper Abhidharma of the [[Mahayana]]
*Lower Abhidharma of the [[Shravakayana]]
==Alternative Translations==
*higher knowledge
*inner science
*special knowledge
==Notes==
<small><References/></small>
==Further Reading==
*Trungpa, Chogyam, ''Glimpses of Abhidharma''. Boston, Mass.: Shambhala, 2001.
*Guenther, Herbert V. ''Philosophy and Psychology in the Abhidharma''. Rev Sub edition. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2011.
==Internal Links==
*[[Seven treatises of Abhidharma]]
==External Links==
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoJgtXHmWTQ Presentation on the topic of consciousness, mental states, and the thought process in the Theravada Abhidhamma tradition given by Rupert Gethin at the Mind and Life seminar, with His Holiness the Dalai Lama posing the contrasting views of the other Abhidharma traditions.]


[[Category:Key Terms]]
[[Category:Key Terms]]
[[Category:Abhidharma]]
[[Category:Abhidharma]]
[[Category:Canon]]
[[Category:Canon]]
[[Category:Texts]]

Revision as of 18:27, 27 October 2017

Vasubandhu, author of the Treasury of Abhidharma

Abhidharma (Skt.; Pal. Abhidhamma; Tib. ཆོས་མངོན་པ་, མངོན་པ་, chö ngönpa, Wyl. chos mngon pa) — the third of the three pitakas, or collections (literally ‘baskets’), into which the Buddhist teachings are divided. This pitaka, which is associated with the training in wisdom (Skt. prajñā), defines many of the topics mentioned in the sutras, and arranges them in classifications, such as the five skandhas, twelve ayatanas and eighteen dhatus, thereby providing tools for generating a precise understanding of all experience.

Artemus Engle writes:

Often viewed as little more than a dry and uninspiring catalog of lists and definitions, this material is in fact a repository of the fundamental concepts and ideas that inform all of the major Buddhist philosophical schools and traditions. Great Mahayana figures like Nagarjuna and Asanga should properly be seen as presenting a critical analysis of the early realist tendencies in Buddhist thought, rather than positing views that reject the very framework on which all Buddhist philosophical theories are constructed. On a more practical level, Abhidharma literature contains the subject matter that allows one to investigate and learn with minute precision every aspect of the three Buddhist trainings of morality, one-pointed concentration, and wisdom. [1]

Major Texts

Subdivisions

Alternative Translations

  • higher knowledge
  • inner science
  • special knowledge

Notes

  1. Artemus B. Engle, The Inner Science of Buddhist Practice: Vasubhandu's Summary of the Five Heaps with Commentary by Sthiramati, Ithaca: Snow Lion, 2009

Further Reading

  • Trungpa, Chogyam, Glimpses of Abhidharma. Boston, Mass.: Shambhala, 2001.
  • Guenther, Herbert V. Philosophy and Psychology in the Abhidharma. Rev Sub edition. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2011.

Internal Links

External Links