Origin and History of Abhidhamma

Tipiaka
In Theravda Buddhism, the sacred books are called the Tipiaka (three baskets). In total, 1 the Tipiaka is about eleven times the size of the Christian Bible .

Traditional Origin of the Theravda Abhidhamma2

According to the great commentator, Buddhaghosa , the Buddha reflected upon the Abhidhamma texts in sequence during the fourth week after His enlightenment. While contemplating the first six books, His body did not emit any rays. However, when the Buddha came to the Pahna, His body emitted rays of six colours; blue, yellow, red, white, orange 4 and dazzling as He had found a topic worthy of His great intellect. During the seventh annual rains retreat, the Buddha went to Tvatimsa heaven for three 6 months to teach Abhidhamma to his mother and the Devas. Each day, the Buddha returned to 7 human realm to eat and give a synopsis of what he had taught the previous day to Sriputta. 8 9 Sriputta organized the material and taught it to 500 monks . Therefore, there are three versions of the Abhidhamma: The long version taught by the Buddha in Tvatimsa heaven The short version taught by the Buddha to Sriputta The medium version taught by Sriputta to 500 monks and passed to us
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The first basket in the Tipiaka is the Vinaya. In the Vinaya, the Buddha used his authority Scholars Views on Origin of the Theravda Abhidhamma The first Buddhist Council was held three months after the Buddhas parinibban. At this to lay down rules of behaviour for monks and nuns (227 rules for Theravda monks, 311 rules council, the Vinaya was recited for memorization by Venerable Upali and the Suttas were for Theravda nuns). recited for memorization by Venerable Ananda. All Buddhist schools agree on these points 10 The second basket in the Tipiaka is the Suttas. These are the recorded speeches of the and largely agree on the Vinaya and Suttas . Buddha. They often start with the phrase, Thus have I heard... The Buddha often used The second Buddhist Council was held about one hundred years after the Buddhas conversational language in the Suttas, depending on the audience to whom He was speaking. parinibban. At this council, points of controversy regarding the Vinaya were discussed and a The third basket in the Tipiaka is the Abhidhamma. The Abhidhamma has the form of a few months later, the Sangha was split into the Mahsnghika movement (later evolved into textbook; much of the Abhidhamma uses precise technical terms. It is unique to Theravda. Mahayana and Vajrayana) and the Sthaviravda movement (later evolved into Theravda). Only the later Theravda commentaries suggest that the Abhidhamma was recited at the first Seven Books of the Theravda Abhidhamma Buddhist Council or the second Buddhist Council. Dhammasaga (Buddhist Psychological Ethics): A detailed listing of all phenomena 2 with an analysis of consciousness (citta) and accompanying mental factors (cetasikas) From the Introductory Discourse of Buddhaghosas Atthaslin (commentary on the Dhammasaga) 3 Vibhaga (Book of Analysis): Eighteen essays analyzing topics such as aggregates Buddhaghosa lived in the fifth century C.E., about one thousand years after the Buddhas parinibban. Though born in India, he spent most of his life in Sri Lanka compiling the vast amount of supplemental (khandha), bases (yatana), elements (dhtu), truths (sacca), faculties (indriya), material which had been collected, some of which dated back to the time of the Buddha. Buddhaghosa dependent origination (paiccasamuppda), etc. Dhtukath (Discourse on Elements): A further discussion and classification of aggregates organized this material and translated the material into Pali to create official Theravda commentaries. Buddhaghosa also authored the Visuddhimagga (Path of Purification), a comprehensive summary and (khandha), bases (yatana) and elements (dhtu) analysis of the Theravda understanding of the Buddhas path to liberation. 4 Puggalapaatti (Designation of Human Types): Different types of individuals are In 1885, these colours were used to create a Buddhist flag (dazzling is a mixture of the other colours) 5 classified in a form following the Aguttara Nikya. The Buddha taught the Abhidhamma in Tvatimsa heaven in one continuous sitting; three months in the Kathvatthu (Points of Controversy): Written about two hundred years after the Buddhas human realm is equivalent to 3.6 minutes in Tvatimsa heaven. 6 The Buddhas mother had been reborn in Tusita heaven and came down to Tvatimsa heaven parinibban by Elder Moggaliputta Tissa to refute wrong views of 18 other schools. 7 The Buddha created an image of himself to continue teaching the Abhidhamma to the Devas while he Yamaka (Book of Pairs): This text has not been translated by the Pali Text Society. It went to the human realm to eat and instruct Sriputta records pairs of questions with their opposites. 8 Buddhaghosa states that the Buddha anticipated the controversies that would arise and laid out the Pahna (Conditional Relations): This massive text has only been partially translated. framework for the Kathvatthu which was written about two hundred years later 9 The Pahna details the 24 ways in which the phenomena described in the other At the time of the Buddha Kassapa, these 500 monks had been bats living in a cave and they had a Abhidhamma texts interrelate with each other. chance to listen to the Abhidhamma; they were therefore receptive to learn the Abhidhamma
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Christs ministry was for four years while the Buddha taught for 45 years.

Some of the key Mahayana Sutras, such as the Lotus Sutra, Heart Sutra and Diamond Sutra are not found in the Pali Suttas, confirming that these Sutras were later additions.

The third Buddhist Council took place about two hundred years after the Buddhas parinibban, during the reign of Emperor Asoka. The Elder Moggaliputta Tissa presided over this Council and wrote the Kathvatthu at this time to refute wrong views of 18 other schools. The Abhidhamma appears to have been more or less formalized by this time. Scholars have a second set of Abhidhamma texts from the Sarvstivda school (another offshoot of the Sthaviravda movement) and small portions of Abhidhamma texts from other schools. These Abhidhamma texts from other schools are quite different from the Theravda Abhidhamma. Scholars have therefore concluded that the Theravda Abhidhamma evolved in the period about one hundred to two hundred years after the Buddhas parinibban. There is no clear consensus among scholars as to the sequence in which the texts evolved.

Development of the Theravda Abhidhamma

King Asoka
King Asoka had a large empire and adopted the school of Buddhism which would evolve into Theravda. With King Asokas patronage, the Elder Moggaliputta Tissa convened the Third Council and wrote the Kathvatthu to refute wrong views of other Buddhist schools. The Abhidhamma Piaka (seven original texts) was more or less completed by this time. King Asoka made pilgrimages to many Buddhist sites and erected pillars and stupas to mark their location. King Asoka also sent missionaries to spread Buddhism, including his son and daughter who brought Buddhism to Sri Lanka.

My Personal View on the Origin of the Theravda Abhidhamma

The early monastics, particularly those from the Sthaviravda movement, were very reluctant to make any changes to the Buddhas teachings. It therefore seems unlikely that such a short time after the Buddhas parinibban that there would be a massive conspiracy to introduce completely new teachings and attribute them to the Buddha. Though the story of the traditional origin of the Abhidhamma being taught in Tvatimsa heaven is taken from the commentaries complied one thousand years after the Buddhas parinibban, the legend must have been well established by the time of King Asoka two hundred years after the Buddhas parinibban as King Asoka erected a pillar at the sport where the Buddha descended from Tvatimsa heaven after teaching the Abhidhamma. In the Suttas, it is mentioned that many of the senior monks, such as Sriputta, had hundreds of students. These senior monks would teach the Dhamma using their own words. On some occasions, the Buddha was present to confirm the validity of the teachings of these senior monks. It is evident from the Sangti Sutta (DN33) that Sriputta had a formal textbook approach to teaching the Dhamma involving the memorizing of long lists of terms. During the time of the Buddha, there would have been the direct teachings from the Buddha (Vinaya and Suttas) and also a large body of indirect teachings delivered by the senior monks such as Sriputta. During the first and second council, the direct teachings coming from the Buddha would be jointly memorized but it is unlikely that the same rigour would be applied to the indirect teachings during the councils.

Tipiaka Written Down

For five hundred years, Buddhism was maintained as an oral tradition. Two thousand years ago, King Vaagmai of Sri Lanka discovered that there was only a single monk who remembered a certain portion of the Suttas. Seeing the fragility of the Dhamma, the king convened a Fourth Council to record the entire Tipiaka on palm leaves in Pali.

Buddhaghosas Commentaries
As explained in Footnote 3, Buddhaghosa complied and translated the commentaries which established the foundation of the Theravda doctrine. The commentaries expand upon the Abhidhamma Piaka, providing considerable additional details.

cariya Anuruddhas Abhidhammatthasangaha

The Abhidhammatthasangaha (Manual of Abhidhamma) is a 50 page summary of the entire Theravda Abhidhamma, written in Pali. Student monks memorize this text before studying the voluminous Abhidhamma Piaka (seven original texts), the commentaries and the sub-commentaries. The Abhidhammatthasangaha has remained the standard introductory text to the Theravda Abhidhamma for one thousand years.

It is my personal view that the original core of the Abhidhamma evolved from these indirect teachings, many of which would date back to the time of the Buddha. This would In 1993, Bhikkhu Bodhi prepared A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma which explain why the seven Theravda Abhidhamma texts are written in such different styles and includes the original Pali text of the Abhidhammatthasangaha, an English translation of each why different early schools would develop their own Abhidhamma texts while retaining a common version of the Vinaya and Suttas. The traditional origin of the Abhidhamma indicates paragraph of the Abhidhammatthasangaha and extensive explanatory notes with charts. This has become the standard reference text for English-speaking students of Abhidhamma. that it is an indirect teaching of the Buddha, delivered by Sriputta and some of the 11 Sarvstivda Abhidhamma texts are said to have been authored by Sriputta . During the five hundred years between Buddhaghosas commentaries and the Abhidhammatthasangaha, many details of the Theravda Abhidhamma were further refined. There are five strata of Theravda Abhidhamma development: Sutta / Vinaya, Abhidhamma 11 Even though both the Theravda Abhidhamma texts and the Sarvstivda Abhidhamma texts are both Piaka, Abhidhamma commentaries, Abhidhammatthasangaha and modern writers. associated with Sriputta, they are quite different in content.