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85-543: The Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta ( Majjhima Nikaya 10: The Discourse on the Establishing of Mindfulness ), and the subsequently created Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta ( Dīgha Nikāya 22: The Great Discourse on the Establishing of Mindfulness ), are two of the most celebrated and widely studied discourses in the Pāli Canon of Theravada Buddhism, acting as the foundation for contemporary vipassana meditation practice. The Pāli texts of

170-519: A "heightened awareness," "overcoming distracting and disturbing emotions," which are not particular elements of the path to awakening, but rather common disturbing and distracting emotions. According to Sujato, samatha and vipassana are complementary elements of the Buddhist path. Satipatthana explicates mindfulness, the seventh limb of the eightfold path, and is to be understood as an integral part of this path. Polak, elaborating on Vetter, notes that

255-583: A beautiful jeweled residence for the Buddha to the north-east of the bodhi tree , where he meditated and delivered the Abhidharma teachings to gathered deities in the Trāyastriṃśa heaven, including his deceased mother Māyā . The tradition holds that the Buddha gave daily summaries of the teachings given in the heavenly realm to the bhikkhu Sariputta , who passed them on. The Sarvāstivāda - Vaibhāṣika held that

340-518: A constantly flowing stream of experience occurrences. Human experience is thus explained by a series of dynamic processes and their patterns of relationships with each other. Buddhist Abhidhamma philosophers then sought to explain all experience by creating lists and matrices (matikas) of these dhammas, which varied by school. The four categories of dhammas in the Theravada Abhidhamma are: The Sarvastivada Abhidharma also used these, along with

425-476: A dharma exists. The concern here is primarily with what makes categorial types of dharma unique, rather than with the ontological status of dharmas." However, in the later Sarvastivada texts, like the Mahavibhasa, the term svabhava began to be defined more ontologically as the really existing “intrinsic nature” specifying individual dharmas. The Sautrantika school accepted the doctrine of svabhāva as referring to

510-521: A fifth category: "factors dissociated from thought" ( cittaviprayuktasaṃskāra ). The Sarvastivadas also included three dharmas in the fourth "unconditioned" category instead of just one, the dharma of space and two states of cessation. The Abhidharma project was thus to provide a completely exhaustive account of every possible type of conscious experience in terms of its constituent factors and their relations. The Theravada tradition holds that there were 82 types of possible dhammas – 82 types of occurrences in

595-420: A full picture of all aspects of the path in an attempt to provide a complete map of everything in some way related to the path." As Frauwallner explains, due to this scholastic impulse, lists grew in size, different mātṛkās were combined with each other to produce new ones, and new concepts and schemas were introduced, such as the differentiation of cittas and caitasikās and new ways of connecting or relating

680-605: A group in the early Buddhist texts . He also points out another such list that occurs in various texts "comprises several groups of elements of import for entanglement in the cycle of existence" and was modeled on the Oghavagga of the Samyuttanikaya . These lists were intended as a basic way of explaining the Buddhist doctrine, and are likely to have been accompanied by oral explanations, which continued to develop and expand and were later written down . Another related early method

765-498: A pot, that is a 'conceptual fiction'. The ultimately real is otherwise." For Vasubandhu then, something is not the ultimately real if it 'disappears under analysis', but is merely conventional. The ultimate goal of the Abhidharma is Nirvana and hence the Abhidharmikas systematized dhammas into those which are skillful (kusala), purify the mind and lead to liberation, and those which are unskillful and do not. The Abhidharma then has

850-543: A refreshing simplicity that may indicate that it lies close to the early sources." There does exist in Tibetan translation a "Saddharma Smṛtyupasthāna Sūtra" ( dam pa'i chos dran pa nye bar bzhag pa'i mdo//dampé chödren panyé barzhak pé do ) but this is a very large early Mahayana sutra and is an entirely different text. Bhante Sujato completed an extensive comparative survey of the various recensions of Sutta, entitled A History of Mindfulness . The Satipaṭṭhāna material, including

935-521: A similar list that acts as a doctrinal summary is the Madhyama-āgama ("Discourse on Explaining the Spheres", MĀ 86) which includes a list of thirty one topics to be taught to newly ordained monastics . The last sutra of the Madhyama-āgama (MĀ 222) contains a similar doctrinal summary listing, which combines three lists into one: a list of eight activities, a list of ten mental qualities and practices, and

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1020-510: A soteriological purpose, first and foremost and its goal is to support Buddhist practice and meditation. By carefully watching the coming and going of dhammas, and being able to identify which ones are wholesome and to be cultivated, and which ones are unwholesome and to be abandoned, the Buddhist meditator makes use of the Abhidharma as a schema to liberate his mind and realize that all experiences are impermanent, not-self, unsatisfactory and therefore not to be clung to. The Abhidharmikas often used

1105-793: A variety of ways that one could use the methods described in the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta including: According to Analāyo and Soma, writing from a traditional point of view, the Papañcasudani recommends a different satipaṭṭhāna depending on whether a person: Based on these two dimensions the commentary's recommended personality-based satipaṭṭhāna is reflected in the grid shown at right. Soma (2003, p. xxiv) adds that all practitioners (regardless of their character and temperament) should also practice mindfulness of Postures (moving, standing, sitting, lying down) and Clear Understanding , about which he writes: "The whole practice of mindfulness depends on

1190-426: Is a "definite affinity" between the bojjhaṅgā , the seven factors of awakening, and the four jhanas , which actualize the Buddhist practices aiming at calming the mind. According to Gethin, satipatthana and anapanasati are related to a formula that summarizes the Buddhist path to awakening as "abandoning the hindrances, establishing [...] mindfulness, and developing the seven factors of awakening." This results in

1275-446: Is a compound of sati , mindfulness; and either paṭṭhāna , "foundation," or upaṭṭhāna , "presence." The compound term can be interpreted as sati-paṭṭhāna ("foundation of mindfulness") or sati-upaṭṭhāna , "presence of mindfulness". According to Anālayo, the analysis of the term as sati-upaṭṭhāna , "presence of mindfulness," is a more etymologically correct derivation as upaṭṭhāna appears both throughout

1360-781: Is an attempt to best express the Buddhist view of " ultimate reality " ( paramārtha-satya ). There are different types of Abhidharma literature. The early canonical Abhidharma works, such as the Abhidhamma Piṭaka , are not philosophical treatises but mainly summaries and expositions of early Buddhist doctrinal lists with their accompanying explanations. These texts developed out of early Buddhist lists or matrices ( mātṛkās ) of key teachings. Later post-canonical Abhidharma works were written as either large treatises ( śāstra ), as commentaries ( aṭṭhakathā ), or as smaller introductory manuals. They are more developed philosophical works which include many innovations and doctrines not found in

1445-406: Is called the mātṛkā ("attribute"), and refers to lists of terms divided by a dyad or triad of attributes. For example, terms could be grouped into those things that are rūpa (form, physical) or arūpa (formless), saṃskṛtam (constructed) or asaṃskṛtam, and the triad of kuśalam (wholesome), akuśalam (unwholesome), or avyākṛtam (indetermined). An early form of this method can be found in

1530-600: Is found in Buddhaghosa 's Papañcasudani (Bullitt, 2002; Soma, 2003). Later works, such as the Abhidharmakośakārikā of Vasubandhu , and Asanga 's Yogacarabhumi and Abhidharma-samuccaya , also comment on the four satipatthanas. In the Satipatthana Sutta, Majjhima Nikaya 10, the Buddha identifies four "foundations of mindfulness" or "frames of reference," on which he contemplates or focusses after leaving behind

1615-539: Is merely a conceptual construct imputed by the mind on a flux of dhammas. However, dhammas are never seen as individually separate entities, but are always dependently conditioned by other dhammas in a stream of momentary constellations of dhammas, constantly coming into being and vanishing, always in flux. Perception and thinking is then seen as a combination of various dhammas. Cittas (awareness events) are never experienced on their own, but are always intentional and hence accompanied by various mental factors (cetasikas), in

1700-429: Is not something inherent in a dhamma as a separate ultimate reality, but arise due to the supporting conditions both of other dhammas and previous occurrences of that dhamma." The Visuddhimagga of Buddhaghosa , the most influential classical Theravada treatise, states that not-self does not become apparent because it is concealed by "compactness" when one does not give attention to the various elements which make up

1785-525: Is said to have been taught by the Buddha just before passing away. Analayo notes that these various lists served a useful purpose in early Buddhism since they served as aids for the memorization and teaching of the Buddhist doctrine . The use of lists containing doctrinal statements can similarly be seen in Jain literature . The fact that these lists were seen by the early Buddhists as a way to preserve and memorize

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1870-436: Is that besides the small number of fundamental doctrinal statements, the Buddha's sermons also contain a quantity of doctrinal concepts. The most suitable form for collecting and preserving these concepts would have been comprehensive lists. Lists of this kind were called mātṛkā , and it was from these lists that the Abhidharma later developed. The extensive use of mātṛkā can be found in some early Buddhist texts , including

1955-453: Is the 'dhamma theory' and this theory 'penetrated all the early schools'. For the Abhidharmikas, the ultimate components of existence, the elementary constituents of experience were called dhammas (Pali: dhammas ). This concept has been variously translated as "factors" (Collett Cox), "psychic characteristics" (Bronkhorst), "phenomena" (Nyanaponika) and "psycho-physical events" (Ronkin). The early Buddhist scriptures give various lists of

2040-541: Is ultimately real as opposed to only conventionally real (such as a chariot or a person). However, the Sarvastivadins did not hold that dharmas were completely independent of each other, as the Mahavibhasa states: "conditioned dharmas are weak in their intrinsic nature, they can accomplish their activities only through mutual dependence" and "they have no sovereignty (aisvarya). They are dependent on others." Svabhava in

2125-488: The Buddhist doctrine that was expanded over time. Thomas and Frauwallner both argue that while the Abhidharma texts of the different schools were compiled separately and have major differences, they are based on an "ancient core" of common material. Rupert Gethin also writes that the mātikās are from an earlier date than the Abhidharma texts themselves. According to Frauwallner, The oldest Buddhist tradition has no Abhidharmapitaka but only mātṛkā . What this means

2210-705: The Chinese Buddhist canon , where it is known as the Zhōng Ahánjīng (中阿含經). The Madhyama Āgama of the Sarvāstivāda school contains 222 sūtras, in contrast to the 152 suttas in the Pāli Majjhima Nikāya. Bhikkhu Bodhi in the introduction to his translation describes the collection as follows: If the Majjhima Nikāya were to be characterised by a single phrase to distinguish it from among the other books of

2295-721: The Chinese Canon and also in Sanskrit fragments, such as the Śāriputra Abhidharma Śāstra of the Dharmaguptaka school and various texts from the Pudgalavāda tradition . These different traditions have some similarities, suggesting either interaction between groups or some common ground antedating the separation of the schools. In the Theravāda tradition it was held that the Abhidhamma

2380-465: The Dasuttara Sutta . The explanations of the various elements in these lists also dealt with how these elements were connected ( saṃprayoga ) with each other. Over time, the need arose for an overarching way to classify all these terms and doctrinal elements, and the first such framework was to subsume or include ( saṃgraha ) all main terms into the schema of the 12 āyatanāni, the 18 dhatāvah , and

2465-456: The Ekayāna sutra, Direct Path sūtra . An early Smṛtyupasthāna Sūtra version also survives inside some of the large Prajñāpāramitā sutras (Tibetan and Chinese), one of which has been translated into English by Edward Conze . These passages on mindfulness are treated as the first element in the 37 wings to awakening . According to Bhante Sujato, "This version of the satipaṭṭhāna material displays

2550-1208: The Mahāsāṃghika school seems not to have accepted them as part of their Buddhist canon. Another school included most of the Khuddaka Nikāya within the Abhidhamma Piṭaka . After the closing of the foundational Buddhist canons , Abhidharma texts continued to be composed, but now they were either commentaries on the canonical texts (like the Pāli Aṭṭhakathās and the Mahāvibhāṣa ), or independent treatises ( śāstra ) in their own right. In these post-canonical texts, further doctrinal developments and innovations can be found. As Noa Ronkin writes, "post-canonical Abhidharma texts became complex philosophical treatises employing sophisticated methods of argumentation and independent investigations that resulted in doctrinal conclusions quite far removed from their canonical antecedents." As Frauwallner writes, these later works were attempts to build truly complete philosophical systems out of

2635-550: The Pali Canon and in the Sanskrit translation of this sutta; whereas the paṭṭhāna is only found in the Abhidhamma and post-nikaya Pali commentary . English translations of the title, " Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta ," include: In regard to the prefix "Maha-" in the Pāli title of DN 22, this simply means "great," or "larger" and likely refers to DN 22's expanded section on mindfulness of

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2720-460: The Sarvāstivādin and Theravādin schools. These differences are much more pronounced than among the other canonical collections ( Sūtras , Āgama , and Vinaya ). As such, the Abhidharma collections of the various Buddhist schools are much more unique to each sect. The various Abhidharmic traditions grew to have very fundamental philosophical disagreements with each other (such as on the status of

2805-718: The Saṅgīti Sutta and Dasuttara Sutta of the Dīgha Nikāya , as well as the Saṅgīti Sūtra and Daśottara Sūtra of the Dīrgha Āgama . Similar lists of numerically arranged doctrinal terms can be found in AN 10.27 and AN 10.28. Tse fu Kuan also argues that certain sūtras of the Aṅguttara Nikāya (AN 3.25, AN 4.87–90, AN 9.42–51) illustrates an Abhidharma method. Another text which contains

2890-635: The Sūtra Piṭaka and the Vinaya Piṭaka , the Mahīśāsaka , Theravāda , Dharmaguptaka , and Sarvāstivāda Vinayas all provide different accounts which mention that there was some kind of Abhidharma to be learned aside from the sūtras and Vinaya. According to Analayo, "the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya does not explicitly mention the Abhidharma, although it reports that on this occasion Mahākāśyapa recited

2975-610: The early Buddhist schools . However, these differences did not mean the existence of totally independent sects, as noted by Rupert Gethin, "at least some of the schools mentioned by later Buddhist tradition are likely to have been informal schools of thought in the manner of ‘Cartesians,’ ‘British Empiricists,’ or ‘Kantians’ for the history of modern philosophy." By the 7th-century, Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang could reportedly collect Abhidharma texts from seven different Buddhist traditions . These various Abhidharma works were not accepted by all Indian Buddhist schools as canonical; for example,

3060-411: The 5 skandhāh . Over time, the initial scholastic method of listing and categorizing terms was expanded in order to provide a complete and comprehensive systematization of the Buddhist doctrine . According to Analayo, the beginning of Abhidharma proper was inspired by the desire "to be as comprehensive as possible, to supplement the directives given in the early discourses for progress on the path with

3145-521: The Abhidharma literature as "the end-product of several centuries of intellectual endeavor". The Vinaya accounts on the compilation of the Buddhist Canon following the parinirvāṇa of Gautama Buddha (c. 5th century BCE) offer various and sometimes conflicting narratives regarding the canonical status of Abhidharma. While the Mahāsāṅghika Vinaya does not speak of an Abhidharma apart from

3230-404: The Abhidharma to be the pure and literal ( nippariyaya ) description of ultimate truth ( paramattha sacca ) and an expression of perfect spiritual wisdom ( prajñā ), while the sutras were considered 'conventional' ( sammuti ) and figurative ( pariyaya ) teachings, given by Gautama Buddha to specific people, at specific times, depending on specific worldly circumstances. They held that Abhidharma

3315-580: The Abhidharma was based on early and ancient lists of doctrinal terms which are called mātikās (Sanskrit: mātṛkā ). Migot points to the mention of a " Mātṛkā Piṭaka" in the Cullavagga as the precursor to the canonical Abhidharma . Migot argues that this Mātṛkā Piṭaka , said to have been recited by Mahākāśyapa at the First Council according to the Ashokavadana , likely began as a condensed version of

3400-478: The Abhidharma, and hence the way of enlightened persons like the Buddha, who have developed the true insight ( vipassana ), sees reality as the constant stream of collections of dharmas, and this way of seeing the world is ultimate truth (paramārtha-satya). As the Indian Buddhist Vasubandhu writes: "Anything the idea of which does not occur upon division or upon mental analysis, such as an object like

3485-450: The Buddha and his disciples taught the Abhidharma, but that it was scattered throughout the canon. Only after his death was the Abhidharma compiled systematically by his elder disciples and was recited by Ananda at the first Buddhist council. The Sautrāntika school ('those who rely on the sutras') rejected the status of the Abhidharma as being Buddhavacana (word of the Buddha), they held it

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3570-401: The Buddha's discourse to Subhuti. It only outlines specific practices for the contemplation of the body, the other three satipatthanas are simply enumerated. Various scholars have attempted to use the numerous early sources to trace an " ur-text " i.e. the original satipaṭṭhāna formula or the earliest sutta. Bronkhorst (1985) argues that the earliest form of the satipaṭṭhāna sutta only contained

3655-452: The Buddhist sūtras deal with sequences and processes, while the Abhidharma texts describe occasions and events. Modern scholars generally believe that the canonical Abhidharma texts emerged after the time of Gautama Buddha , in around the 3rd century BCE. Therefore, the canonical Abhidharma works are generally claimed by scholars not to represent the words of the Buddha himself, but those of later Buddhist thinkers . Peter Skilling describes

3740-790: The Canon, the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta begins on the 289th page of the second volume of the PTS' three-volume Digha Nikaya (D ii 289). In the Chinese Canon, the Nian Chu Jing (念處經, Smṛtyupasthāna Sūtra), based on a Sarvastivadin source, is found on page 582 of the Taisho Tripitaka Vol. 1, Madhyama Ā gama No. 26. Another similar sutra is in the Ekottara Agama (EA 12.1) and it is called

3825-810: The Four Noble Truths. In the Pali Canon, the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta is the tenth discourse in the Majjhima Nikaya (MN 10). In the Pali Text Society (PTS) edition of the Canon, this text begins on the 55th page of the first volume of its three-volume Majjhima Nikaya (M i 55). As for the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta , this is the 22nd discourse in the Digha Nikaya (DN 22). In the PTS edition of

3910-414: The Pali Canon, this might be done by describing it as the collection that combines the richest variety of contextual settings with the deepest and most comprehensive assortment of teachings. The 152 discourses come in three parts each with five divisions. All divisions save the penultimate contain 10 discourses. Abhidharma Bhikkhu Bodhi calls it "an abstract and highly technical systemization of

3995-674: The Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta and the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta are largely similar in content; the main difference being a section about the Four Noble Truths (Catu Ariya Sacca) in the Observation of Phenomena (Dhammānupassana), which is greatly expanded in the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta. These sutta s (discourses) stress the practice of sati (mindfulness) "for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, for

4080-543: The Theravadin version emphasizes Vipassana or insight. The text also often refers to 'bhikkhus and bhikkhunīs' instead of just male bhikkhus. A section on Smṛtyupasthāna is found in various Tibetan and Chinese recensions of large Prajñāpāramitā sutras, such as the 25,000 line version translated by Edward Conze . This skeletal version of the Smṛtyupasthāna is incorporated into the larger sutra and thus appears as part of

4165-677: The Theravāda school, while the Abhidharmakośa (4–5th century CE) of Vasubandhu remains the primary source for Abhidharma studies in both Indo - Tibetan Buddhism and East Asian Buddhism . In the modern era, only the Abhidharma texts of the Sarvāstivādins and the Theravādins have survived as complete collections, each consisting of seven books with accompanying commentarial literature. A small number of other Abhidharma texts are preserved in

4250-455: The [Buddhist] doctrine," which is "simultaneously a philosophy , a psychology and an ethics , all integrated into the framework of a program for liberation ." According to Peter Harvey , the Abhidharma method seeks "to avoid the inexactitudes of colloquial conventional language, as is sometimes found in the Suttas, and state everything in psycho-philosophically exact language." In this sense, it

4335-597: The canonical Abhidharma. Abhidharma remains an important field of scholarship among the Theravāda , Mahāyāna , and Vajrayāna schools of Buddhism . The Belgian Indologist Étienne Lamotte described the Abhidharma as "Doctrine pure and simple, without the intervention of literary development or the presentation of individuals" Compared to the colloquial Buddhist sūtras, Abhidharma texts are much more technical, analytic, and systematic in content and style. The Theravādin and Sarvāstivādin Abhidharmikas generally considered

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4420-479: The commentaries gained canonical status. Thus, according to Analayo: just as the combination of the prātimokṣa with its commentary was central for the development of the Vinaya, so too the combination of mātṛkās with a commentary was instrumental in the development of the Abhidharma. Thus the use of a mātṛkā together with its exegesis is a characteristic common to the Abhidharma and the Vinaya, whose expositions often take

4505-461: The commentator Yaśomitra even states that "the Sautrantikas can be said to have an abhidharma collection, i.e., as texts that are declared to be varieties of sutra in which the characteristics of factors are described." [REDACTED] Religion portal The Abhidharma texts' field of inquiry extends to the entire Buddhadharma , since their goal was to outline, systematize and analyze all of

4590-464: The constituents of the person such as the five skandhas, the six or 18 dhatus , and the twelve sense bases . In Abhidhamma literature, these lists of dhammas systematically arranged and they were seen as the ultimate entities or momentary events which make up the fabric of people's experience of reality. The idea was to create an exhaustive list of all possible phenomena that make up the world. The conventional reality of substantial objects and persons

4675-517: The correct grasp of the exercises included in the two parts referred to here." Majjhima Nikaya The Majjhima Nikāya ("Collection of Middle-length Discourses") is a Buddhist scripture collection , the second of the five Nikāyas , or collections, in the Sutta Piṭaka , which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka (lit. "Three Baskets") of Theravada Buddhism . It

4760-413: The doctrine can be seen in the Saṅgīti Sūtra and its various parallels, which mention how the Jain community became divided over doctrinal matters after the death of their leader. The sutta depicts Śāriputra as reciting a list of doctrinal terms and stating that the community will remain "united, unanimous, and in unison we will not dispute" regarding the teaching and also states they will recite together

4845-537: The doctrine. The close connection between the Saṅgīti Sūtra and Abhidharma can be seen in the fact that it became the basis for one of the seven canonical Abhidharma texts belonging to the Sarvāstivāda school, the Saṅgītiparyāya , which is effectively a commentary on the sūtra. Frauwallner notes that basic fundamental concepts such as the 12 āyatanāni , the 18 dhatāvah , and the 5 skandhāh often occur as

4930-409: The early Abhidhamma texts was then not a term which meant ontological independence, metaphysical essence or underlying substance, but simply referred to their characteristics, which are dependent on other conditions and qualities. According to Ronkin: "In the early Sarvāstivāda exegetical texts, then, svabhāva is used as an atemporal, invariable criterion determining what a dharma is, not necessarily that

5015-409: The early Buddhist community and also by geographic distance. According to Frauwallner, the period of the development of the canonical Abhidharma texts is between 250 and 50 BCE. By the time, the different canons began to be written down, and as a result the Abhidharma texts of the early Buddhist schools were substantially different, as can be seen in how different the canonical Abhidharma texts are in

5100-409: The experiential world, while the general Sarvastivada tradition eventually enumerated 75 dharma types. For the Abhidharmikas, truth was twofold and there are two ways of looking at reality. One way is the way of everyday experience and of normal worldly persons. This is the category of the nominal and the conceptual (paññatti), and is termed the conventional truth (saṃvṛti-satya). However, the way of

5185-715: The extinguishing of suffering and grief, for walking on the path of truth, for the realization of nibbāna ." While elements of the Satipathana sutta can be found in the Samyutta Nikaya and the Samyukta Nigama, which belong to the oldest strata of the Buddhist suttas, the elaborate Maha Satipatthana Sutta exists only in the Theravada Digha Nikaya. Bhante Sujato postulates that the sutta was compiled from elements from other suttas as late as 20 BCE. satipaṭṭhāna

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5270-412: The form of a commentary on a summary list. Therefore, the different Buddhist Abhidharma texts were developed over time as Buddhist monks and philosophers expanded their analytical methods in different ways. Since this happened in different monastic communities located in different regions, they developed in separate doctrinal directions . This divergence was perhaps enhanced by the various schisms in

5355-479: The four absorptions (jhāna)." Yet, in the older Buddhist tradition, mindfulness aided in abandoning the five hindrances , which then leads into the first jhana . According to Gethin, the early Buddhist texts have "a broadly consistent vision" regarding meditation practice. Various practices lead to the development of the factors of awakening , which are not only the means to, but also the constituents of awakening. Gethin, followed by Polak and Arbel, notes that there

5440-448: The hand. They are mere states ( dhamma ) occurring due to conditions and void. In this way the characteristic of not-self becomes more evident." The Sarvastivadins saw dharmas as the ultimately 'real entities' (sad-dravya), though they also held that dharmas were dependently originated . For the Sarvastivadins, a synonym for svabhava is avayaya (a 'part'), the smallest possible unit which cannot be analyzed into smaller parts and hence it

5525-538: The major achievements of the classical period of Indian philosophy ." Two interpretations of the term "Abhi-dharma" are common. According to Analayo, the initial meaning of Abhidharma in the earliest texts (such as the Mahāgosiṅga-sutta and its parallels) was simply a discussion concerning the Dharma , or talking about the Dharma. In this sense, abhi has the meaning of "about" or "concerning," and can also be seen in

5610-471: The mātṛkā(s)." Analayo thinks that this reflects an early stage, when what later became Abhidharma was called the mātṛkās . The term appears in some sūtras, such as the Mahāgopālaka-sutta (and its Sanskrit parallel) which says that a learned monk is one who knows the Dharma, Vinaya, and the mātṛkās. Western scholars of Buddhist studies such as André Migot , Edward J. Thomas , Erich Frauwallner , Rupert Gethin , and Johannes Bronkhorst have argued that

5695-431: The observation of the impure body parts under mindfulness of the body, and that mindfulness of dhammas was originally just the observation of the seven awakening factors. Sujato's reconstruction similarly only retains the contemplation of the impure under mindfulness of the body, while including only the five hindrances and the seven awakening factors under mindfulness of dhammas. According to Analayo, mindfulness of breathing

5780-403: The onset of the first dhyana is described as a quite natural process, due to the preceding efforts to restrain the senses and the nurturing of wholesome states . According to Grzegorz Polak, the four upassanā do not refer to four different foundations of which one should be aware, but are an alternate description of the jhanas , describing how the samskharas are tranquilized: There are

5865-401: The parallel term abhivinaya (which just means discussions about the vinaya). The other interpretation, where abhi is interpreted as meaning "higher" or "superior", and thus Abhidharma means "higher teaching", seems to have been a later development. Some Western scholars have considered the Abhidharma to be the core of what is referred to as " Buddhism and psychology ". Other scholars on

5950-425: The person, or temporal eternalism ). Thus, according to Frauwallner, the different Abhidharma canons contained collections of doctrines which were sometimes unrelated to each other and sometimes contradictory. These different Abhidharmic theories were (together with differences in Vinaya ) some of the various causes for the splits in the monastic Saṃgha , which resulted in the fragmented early Buddhist landscape of

6035-515: The person. The Paramatthamañjusa Visuddhimaggatika of Acariya Dhammapala , a later Theravada commentary on the Visuddhimagga , refers to the fact that we often assume unity and compactness in phenomena and functions which are instead made up of various elements, but when one sees that these are merely empty dhammas, one can understand the not-self characteristic: "when they are seen after resolving them by means of knowledge into these elements, they disintegrate like froth subjected to compression by

6120-408: The teachings. Abhidharmic thought also extends beyond the sutras to cover new philosophical and psychological ground which is only implicit in sutras or not present at all. There are certain doctrines which were developed or even invented by the Abhidharmikas and these became grounds for the debates among the different early Buddhist schools . The "base upon which the entire [Abhidhamma] system rests"

6205-666: The term svabhāva (Pali: sabhāva) to explain the causal workings of dharmas. This term was used in different ways by the different Buddhist schools. This term does not appear in the sutras. The Abhidharmakośabhāṣya states: “dharma means ‘upholding,’ [namely], upholding intrinsic nature (svabhāva)” while the Theravādin commentaries holds that: “dhammas are so called because they bear their intrinsic natures, or because they are borne by causal conditions.” Dharmas were also said to be distinct from each other by their intrinsic/unique characteristics (svalaksana). The examination of these characteristics

6290-416: The topic, such as Nyanaponika Thera and Dan Lusthaus , describe Abhidharma as a Buddhist phenomenology while Noa Ronkin and Kenneth Inada equate it with process philosophy . Bhikkhu Bodhi writes that the system of the Abhidhamma Piṭaka is "simultaneously a philosophy , a psychology and an ethics , all integrated into the framework of a program for liberation ." According to L. S. Cousins ,

6375-649: The twelve links of dependent arising . These two do not have any parallels in Pali. According to Analayo, another important doctrinal list which appears in the early texts is the "thirty seven qualities that are conducive to awakening" ( bodhipākṣikā dharmāḥ ). This mātṛkā appears in various sūtras, like the Pāsādika-sutta , the Sāmagāma-sutta (and their parallels), and in the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra , where it

6460-461: The various canonical Abhidharma texts. Some of these texts surpassed the canonical Abhidharma in influence and popularity, becoming the orthodox summas of their particular schools' Abhidharma. Two exegetical texts, both from the 5th century, stand above the rest as the most influential. The works of Buddhaghosa (5th century CE), particularly the Visuddhimagga , remains the main reference work of

6545-446: The various elements with each other. According to Analayo, these various lists were also not presented alone, but included some kind of commentary and explanation which was also part of the oral tradition. Sometimes this commentary included quotations from other sutras, and traces of this can be found in the canonical Abhidharma texts. As time passed, these commentaries and their accompanying lists became inseparable from each other, and

6630-656: The various meditation objects and practices, is treated in various later Abhidharma works such as the Theravada Vibhanga and Paṭisambhidāmagga , the Sarvastivada Dharmaskandha , the Jñānapraṣṭhāna , the Śāriputrābhidharma and the Arthaviniscaya Sutra . In post-canonical Pali commentaries , the classic commentary on the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (as well as for the entire Majjhima Nikaya)

6715-561: The worldly life: kāyā (body), vedanā (sensations/feelings aroused by perception), cittā (mind/consciousness), and dhammas (elements of the Buddhist teachings). The sutta then gives an overview of Buddhist practices, under these four headings: The Sarvāstivāda Smṛtyupasthāna Sūtra differs in some ways from the Theravada version, including postures as the first contemplation instead of breathing for example. According to Bhante Sujato, it seems to emphasize samatha or calm abiding, while

6800-635: Was composed between 3rd century BCE and 2nd century CE. This nikaya consists of 152 discourses attributed to the Buddha and his chief disciples. The Majjhima Nikaya corresponds to the Madhyama Āgama found in the Sutra Piṭakas of various Sanskritic early Buddhist schools, fragments of which survive in Sanskrit and in Tibetan translation. A complete Chinese translation from the Sarvāstivādin recension appears in

6885-542: Was held to be extremely important, the Sarvastivada Mahavibhasa states "Abhidharma is [precisely] the analysis of the svalaksana and samanya-laksana of dharmas". According to Peter Harvey, the Theravadin view of dharmas was that "'They are dhammas because they uphold their own nature [sabhaava]. They are dhammas because they are upheld by conditions or they are upheld according to their own nature' (Asl.39). Here 'own-nature' would mean characteristic nature, which

6970-493: Was not a later addition, but rather was taught in the fourth week of Gautama Buddha 's enlightenment. The Theravada tradition is unique in regarding its Abhidharma as having been taught in its complete form by the Buddha as a single teaching, with the exception of the Kathavatthu , which contains material relating to later disputes and was held to only have been presented as an outline. According to their tradition, devas built

7055-410: Was probably absent from the original scheme, noting that one can easily contemplate the body's decay taking an external object, that is, someone else's body, but not be externally mindfull of the breath, that is, someone else's breath. According to Rupert Gethin , "[t]he sutta is often read today as describing a pure form of insight ( vipassanā ) meditation that bypasses calm ( samatha ) meditation and

7140-428: Was taught by the Buddha to his most eminent disciples, and that therefore this justified the inclusion of Abhidharma texts into their scriptural canon . According to Collett Cox, Abhidharma started as a systematic elaboration of the teachings of the Buddhist sūtras, but later developed independent doctrines. The prominent Western scholar of Abhidharma, Erich Frauwallner , has said that these Buddhist systems are "among

7225-406: Was the work of different monks after his death, and that this was the reason different Abhidharma schools varied widely in their doctrines. However, this school still studied and debated on Abhidharma concepts and thus did not seek to question the method of the Abhidharma in its entirety. Indeed, there were numerous Abhidharma texts written from an Abhidharma perspective. According to K.L. Dhammajoti,

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