Practical Abhidhamma Course Version 1.1 (April 2016) Contents 1 Introduction 3 2 Historical Development of the Abhidhamma 21 3 Consciousness (Citta) 38 4 Mental Factors (Cetasika) 64 5 Matter (Rūpa) 95 6 Realms of Existence 116 7 Kamma and Natural Decisive Support 136 8 Processes 161 9 Postscript 187 10 Appendix 1 – Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta 188 11 Appendix 2 – Mind Moments 199 12 Appendix 3 – Mental Factors and Mind Moments 201 1 Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammā Sambuddhassa This course is for Theravāda1 Buddhists with inquiring minds who want an introduction2 to the Abhidhamma with minimal Pāḷi.3 The eight lessons in this course cover selected topics from the Abhidhamma that are most practical and relevant to daily life. Though it is called a “Practical Abhidhamma Course,” it is also a practical Dhamma4 course using themes from the Abhidhamma. The Dhamma and the Abhidhamma are not meant for abstract theorizing; they are meant for practical application. I hope you approach this course not only to learn new facts but also to consider how you can improve yourself spiritually.5 This document includes many diagrams and footnotes with links to online resources such as Suttas, stories from the Dhammapada Commentary and Wikipedia articles. The footnotes are not merely an academic convention, they are my invitation to you to explore further. When viewing this document on a laptop or a tablet, the links are active; clicking a link shows the online website. The document also includes Questions & Answers for each lesson. You may find it convenient to print the appendices so you can refer to them while reading the document. This document can be downloaded from http://practicalabhidhamma.com/. Acknowledgements Ayyā Medhānandī Bhikkhunī suggested that I prepare this Practical Abhidhamma Course after a talk I gave at Sati Sārāṇīya Hermitage (http://satisaraniya.ca/). I am very grateful to the Venerables who reviewed the draft and corrected inaccuracies. Many of the questions came from my friends/students. Oli Cosgrove proofread the document and improved the writing style. My son Dion helped with aesthetics and all things digital (LATEX, Inkscape, and the website). 1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theravada 2Additional details can be found in the following texts (these texts are referenced in footnotes): “A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma”(Abhidhammattha Sangaha) Bhikkhu Bodhi (http://store. pariyatti.org/Comprehensive-Manual-of-Abhidhamma-A--PDF-eBook_p_4362.html) “Path of Purification”(Visuddhimagga) Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli (http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/ authors/nanamoli/PathofPurification2011.pdf) “Buddhist Dictionary” Nyanatiloka (Ñāṇatiloka) (http://urbandharma.org/pdf/palidict.pdf) “Cetasikas” Nina van Gorkom (http://archive.org/details/Cetasikas) “The Buddhist Teaching on Physical Phenomena” Nina van Gorkom (http://archive.org/details/ TheBuddhistTeachingOnPhysicalPhenomena) “The Conditionality of Life (Outline of the 24 conditions as taught in the Abhidhamma)” Nina van Gorkom (http://archive.org/details/TheConditionalityOfLife) When publications of the Pali Text Society are referenced, page numbers refer to the English translation. 3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pali 4In this context, “Dhamma” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharma) means both the Buddha’s teachings (capitalized “Dhamma”) and the Ultimate Realities of the Abhidhamma (lower case “dhamma”). 5The Commentary speaks of a progression: study (pariyatti), practice (paṭipatti) and realization (paṭivedha). 2 1 Introduction Welcome to this Practical Abhidhamma Course. This first lesson provides context by introduc- ing the Abhidhamma as part of the Buddhist canon. Structure of the Buddhist canon Tipiṭaka Three Baskets Vinaya Suttas Abhidhamma Rules for Spoken Detailed monks & nuns discourses framework Authoritative Conventional Higher Teaching Teaching Teaching Figure 1: The Tipiṭaka consists of three collections: Vinaya, Suttas, and Abhidhamma. Let’s start by looking at the “Structure of the Buddhist Canon” diagram in Figure 1. Tipiṭaka is a Pāḷi word; in Pāḷi, Ti means three and Piṭaka means basket, so Tipiṭaka is literally “three baskets” meaning “three collections.”6 The first collection is the Vinaya, the rules for monks and nuns. The second collection is the Suttas, the spoken discourses that were given by the Buddha and his disciples using conventional language. The third collection is the Abhidhamma; it provides a detailed framework covering all the teachings. Abhi is a Pāḷi prefix meaning “higher” and so Abhidhamma literally means higher teachings.7 Let me help you to visualize the size of the Tipiṭaka.8 The printed Tipiṭaka fills a bookshelf one metre in length. The Suttas make up about half of the Tipiṭaka, the Abhidhamma makes up about one-third of the Tipiṭaka and the Vinaya makes up about one-sixth of the Tipiṭaka.9 6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tipitaka 7In “The Expositor” (Atthasālinī) page 3, Buddhaghosa explains that the prefix “Abhi” also indicates that the Abhi- dhamma “exceeds and is distinguished from the Dhamma (the Suttas).” 8In the world’s largest book (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World’s_largest_book), the entire Tipiṭaka is written in Pāḷi using Burmese script on the front and back of 729 marble slabs (total of 1458 “pages”); 222 “pages” of Vinaya, 820 “pages” of Suttas and 416 “pages” of Abhidhamma. 9Each of the books in the Vinaya, Suttas and Abhidhamma have Commentaries (Aṭṭhakathā: http://en. wikipedia.org/wiki/Atthakatha) and many have Subcommentaries (Ṭīkā: http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Subcommentaries,_Theravada). The Commentaries were compiled about 1500 years after the Bud- dha’s parinibbāna (this is discussed in the next lesson) and the Subcommentaries were prepared later. Most of the Commentaries and Subcommentaries have not been translated into English. A Pāḷi version of the Ti- piṭaka, Commentaries and Subcommentaries can be downloaded from the Vipassana Research Institute site: http://www.tipitaka.org/cst4 3 Over the past 60 years, 11 monks in Myanmar have memorized the entire Tipiṭaka.10 The first of these monks got into the Guinness Book of Records for reciting 16,000 pages of the Tipiṭaka.11 Amazing! I have become so dependent on technology that sometimes I can’t even remember my wife’s phone number! Vinaya The first part of the Tipiṭaka is the Vinaya.12 In the Vinaya, the Buddha used his authority to lay down rules and procedures for monks and nuns. The community of monks and nuns, the Sangha,13 would not have survived for 2,600 years without a body of rules and procedures to keep them strong.14 The Vinaya includes 227 major rules for monks and 311 major rules for nuns.15 There are also hundreds of supplementary rules. There are a different number of rules for monks and for nuns because rules were established only when incidents were brought to the attention of the Buddha.16 Each individual rule focuses on harmonious interactions between monastics17 and blameless interactions with laypeople.18 As a complete set, the rules create an environment that is conducive to spiritual development. The Vinaya is like a legal text. It describes the origin of each rule and gives many examples of how each rule is to be applied, what constitutes an offence and what does not; information that helps the Sangha to interpret the rules properly.19 10These monks are given the title “Tipiṭaka dhara”: http://www.myanmarnet.net/nibbana/tipitaka/ tpdkdhra.htm 11http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mingun_Sayadaw 12http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinaya_Pitaka 13http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sangha 14The Buddha excelled not only as a teacher (in the Suttas), but also as an administrator (in the Vinaya). 15This group of major rules is called the Pāṭimokkha,(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patimokkha). The Sangha recite the Pāṭimokkha twice a month during the Uposatha ceremony (http://www.accesstoinsight. org/ptf/dhamma/sila/uposatha.html). 16The Buddha was pragmatic; he modified rules and procedures as circumstances changed. 17This story from the Commentary stresses the importance of harmonious interactions between monastics: http: //www.tipitaka.net/tipitaka/dhp/verseload.php?verse=006 18According to the Vinaya, Volume 1, page 37–38, the Vinaya rules are meant to: 1) Protect the Community 2) Insure the Community’s comfort 3) Ward off ill-meaning people 4) Help well-behaved monks and nuns 5) Destroy present defilements 6) Prevent future defilements 7) Benefit non-followers 8) Increase the number of followers 9) Establish the Discipline 10) Observe the rules of restraint. 19This material is found in Volume 1 of the Vinaya (Sutta Vibhaṅga). 4 Suttas Suttas delivered to laypeople Suttas delivered to monastics Teachings conducive to the holy Happiness visible in this present life life and the attainment of Nibbāna The way to a fortunate rebirth Four Noble Truths & Noble Eightfold Path Suttas Deepening one’s perspective on the world Dependent origination Processes Conditions Abhidhamma Consciousness (Citta) Mental Factors (Cetasika) Matter (Rūpa) Figure 2: Topics in the Suttas and Abhidhamma. Now let’s talk about the Suttas, the discourses given by the Buddha and his disciples.20 The Sutta Piṭaka includes more than 10,000 Suttas.21 These are called conventional teaching because they talk about people, places, and events; conventional terms not found in the Abhidhamma. Each Sutta is targeted to a specific audience to address a specific set of questions. To under- stand a Sutta, it is useful to know the context in which it was given.22 We can broadly classify the Suttas into two categories: Suttas delivered to laypeople23 and Suttas delivered to monastics. Suttas delivered to laypeople For laypeople who were interested in happiness visible in this present life, the Buddha gave simple, practical teachings. In Buddhist countries, a popular topic for Dhamma talks is a Sutta that lists 38 blessings, such as not associating with fools, generosity, respect and patience.24 Another popular Sutta gives advice regarding the reciprocal responsibilities between parents and children, teachers and students, etc.25 These topics are popular because they are relevant in daily life and obviously lead to happiness in this present life.