Learning the Abhidhamma 2

The Abhidhamma is hard work. Yet, once one really understands its worth, it’s not a difficult commitment. It’s a study that will take a couple of years and, at times, will be challenging. Here I explain why I personally have found the commitment worthwhile.

Firstly, it makes sense. It offers clarity where beforehand there was just senseless confusion. Whilst complicated, it describes the matrix upon which reality is built. This matrix extends out into the physical world but, unlike physics, extends also inwards into the inner world of mind. Who wouldn’t want to understand the invisible threads which control existence?

Secondly, it is an invaluable learning tool which draws together and supports not only Buddhist scripture, but has close analogies with all mystical literature. Apart from other works, it is both complete and very accessible to the English-speaking seeker of knowledge. Furthermore, it is completely practical and lacks, on the whole, reference to themes of worship.

The Abhidhamma is presented in seven books, each highly succinct summaries of profound insights into the nature of existence. There are three versions, but it is the Theravada version that arose out of Myanmar that has the most complete lineage. The content of the Abhidhamma traditionally arose through the initial insights of the Buddha’s enlightenment, which he dictated to Sariputra, one of his disciples. Sariputra does seem to have the knowledge of the works, but scholars believe the version we have largely originated in the centuries subsequent to the Buddha’s parinibbāna (physical death — Buddhas don’t die!).

The Abhidhamma is very dry — it’s like a technical manual for reality. Each book covers a different way of categorising existence. Initially, we learn about the anatomy of the Matrix of being, and this ‘reality’, unlike apparent reality, is called ultimate. Here the components are fully arrived at through complete analysis, reducing experience to inert matter, and the ‘knowing’ mind. The mind is further divided into that part that knows — consciousness — the citta — and all the factors associated with this, the cetasikas.

The Abhidhamma also describes, with relation to the conditioned reality of matter, citta and consciousness, the unconditioned, nibbāna. It describes the types of consciousness that change one’s lineage (from unenlightened worldling to noble being), which are called path and fruit consciousness. The Abhidhamma describes how certain types of citta are created through the mutual co-existence of mental factors.

This precision sharpens mindfulness and facilitates more refined observation in meditation. Learning the Abhidhamma trains the mind to see experience not as solid or fixed but as a flowing interplay of ever-changing conditions. The apparent solidity of the world and of the self is deconstructed into streams of transient phenomena. This deconstruction supports the weakening of attachment and the dismantling of deeply ingrained illusions.

However, it is important to recognise that the Abhidhamma is a tool, not an end in itself. Intellectual understanding alone cannot bring liberation. The true benefit of Abhidhamma study lies in its integration with meditative practice, where conceptual knowledge transforms into direct experiential insight.

For those drawn to detailed analysis, the Abhidhamma offers an unparalleled framework for comprehending the depth and nuance of the Buddha’s teaching — not to accumulate knowledge, but to guide the mind toward release.

“Just as the ocean has but one taste — the taste of salt — so too, this Dhamma has but one taste — the taste of liberation.”
— Udāna 5.5