Dear friends,

Abhidhamma Series, no 4.

Abhidhamma in the Suttas.

In the Anguttara Nikaaya, Book of the Ones (Ch VIII, para 4) we
read about right understanding as being most precious in life - that
which doesn't bring sorrow:

<Of minor importance, is the loss of family and wealth...
Catastrophic among losses is the loss of Understanding.
Of minor consequence, is the increase of family and wealth.
Supreme among all the gains is the increase of comprehension...
Therefore, friends, you must train yourself to win that.>
(AN I 14-5)
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/anguttara/index.html>
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Pali: Appamattikaa esaa bhikkhave parihaani, yadida.m
~naatiparihaani. Eta.m patiki.t.tha.m bhikkhave parihaaniina.m
yadida.m pa~n~naa parihaaniiti.
Appamattikaa esaa bhikkhave vuddhi, yadida.m ~naativuddhi.
Etadagga.m bhikkhave vuddhiina.m yadida.m pa~n~naavuddhi. Tasmaatiha
bhikkhave eva.m sikkhitabba.m: pa~n~naavuddhiyaa vaddhissaamaati.
Eva.m hi vo bhikkhave sikkhitabbanti.
Appamattikaa esaa bhikkhave parihaani, yadida.m bhogaparihaani.
Eta.m patiki.t.tha.m bhikkhave parihaaniina.m yadida.m
pa~n~naaparihaaniiti.
Appamattikaa esa bhikkhave vuddhi, yadida.m bhogavuddhi. Etadagga.m
bhikkhave vuddhiina.m yadida.m pa~n~naavuddhi. Tasmaatiha bhikkhave
eva.m sikkhitabba.m. Pa~n~naavuddhiyaa vaddhissaamaati. Eva.m hi vo
bhikkhave sikkhitabbanti...

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This sutta is an exhortation to develop right understanding of
realities. Understanding of realities is what is the most precious
in life, as the above-quoted sutta states. Sutta reading is not easy
and we have to carefully consider each word of the sutta. We have to
know what kind of understanding is meant in this sutta. The Buddha
pointed to the development of understanding of all realities in daily
life, no matter he taught Sutta or Abhidhamma. The Abhidhamma helps
us to understand the deep meaning of the suttas. We may be inclined
to overlook the implications of the meaning of understanding, when we
read that understanding is the most precious of all. We have to know
what kind of understanding, understanding of which objects.

Also in the suttas the Buddha teaches to develop right
understanding of ultimate realities, but in the suttas the Buddha
mostly speaks about people�s situations in daily life, about their
clinging to pleasant objects, and the sorrow caused by clinging. He
spoke in conventional terms in order to help people to understand
what is true in the ultimate sense.
Whatever reality arises does so because of the proper conditions. The
conditioned realities of our life are citta, consciousness, cetasika,
mental factors arising with the citta, and ruupa, physical phenomena.
These are three conditioned paramattha dhammas. There is no person,
no self who sees, clings, feels sadness, there are only naama, mental
phenomena, and physical phenomena, ruupa.

In the above-quoted sutta we are reminded that right understanding is
more precious than people we hold dear or possessions. It is the
understanding that whatever occurs in life, be it pleasant or
unpleasant, are only conditioned dhammas. When we suffer the loss of
dear people we should remember that also sadness is a conditioned
dhamma, a cetasika, mental factor, arising with akusala citta. It
only lasts for one moment, it falls away and then there is a next
moment of consciousness. At the moment of seeing there is no sadness
at the same time, seeing experiences a different object: visible
object. Each citta only experiences one object at a time.

Through the Abhidhamma we are reminded all the time that there is no
person who clings, no person who suffers, that only citta and the
accompanying cetasikas experience different objects, be these
unpleasant or pleasant. There is no person who develops
understanding, understanding, pa~n~naa, is a cetasika that can only
arise when there are the appropriate conditions for it.

The Abhidhamma is not a theory one finds in a textbook; the teaching
of the Abhidhamma is about all the realities that appear at this
moment. The Abhidhamma teaches about seeing, about thinking of what
was seen, about all the defilements arising on account of what is
experienced through the senses and the mind-door.

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Nina.





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