Abhidhamma

Abhidhamma refers to a collection of Buddhist scholastic texts that analyze phenomena (dhammas) in exhaustive detail. It is a core part of the Theravada Buddhist canon, the Abhidhamma Pitaka, one of the three baskets that make up the Tipitaka. The Abhidhamma presents a systematic framework for analyzing mind and matter, emphasizing ultimate realities and the precise nature of mental states, physical phenomena, and their conditioned relations. Its aim is to provide a clear map of experience to support meditation, study, and doctrinal clarity.

The Abhidhamma Pitaka comprises seven treatises: Dhammasangani, Vibhanga, Dhatukatha, Puggalapannatti, Kathavatthu, Yamaka, and Patthana. Dhammasangani offers an enumeration of dhammas; Vibhanga provides detailed analysis of these phenomena; Dhatukathā and Puggalapannatti discuss elements and persons; Kathavatthu and Yamaka address points of controversy and logical analysis; Patthana examines conditional relations (paccaya) and the interdependence of phenomena in depth.

Historically, the Theravada Abhidhamma was developed in ancient India and Sri Lanka, attaining its present form in Sri Lanka by the early centuries CE, with later commentaries such as Buddhaghosa’s writings elaborating and systematizing its doctrines. In practice, Abhidhamma is regarded as a specialized, scholarly complement to the Sutta and Vinaya, studied in monasteries and at seminaries and applied to meditation, doctrinal analysis, and philosophical reflection.