NO.2 : THE GENERAL IDEAS ABOUT NIKĀYAS AND ABHIDHAMMA

 

1.3. THE GENERAL IDEAS ABOUT NIKĀYAS AND ABHIDHAMMA 

             1.3.1. The General Idea about Nikāyas 

                         1.3.1.1. The Meaning of Sutta and Nikāyas

              The Nikāyas are collections of Suttas or ‘discourses’ regarded as delivered by the Buddha. It is not clear what this term originally meant. When Buddhists started sanskritizing their texts they chose the word ‘sutra’. This is a term which literally means ‘thread’ (compare English ‘suture’) but in a literary context refers especially to authoritative brahmanical texts consisting of string of terse, aphoristic verses which a pupil might memorize and a teacher might take as the basis for exposition. Buddhist Suttas, however, are not in this form. As Richard Gombrich has pointed out, it is perhaps more likely that Middle Indo-Aryan sutta corresponds to Sanskrit sukta, which means ‘something that is well said’ and was early in the history of Indian literature used to refer to the inspired hymns of the Vedic seers that make up the collection of the Rg-Veda.22 Early Buddhists can therefore be seen as claiming a status on a par with the Vedas for the utterances of the Buddha. 

                 Be that as it may, a Buddhist Sutta always begins with the words: ‘Thus have I heard. At one time the Lord was staying.’ The later tradition understands these as the words of Ananda, the Buddha’s attendant, introducing each discourse of the Buddha at the first communal recitation.23 The inclusion of this particular formula at the beginning of a Buddhist text indicates that the text claims the status of ‘the word of the Buddha’ (Buddha-vacana). It is clear that from a very early date there is a tacit understanding that claims this status for a text is not exactly to claim that it represents only what has actually been uttered by the Buddha in person. Even in the Nikāya collections which are accepted as ‘the word of the Buddha’ by all ancient schools, there are suttas presented and delivered by the monks and nuns who were his chief pupils – some of them after his death.24

                   As indicated above, the notion of a fixed canon of Buddhist scripture is some what problematic. And we must be careful not to impose inappropriate notions of ‘canon’ and authenticity on the Buddhist tradition. Even in the accounts of the first Buddhist council we are told of a monk who, on hearing of the recitation of the Buddha’s teaching by the five hundred arhants, declared that he preferred to remember the teaching as he himself had heard it directly from the Buddha.25 For several centuries as Buddhism spread across the Indian subcontinent it is clear that, while the Buddhist community accepted and preserved a common core of textual material should correspond exactly was not regarded by the early community as the critical issue. 

 

1.3.1.2. The Nikāyas or Division of the Sutta. 

                     The Sutta Pitaka professes to record the saying (suttas) of the Buddha himself in his own words, usually in the form of a dialogue with someone, often Socratic in the method of questioning. Occasionally one of his disciples repeats the saying of the Buddha. The suttas are accompanied with short introductions to indicate when and where did Gotama or his disciple speak. It is divided into five Nikāyas : (i) Dīgha Nikāya or the collection of long independent treatises, 34 in number ; (ii) Majjima Nikāya or the collection of suttas of moderate size, 152 in number ; (iii) Samyutta Nikāya or the collection of connected treatises of kindred sayings, grouped in 56 Samyuttas, usually divided into Vaggas (Sagātha-vagga, Niddāna-vagga, Salāyatana-vagga, Khanda-vagga and Mahā-vagga) ; (iv) Ańguttara or Ekuttara Nikāya or the collection of sermons the length of which increases by one and which consists of eleven sections or Nipātas ; (v) Khuddaka Nikāya or the collection of short miscellaneous treatises.26

                     The Khuddaka Nikāya contains fifteen works. They are : (i) Khuddaka pātha or short passages ; (ii) Dhammapada or collection of moral precepts in the form of 423 sayings of the Buddha ; (iii) Udāna, or short lyrics, 82 in number, supposedly uttered by the Buddha under strong emotion ; (iv) Itivuttaka, containing 110 sayings of the Buddha ; (v) Sutta Nipāta, containing didactic poems, 70 in number ; (vi) Vimānavatthu or stories of celestial mansions ; (vii) Petavatthu, a treatise on the departed spirits ; (viii) Theragāthā, or the gāthās composed by the monks ; (ix) Therīgāthā, or the gāthās composed by the nuns ; (x) Jātakas or stories of Buddha’s previous births ; (xi) Niddesa, a treatise on the explanation of the Sutta Nipāta composed by Sārīputta Thera ; (xii) Patisambhidāmagga, or treatise on intuitive insight ; (xiii) Apadāna, or treatise on the legends about arhants and saints ; (xiv) Buddhavamsa, a work on the lives of preceding Buddhas and Gotama Buddha ; and (xv) Cariyā Pitaka, or treatise on Gotama’s deeds in former births or collection of Jātakas in versified form.27

 

1.3.2. The General Idea about Abhidhamma 

              1.3.2.1. From Nikāyas to Abhidhamma 

               The term ‘Abhidhamma’ means approximately ‘higher’ or ‘further’ Dhamma. In many ways the extent works of ‘the basket of Abhidhamma’, the third path of the ancient canon of Buddhist scriptures, can be seen as continuing the process of systematization already evident in the Nikāyas.28 That some form of commentary and interpretation formed part of Buddhism almost from its inception is indicated by certain of the Sutta in the Nikāyas. The Mahāvetalla Sutta,29 for example, recounts how a nun is approached and asked to comment on certain technical terms of the Buddha’s teaching ; in the Vinaya each rule of the monastic discipline is followed by ‘a word analysis’ which defines key terms of the rulings ; and one of the later books of the Pāli canon must be the Niddesa (Exposition)30, which takes the form of a commentary on a section of another work of the canon, the Suttanipāta (Group of Discourses).31 But it is the Abhidhamma par excellence that represents the earliest attempt to give a full and systematic statement of the Buddha’s teaching on the basis of what is contained in his discourses. The traditional understanding is that while the Sutta represents the Buddha’s teaching applied in particular circumstances at a particular time and place, the Abhidhamma is the Buddha’s teaching state in bare and general terms without reference to any particular circumstances. 

                  Something of the Abhidhamma method must go back to the life time of the Buddha himself. Certainly much of its outlook and many of its principles must be regarded as still forming part of the common heritage of Buddhism, alongside the Nikāya Sutta collections and monastic rule of the Vinaya. Yet in addition to what is common, we begin to find in the Abhidhamma literature interpretations and understandings of the Sutta material that are specific to particular schools of Buddhism. We must be careful, however, to understand this situation in the light of our knowledge of just what constituted a Buddhist ‘school’ in ancient India, and avoid the trap of thinking that Buddhist ‘schools’ evolved and defined themselves in the same way. 

 

1.3.2.2. The Development of Abhidhamma 

                  We have substantial knowledge of the Abhidhamma literature and systems of only two ancient Buddhist schools: the Sarvāstivāda and Theravāda.32 The only obvious similarity between their respective Abhidhamma Pitaka collections, however, is that they both contain just seven works. Despite the great status and authority attributed to the Buddha’s chief disciples in arranging and transmitting the Abhidhamma. From this point of view, the Abhidhamma has for the tradition the status of a Sutta or set of headings expanded by one of the Buddha’s disciples subsequently endorsed by the Buddha. Even so, some ancient Buddhists such as the Suatrāntikas or ‘those who follow the Sutta’, came to resist the notion that the Abhidhamma had the full status of ‘the word of the Buddha.’33 Yet while such a group may have wished to deny the Abhidhamma the status of the Buddha’s word, it is clear that they did not seek to question the method and principles of Abhidhamma in their entirety; what they were concerned to question were particular interpretations and understandings current amongst certain exponents of Abhidhamma. 

                   To sum up, a typical ancient Indian ‘canon’ of Buddhist texts consisted of ‘three baskets’ (Tipitaka) : the Sutta Pitaka or ‘basket of discourse’ comprising four main collections of the discourses of the Buddha, (often with a supplementary collection of miscellaneous texts), the Vinaya Pitaka or ‘basket of monastic discipline’, and the Abhidhamma Pitaka or ‘basket of further Dhamma.’34 Only one such ancient Tipitaka survives completely in an ancient Indian language, the Pāli canon of the Theravāda tradition of Sri Lanka and South-East Asia. How many other recessions of this ancient Tipitaka existed is unclear, but the contents and arrangements of others may be partially reconstructed on the basis of the surviving fragments in Indian language and Chinese and Tibetan translations; in this respect we have the fullest knowledge of the canon of the Sarvāstivāda. 

                    The term “Abhidhamma” means approximately ‘higher’ or ‘further’ Dhamma. For the Buddhist tradition it refers to two things : first, a set of books regarded by most ancient schools as ‘the world of the Buddha’ and as such forming the contents of the third basket of scriptures, the Abhidhamma Pitaka ; secondly, the particular system of thought and method of exposition set out in those books and their commentaries. The Abhidhamma is thought out and taught only by the Buddha. 

                   We can see in Abhidhamma a system of instruction which must have begun much earlier Abhidhamma, “special Dhamma”, appears to have first meant a method of discussion and development of the principle of the Dhamma. They all recognize a system of logical analysis, patisambhidā or pratisamvit.35 This is divided into (1) analysis of the meaning (attha) of terms (or of things, for the terms define things), (2) analysis of Dhamma, which the Vibhańga and Buddhagosa explain as the knowledge of the causes of things, (3) analysis of grammar (nirutti), and (4) analysis of patibhāna, the power of ready exposition.36 

                     Both these collections consist of seven books, but their title and contents vary considerably. None the less, they share two tasks in common. In the first place they attempt to give a systematic and exclusive account of the world by breaking it down into its constituent physical and mental events (Dhamma). Secondly, they both contain works which address various points of dispute that arise out of the preceding exercise. Although the status of the Abhidhamma as word of the Buddha might have been challenged, but the stamp that the Abhidhamma systems, methods, and debates have left on subsequent Buddhist thought is indisputable. They provide the term of reference and determine the agenda which result in the Mahāyāna schools of Madhyamika and Yogācāra. 

                  Apart from the canonical Abhidhamma, a great variety of Abhidhamma manuals exist. These manuals aim at introducing the essentials of the complicated canonical systems. For the Theravāda, Buddhagosa’s comprehensive Visuddhimagga contains much of their Abhidhamma system; chapters 14 to 17 form a self-contained section entitled ‘the ground of understanding’ (paññā-bhūmi) which is essentially an introduction to the Theravāda Abhidhamma.37 A more direct introduction to the canonical Theravāda Abhidhamma is the Abhidhammāvatāra (Introduction to Abhidhamma) written in the fifth century by Buddhadatta, a contemporary of Buddhaghosa. But the most commonly used introductory manual in the countries of Theravāda Buddhism today is a twelfth-century work of Anuruddha, the Abhidhamma-sańgaha (Compendium of the Topics of Abhidhamma).

 

1.3.2.3. Abhidhamma Texts 

            The Pāli Abhidhamma Pitaka (ca. 100 B.C.E. – C.E.) contains seven works whose order of appearance has yet to be clarified. We shall describe them in the order in which they are usually presented. 

            1. Dhammasańganī ; The first chapter discusses the eighty-nine mental elements and the forty mental functions, dividing them into good, bad, and neutral. The third chapter discusses about the existent things in terms of the categories of “three” and “twos” in 122 entries called the divisions of the Abhidhamma Mātikā, and in terms another category of “twos” in forty-two entries, the division of the Sutta Mātikā (which coincides in part with the list of terms found in the Sańganī-suttanta and commented on in the Sarvāstivāda Sangitiparyaya). 

             2. Vibhańga ; Like the Sarvāstivāda Dhammaskhandha, this text explicates discourses from the Sutta Pitaka, proceeding on the basis of mātikā found in the Dhammasańganī. 

             3. Dhātukathā ; To clarify the concepts expressed by the technical terms, this complex formulaic work examines whether or not they are connotatively or denotatively related. 

             4. Puggalapaññatti ; This work, perhaps the earliest of the seven, attempts to provide definitive explanations of the terms for the human person taken from the Suttas. 

             5. Kathāvatthu ; With the Patthāna, this is the last of the seven works, and the only one that even in legend is not attributed to the Buddha. It has been identified as the discourses of the elder Tissa, who destroyed heretical views at the third Council. The entire work is in the form of questions and answers, and without a commentary it is difficult to determine which parties are involved or which school held the heretical views. It is unique in that it expounds Theravāda orthodoxy while crushing the heretical views of another school. 

                6. Yamaka ; This work examines pairs of concepts and asks such questions as “Is all of A identical with B, or all of B identical with A? or “Where A arises does B also arise ; or where B arises does A also arise?” 

                  7. Patthāna ; This, the largest of the seven works, defines the twenty-four “conditions” (paccaya) to which frequent reference is made from the time of the agamas, and gives the range of associations for each, following the Abhidhamma Mātikā. 

                 Three post canonical works, the Petakopadesa,38 the Nettippakarna,39 and the Milindapanha (Questions of King Milinda)40 contain parts that clearly have Abhidhamma characteristics. The first two are handbooks of canonical theory. The third is the record of a conversation between the Greek king Milinda (Menander) and the Buddhist priest Nagasena, and is unique in the genre of doctrinal works for its focus on practical problems of cultivating the way.41 It has great historical interest as reflecting the spread of Buddhism and its encounter with Greek culture, and its aesthetic quality has sometimes invited comparison with the Dialogues of Plato. 

                   In the Theravāda tradition there is an ancient transmission of commentaries on the Tipitaka which were compiled by Buddhagosa in the fifth century C.E. “The Suttas offered descriptions of discovery ; the Abhidhamma, map-making ; but emphasis now [in the commentaries] is not on discovery, or even on mapping, so much as on consolidating, filling in and explaining. The material is worked over for consistency.”42 The Atthasālinī, a commentary on the Dhammasańganī, fleshes out its skeletal analysis, providing a subtle map of psychological states which can serve as a framework for ethical striving and meditative practice.43 There is also a commentary on the Vibhańga and one on the remaining five works. These voluminous commentaries follow the original word by word and reveal the progress made in academic study since the appearance of the Abhidhamma Pitaka. The Visuddhimagga is closely related to the first two of these commentaries and is believed to be based on the Visuddhimagga is so huge and complex a work that it has been replaced in Theravāda tradition by brief manuals such as Buddhadatta’s Abhidhammāvatāra and Anuruddha’s Abhidhammattha-sańgaha.44 

 

1.3.2.4. The Importance of the Abhidhamma

                    The Abhidhamma is the totality of the psychological and philosophical teachings of Buddhism, the point of departure of all Buddhist schools and tendencies of thought. Without a knowledge of Abhidhamma, the nature and development of Buddhism will not remain wanting in clearness. 

                     Although the Discourse of Instruction (Sutta Pitaka) are the more attractive portions of the Pāli Canon, yet we ought not to forget that they and hence for the greater part are designed for the understanding of the larger body of learners. This does not mean that they do not contain the deepest problems as well, but hereby attention is only drawn to the fact that here we are concerned with particular form of expression, fashioned from certain definite points of view, so as to suit in each case the needs of a particular situation or a particular audience. Without a knowledge of general background, therefore, an acquaintance with the Sutta (Discourses) alone, despite all their profundity, must lead to a more or less one-sided understanding of the matter. 

                 In the day of the Buddha, in the time when his teaching was in its prime, no such danger was present, since the Buddha’s hearers were in immediate relation with what was set before them, and stood upon a level footing both as regards language and culture. We are not only lacking from the outset in all these antecedent conditions; but, on the contrary, we, in addition, bring with us false presuppositions, and may congratulate ourselves if we succeed even partially in getting rid of these obstacles. 

                    To achieve this end there is no better means than the study of the Buddhist Psychology and Philosophy of the Abhidhamma Pitaka. Though the Suttanta Pitaka (Discourses) appear more original and primitive, it is nevertheless probable that the most essential portions of the Abhidhamma Pitaka were sketched out at the same time as the former, all the more so in that they represent the quintessence of the Discourses of Instruction (Suttanta Pitaka). It is even thinkable that the Sutta (Discourses) have been edited on the basis of the Abhidhamma, in its essential form, for just as long as there was a Sańgha, there was also an Abhidhamma, that is, a form in which the teaching of the Exalted One in its deepest meaning, was concentrated, an ideal frame-work which was in a position to hold together the vastness of the spiritual tradition.45 If one scrutinizes closely the Discourses of the Buddha, one becomes aware of the systematic arrangement even down to the least detail which is carried out with such rigidity that one cannot fit it in with the free form of discourse. And the Abhidhamma Pitaka again contains in its most important parts precisely that extraordinarily subtle fabric of ideas and mental presuppositions on which the Sutta (Discourses) are built.46 Much that is necessarily veiled by the lingual step-by-step unfolding and concretizing form of the Sutta (Discourse) is only solved in the formal un-ambiguity of the Abhidhamma ; and in the terseness of the concepts, connexions flash out whose existence else would have remained concealed. 

                     Historical considerations, however, are by no means to be regarded as deciding the issue in question as to the value of the Abhidhamma Text ; for even during the lifetime of the Buddha there was no ‘absolute’ Buddhism, no dogmatic form of truth, but only an indication of the direction and the method by which truth could be realized individually. As long as the Abhidhamma serve the purpose by showing us the clear outline of Buddhist thought, it is utterly unimportant whether it has come into existence at an earlier or later period. 

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22 Richard F. Gombrich, Theravāda Buddhism : A Social History from Ancient Benares to Modern Columbo, New York : Routledge & Paul, 1988, p. 64.

23 Edward Conze, Buddhism : Its Essence and Development, New Delhi : Munoharlal Publishers, 1994, p. 28.

24 P.V. Babat, op.cit., p. 135.

25 Hirakawa Akira, A History of Indian Buddhism, Paul Groner (Trans.), University of Hawaii Press, 1990, p. 69.

26 P.V. Babat, op.cit., p.123. 

27 U Ko Lay, Guide to Tipit,,aka, Sri Satguru Publications, 1990, p. 125.

28 Ibid., p. 139.

29 M. I., pp. 350-360.

30 Kh. Maha.. 29/49/48 ; and see. U Ko Lay, op.cit., p. 135.

31 Kh.Sutta. 25/324/294 ; and see. U Ko Lay, op.cit., p. 131.

32 Edward J. Thomas, The History of Buddhist Thought, London : Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1959, p. 160.

33 Hirakawa, op.cit., p. 127.

34 Vin. V., p. 86. And see also S.R. Goyel, A History of Indian Buddhism, Kusumanjali Prakashan, p. 116.

35 Vbh., 293 ; Dhs., 51

36 A. II. 160 ; Ps. I. 119 ; Vbh. 294.

37 Ñānamoli Thera (trans.), The Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga), Kandy : Buddhist Publication Society, 1975. pp. 479-672. 

38 See. ‘The Pitaka-Disclosure (Petakopadesa)’, Ñānamoli Thera (trans.), London : Pali Text Society, 1977.

39 See. ‘The Guide (Nettippakarna)’, Ñānamoli Thera (trans.), London : Pali Text Society, 1977.

40 See. ‘Milinda’s Questions (Milindapanha)’ 2 vols., I.B. Horner (trans.), London : Luzac, 1964.

41 Takeuchi Yoshinori (Ed.), Buddhist Spirituality, London : The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1994, p.70.

42 Ñānamoli Thera (trans.), The Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga), Berkeley and London : Shambala, 1976, p. xxix.

43 Takeuchi Yoshinori, op.cit. p.70.

44 For the Visuddhimagga, see the section on meditation in Winston King’s treatment of Theravāda in Southeast Asia (chapter 4, below).

45 Lama Anagariga Govinda, The Psychological Attitude of Early Buddhist Philosophy, London : Rider & Company, 1961, p. 37. 

46 Edward J. Thomas, op.cit., pp. 162-163.

 

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