The Abhidhamma Piṭaka (English: Basket of Higher Doctrine; ) is the third of the three divisions of the Pali Tripitaka, the definitive canonical collection of scripture of Theravada Buddhism. The other two parts of the Tripiṭaka are the Vinaya Piṭaka and the Sutta Piṭaka.

The Abhidhamma Piṭaka is a detailed scholastic analysis and summary of the Buddha's teachings in the Suttas. Here the suttas are reworked into a schematized system of general principles that might be called 'Buddhist Psychology'. In the Abhidhamma, the generally dispersed teachings and principles of the suttas are organized into a coherent science of Buddhist doctrine. The Abhidhamma Pitaka is one of several surviving examples of Abhidharma literature, analytical and philosophical texts that were composed by several of the early Buddhist schools of India. One text within the Abhidhamma Pitaka addresses doctrinal differences with other early Buddhist schools.

Etymology and overview

Abhi means "higher" and dhamma here refers to the teaching of the Buddha. Thus Abhidhamma constitutes the 'Higher Teaching' of the Buddha. According to the two truths doctrine the Buddha adapted his teaching according to the level of education, intellectual capacity and level of spiritual development of those whom he came into contact with. The bulk of what the Buddha taught was aimed towards a class of human being he referred to as puthujjana. These were essentially ordinary people engaged in worldly pursuits.

In the words of the Buddhist scholar Narada Mahathera: 'The Dhamma, embodied in the Sutta Pitaka, is the conventional teaching (Pali: vohāra desanā), and the Abhidhamma is the ultimate teaching (Pali: paramattha desanā)'. Later, the Buddha repeated it to Sariputta who then transmitted it to his disciples. This tradition is evident in the Parivara, a late text from the Vinaya Pitaka, which mentions in a concluding verse of praise to the Buddha that this best of creatures, the lion, taught the three pitakas.

Modern Western scholarship, however, generally dates the origin of the Abhidhamma Pitaka to sometime around the third century BCE, 100 to 200 years after the death of the Buddha. Therefore, the seven Abhidhamma works are generally claimed by scholars not to represent the words of the Buddha himself, but those of disciples and scholars.

The earliest texts of the Pali Canon have no mention of the texts of the Abhidhamma Piṭaka. The Abhidhamma is also not mentioned in some reports of the First Buddhist Council, which do mention the existence of the texts of the Vinaya and either the five Nikayas or the four Agamas. Other accounts do include the Abhidhamma.

Rupert Gethin however suggests that important elements of Abhidharma methodology probably go back to the Buddha's lifetime. A. K. Warder and Peter Harvey both suggested early dates for the Matrikas on which most of the Abidhamma books are based. These matrika, or matrices, were taxonomic lists that have been identified as likely precursors to fully developed Abhidharma literature.

  • Dhammasaṅgaṇī ( or )
  • Vibhaṅga ()
  • Dhātukathā (dhātukathā)
  • Puggalapaññatti (-paññatti)
  • Kathāvatthu (kathā-)
  • Yamaka
  • Paṭṭhāna (paṭṭhāna)

The Pāḷi Abhidhamma collection has little in common with the Abhidharma works recognized by other early Buddhist schools.

Dhammasaṅganī

The Dhammasaṅgani (Summary of Dharma) is a manual of ethics for monks. It begins with a mātikā (translated as matrix) which lists classifications of dhammas (translated as phenomena, ideas, states, etc.). The mātikā starts with 22 threefold classifications, such as good/bad/unclassified, and then follows with 100 twofold classifications according to the Abhidhamma method. Many of these classifications are not exhaustive, and some are not even exclusive. The mātikā ends with 42 twofold classifications according to the sutta method; these 42 are only used in the Dhammasaṅgani, whereas the other 122 are used in some of the other books as well.

The main body of the Dhammasaṅgani is in four parts. The first part goes through numerous states of mind, listing and defining by lists of synonyms, factors present in the states. The second deals with material form, beginning with its own mātikā, classifying by ones, twos and so on, and explaining afterwards. The third explains the book's mātikā in terms of the first two parts, as does the fourth, by a different method (and omitting the sutta method).

Vibhaṅga

The Vibhanga (Division or Classification) It is the only portion attributed to a specific author, Moggaliputta. The Paṭṭhāna, which details the interrelated causes of mental and physical phenomena, is viewed as a symbol of the Buddha's omniscience and a safeguard for his teachings. A survey conducted in the early 20th Century by Louis Finot found that the Abhidhamma Pitaka was the only one of the three Pitakas possessed in complete form by most Laotian monasteries.