The Abhidhamma Piṭaka (English: Basket of Higher Doctrine; Vietnamese: Tạng Vi diệu Pháp) is the third of the three divisions of the Pali Tripitaka, the definitive canonical collection of scripture of Theravada Buddhism.
The Abhidhamma Piṭaka is a detailed scholastic analysis and summary of the Buddha's teachings in the Suttas.
In the Abhidhamma, the generally dispersed teachings and principles of the suttas are organized into a coherent science of Buddhist doctrine.
[1] 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.
The Abhidhamma Pitaka is also an important part of Theravada Buddhist liturgy that is regularly recited at funerals and festivals.
[6] 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)'.
[5] Tradition holds that the Buddha thought out the Abhidhamma immediately after his enlightenment then taught it to the gods some years later.
[8][9] 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.
[1] Abhidharma literature likely originated as elaboration and interpretation of the suttas, but later developed independent doctrines.
[16] Rupert Gethin however suggests that important elements of Abhidharma methodology probably go back to the Buddha's lifetime.
[17] A. K. Warder and Peter Harvey both suggested early dates for the Matrikas on which most of the Abidhamma books are based.
[citation needed] These matrika, or matrices, were taxonomic lists that have been identified as likely precursors to fully developed Abhidharma literature.
This Paṭṭhāna text comprise many cause and effects theory detail expositions, limitation and unlimitation of to their direction depended nature with ultimate.
[3][4] Condensed versions of the seven books of the Abhidhamma Pitaka are some of the most common texts found in Thai and Khmer manuscript collections.
[3] The final book of the Abhidhamma Pitaka, the Patthana, is chanted continuously for seven days and nights at an annual festival in Mandalay.