6 votes

Is it necessary to study Abhidhamma?

1st Q: Is the knowledge of Sutta Pitaka enough to realize nirvana? For some people even the gist is enough Then Sariputta the wanderer spoke thus to the Ven. Assaji: Speak a little or a lot, but ...
user23873's user avatar
5 votes
Accepted

Do all words belong to conventional truth (Sammuti Sacca)?

All words are like sign posts. The meaning of it is an idea that is in the mind of the person who is speaking it. And the communication will take place if the person who hears it has assigned the same ...
RRR's user avatar
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5 votes
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Where does the consciousness (cittas) originate inside the body?

Space is a derived quality of matter, so consciousness cannot be said to take up or exist in space. To say that the mind arises here or there is not really proper in an ultimate sense. Consciousness ...
yuttadhammo's user avatar
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4 votes

Text request--Abhidhamma

The "Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma" is an excellent translation of the Abhidhammattha Sangaha with extensive explanation / charts by Bhikkhu Bodhi. It can be legally downloaded from: CMA There ...
RobM's user avatar
  • 1,378
4 votes

Conventional versus Ultimate

The distinction goes back all the way to Buddha's students' original Maha-Sangha and its two sub-schools Bahushrutiya and Prajnaptivada. From Wikipedia: According to Paramārtha, the Bahuśrutīya ...
Andriy Volkov's user avatar
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4 votes

How to understand "Four great elements" in real life objects?

The Manual of Abhidhamma says, With His supernormal knowledge the Buddha analysed this so-called paramàõu and declared that it consists of paramatthas—ultimate entities which cannot further be ...
ChrisW's user avatar
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4 votes

Is the determining thought moment (vottopana) based entirely off of past karma?

Vottapana is a Citta(thought moment) that has the function of determining or decision making. It is not a result of past Kamma. But it is not a self either. There's no 'I' in it. Why? Because it is ...
Sankha Kulathantille's user avatar
4 votes

single word for metta in English language

Mettā: Commonly translated as Loving Kindness which is simply because a group at PTS chose that over a century ago and that just stuck. The problem with that is that sometimes people already have ...
Gotamist's user avatar
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4 votes
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Was the Abhidhamma taught by the Buddha?

Mendis refers to “Theravāda tradition”. His source is the introduction to the Atthasālinī, which was compiled by Buddhaghosa in about 400 AD based on earlier texts that no longer exist. The ...
RobM's user avatar
  • 1,378
4 votes

Was the Abhidhamma taught by the Buddha?

From this YouTube video entitled "The Theravada Abhidhamma with Bhikkhu Bodhi (Class #1, 5 Mar 2018)", Ven. Bodhi, the famous translator and scholar of the Pali Canon, explained the account ...
ruben2020's user avatar
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4 votes

How does buddhism describe what exactly, or where exactly, or how exactly, consciousness exists?

As a computer scientist you are bringing some baggage with you that will continue to get in the way of what you want to find in the Dharma. I am speaking from the perspective of a computer scientist ...
StillJustJames's user avatar
4 votes
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How does buddhism describe what exactly, or where exactly, or how exactly, consciousness exists?

I will join in the fun with another answer: Consciousness is included as one of the basic six elements (dhatus), namely, earth, wind, fire, water, space and consciousness, per MN 115. Here, the term '...
Dhamma Dhatu's user avatar
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4 votes

Abhidhamma: can dependent origination arise without any sense bases?

DO describes development of defiled subjective world, defiled mind and defiled sense of self. "nama" is an idea of an object, a concept, a mental label. For example, when an infant sees the ...
Andriy Volkov's user avatar
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3 votes

Conventional versus Ultimate

Your question is tagged "Abhidhamma" and "Pāḷi Canon", so I am going to limit my answer to the Theravāda perspective. I am only going to answer the first part of the question. Please leave me a ...
RobM's user avatar
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3 votes

Vipassana on arupa worlds

In the arupa worlds you cannot hear the Dhamma as you do not have this faculty, also the mental process is too subtle making it not possible to meditate on it. But if you have experiences even the 1st ...
Suminda Sirinath S. Dharmasena's user avatar
3 votes

What is the difference between nama-rupa and the five skandhas?

Nama-rupa & the five aggregates are taught for different purposes. The five aggregates are objects of insight. 'Such is form, such its origination, such its passing away. Such is feeling, ...
Dhamma Dhatu's user avatar
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3 votes

Citta Vithi in Abhidhamma

As you mentioned, Chapter IV of the Sangaha describes citta vithi. The Visuddhimagga includes many partial references (look under "cognitive series" in the index) but no complete analysis. Clearly, ...
RobM's user avatar
  • 1,378
3 votes

Too much Dhamma in modern age

My teacher said, this happens for two reasons: students don't meditate and students read books without talking to live Buddhist teachers (former students who got it) to get a sense of high-level ...
Andriy Volkov's user avatar
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3 votes
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Does an Arahant accumulate kamma in his/her life?

Cittas are classified in various ways. One such classification is according to their nature. In this classification we have: Cittas which are resultant states of consciousness, vipaaka, the effects ...
Sankha Kulathantille's user avatar
3 votes

How is re-linking consciousness reconciled with MN 38?

So, how does the Abhidhamma reconcile the concept of re-linking consciousness (patisandhi-viññana) with MN 38 above? It doesn't have to because Abh. and MN 38 talked about different consciousnesses. "...
santa100's user avatar
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3 votes
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How is re-linking consciousness reconciled with MN 38?

There is no contradiction between MN 38 and Abhidhamma. Stream of consciousness OR Continuity of consciousness means individual consciousness which arises (uppada), exists (titi), ceases (bhanga) ...
Damith's user avatar
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3 votes
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Other types of consciousness (viññāṇa) in Theravada?

Are there any other types of consciousness (viññāṇa) in Theravada outside the six sense media consciousnesses? According to Theravada perspective, there are only six types of consciousness (which you'...
Damith's user avatar
  • 1,231
3 votes

What's the (mental) quality different between aversive leaving (vi-bhava) and renouncing (nekkhamma)?

Vibhava tanha arises as a result of attachement, aversion and ignorance combined with the wrong view of Nicca, Suka , Atta and Subha. Nekkhamma is a result of non-attachement, non-aversion and wisdom ...
SarathW's user avatar
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3 votes

Why and how is Theravada and Mahayana Abhidha(r)(m)ma different?

There have been over 18 different schools within Buddhism, differentiating on the philosophical issues. Of those 18 schools, only two survive till the present day. The two are known as Mahayana and ...
HomagetoManjushri's user avatar
2 votes

In a Buddhist perspective how do we recall memories of this life and beyond?

There is a simple difference between the modern perspective of memory and the Buddhist perspective of memory. So what is it? In the modern understanding the brain is the storage device of the mind ("...
Theravada's user avatar
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