On the rigour and under-appreciation of the Abhidhamma

The Abhidhamma seems to be often under-appreciated despite its analytical rigour and logical consistency.

In my view, it represents the most authentic Buddhist thought.

Why is Abhidhamma so frequently undervalued?

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Hi Paulo. :folded_hands:

My take is that it is because our defilements are so strong, subtle, and unwavering.

R

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Do you mean among Western converts? Because in Theravada Buddhist countries it is the main focus of monastic education, often to the exclusion of other things.

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Yes, I mean specially Western countries, and perhaps some Mahayanins countries.

Well, I think it is mostly a case of circumstance. There are few teachers who teach Abhidhamma. We don’t even have good, modern, published translations with quality annotations. So without teachers and translations, it’s not reasonable to expect people to appreciate it. Especially because it’s hard to figure out on your own.

Mostly you have Buddhists in the west teaching meditation. A much smaller number are teaching suttas. And a fraction of that are teaching Abhidhamma. Personally I doubt if it is purely demand driven. The vast majority in the west don’t know enough about Abhidhamma to reject it.

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The Abhidharmakośa was also an important text in Mahāyāna Buddhism. I’m not entirely sure, but as far as I know, it is still being taught in Tibetan Buddhism. However, in Asia, its importance seems to have declined as Zen Buddhism became dominant. I’m not very familiar with the relationship between Abhidhamma and Mahayana. As for Western Buddhism, I’m not so sure—generally, it seems to be regarded as a later teaching. This may also be due to the popularity of EBT. There also seem to be differences in the interpretation of jhāna. Those who support lite jhāna tend to view the Vism negatively, so they probably do not look favorably upon the Abhidhamma either.