Difference between revisions of "Why Should I Care about the Abhidharma?"
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In [[Sanskrit]], [[Abhi]] means “making [[manifest]].” [[Dharma]], in this case, means “what can be known or [[Wikipedia:Cognition|cognized]],” “the plurality of factors of [[reality]],” or simply “what there is.” There are three aspects to this [[definition]]: the first aspect is making manifest. You could do a whole study of [[Buddhism]] in terms of what is [[manifest]] and what is not yet [[manifest]]. The second aspect is direct [[perception]]. The third is this famous [[reality]], or “just what is.” | In [[Sanskrit]], [[Abhi]] means “making [[manifest]].” [[Dharma]], in this case, means “what can be known or [[Wikipedia:Cognition|cognized]],” “the plurality of factors of [[reality]],” or simply “what there is.” There are three aspects to this [[definition]]: the first aspect is making manifest. You could do a whole study of [[Buddhism]] in terms of what is [[manifest]] and what is not yet [[manifest]]. The second aspect is direct [[perception]]. The third is this famous [[reality]], or “just what is.” | ||
− | To elaborate on [[dharmas]] as “factors of [[reality]]” or “what there is,” there is a list of [[seventy-five dharmas]]. We could look at it like we would a periodic table of [[elements]] with all the different [[atoms]], from {{Wiki|hydrogen}} through einsteinium. There are lightweight [[atoms]] and heavyweight [[atoms]], each with their [[own]] [[characteristics]], their [[own]] {{Wiki|quantum}} spin (at the level of quarks), and their [[own]] capacity to engage in [[conditional]] relations with other [[atoms]] to make {{Wiki|molecules}}. These {{Wiki|molecules}} combine with other {{Wiki|molecules}} to make bigger {{Wiki|molecules}}. And sometimes, as with {{Wiki|carbon}}, an {{Wiki|atom}} continues making long strings called polymers, such as plastics, which we may later use as a plastic bottle. | + | To elaborate on [[dharmas]] as “factors of [[reality]]” or “what there is,” there is a list of [[seventy-five dharmas]]. We could look at it like we would a periodic table of [[elements]] with all the different [[atoms]], from {{Wiki|hydrogen}} through einsteinium. There are lightweight [[atoms]] and heavyweight [[atoms]], each with their [[own]] [[characteristics]], their [[own]] {{Wiki|quantum}} spin (at the level of quarks), and their [[own]] capacity to engage in [[conditional]] relations with other |
+ | |||
+ | [[atoms]] to make {{Wiki|molecules}}. These {{Wiki|molecules}} combine with other {{Wiki|molecules}} to make bigger {{Wiki|molecules}}. And sometimes, as with {{Wiki|carbon}}, an {{Wiki|atom}} continues making long strings called polymers, such as plastics, which we may later use as a plastic bottle. | ||
We can see polymers in their functional aspect, as, for instance, a plastic bottle, but we don’t see the {{Wiki|molecular}} {{Wiki|structure}} of the polymer itself. This distinction between [[the way things really are]] and the way they appear is crucial and is a {{Wiki|distinction}} that is elaborated upon in the [[Abhidharma]] (and in subsequent) {{Wiki|literature}}. It is said that the listing and [[understanding]] of the various factors of [[existence]] and their interactions is, in fact, the way things are. It is, however, difficult to be {{Wiki|aware}} at the level of the flowing interactions of the [[dharmas]] themselves. | We can see polymers in their functional aspect, as, for instance, a plastic bottle, but we don’t see the {{Wiki|molecular}} {{Wiki|structure}} of the polymer itself. This distinction between [[the way things really are]] and the way they appear is crucial and is a {{Wiki|distinction}} that is elaborated upon in the [[Abhidharma]] (and in subsequent) {{Wiki|literature}}. It is said that the listing and [[understanding]] of the various factors of [[existence]] and their interactions is, in fact, the way things are. It is, however, difficult to be {{Wiki|aware}} at the level of the flowing interactions of the [[dharmas]] themselves. | ||
− | Following the traditions he studied in [[Gandhara]], the great [[scholar]] Vasubandhu—the half-brother of [[Asanga]] and one of the great [[jewels]] of India—found it more amenable to classify the seventy-five basic factors of [[existence]] into a grouping of [[eighteen elements]] ([[dhatus]]) or, in another grouping, as [[twelve sense bases]] ([[ayatanas]]). At the level of the way things actually are, not only in [[Western]] [[science]] but also in [[Abhidharma]], there is an [[understanding]] that there is a fundamental plurality of different energy patterns, which in [[Western]] [[science]], until recently, we called an “{{Wiki|atom}},” meaning “not divisible.” {{Wiki|Atom}} is simply a [[word]] for a fundamental pattern of [[energy]]. Of course, nowadays, we say that not even the {{Wiki|atom}} is so fundamental. What are the current and most fundamental building blocks that make up [[atoms]]? They are called quarks, which have rather wonderful names: [[beauty]], strangeness, and charm. | + | Following the traditions he studied in [[Gandhara]], the great [[scholar]] Vasubandhu—the half-brother of [[Asanga]] and one of the great [[jewels]] of India—found it more amenable to classify the seventy-five basic factors of [[existence]] into a grouping of [[eighteen elements]] ([[dhatus]]) or, in another grouping, as [[twelve sense bases]] ([[ayatanas]]). At the level of the way things actually are, not only in [[Western]] [[science]] but also in [[Abhidharma]], there is an [[understanding]] that there is a |
+ | |||
+ | fundamental plurality of different energy patterns, which in [[Western]] [[science]], until recently, we called an “{{Wiki|atom}},” meaning “not divisible.” {{Wiki|Atom}} is simply a [[word]] for a fundamental pattern of [[energy]]. Of course, nowadays, we say that not even the {{Wiki|atom}} is so fundamental. What are the current and most fundamental building blocks that make up [[atoms]]? They are called quarks, which have rather wonderful names: [[beauty]], strangeness, and charm. | ||
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Author, [[professor]], and [[translator]] of [[Tibetan Buddhist]] texts, [[Steven D. Goodman]], passed away on August 3 at the age of 75. In this piece featured in the Summer 2020 issue of Buddhdharma, he explains how at first glance, the [[Abhidharma]], with all its lists and analysis, may not seem so inviting. But give it another look, he says, and it explains the entire [[world]]. | Author, [[professor]], and [[translator]] of [[Tibetan Buddhist]] texts, [[Steven D. Goodman]], passed away on August 3 at the age of 75. In this piece featured in the Summer 2020 issue of Buddhdharma, he explains how at first glance, the [[Abhidharma]], with all its lists and analysis, may not seem so inviting. But give it another look, he says, and it explains the entire [[world]]. | ||
A close up photo of an [[elephants]] [[eye]]. | A close up photo of an [[elephants]] [[eye]]. | ||
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Somebody could say, “Why bother? Why should I [[care]] about [[knowing]] how to directly {{Wiki|perceive}} [[reality]]?” That is an {{Wiki|excellent}} question. The point of the [[Buddhist teachings]] is that the direct [[perception]] of [[reality]] is necessary in order to be truly free. Our capacity to learn how to directly {{Wiki|perceive}} [[reality]] is the [[sine]] qua non for traversing the [[path]]. In fact, how free we are depends on how directly we {{Wiki|perceive}} [[reality]]. | Somebody could say, “Why bother? Why should I [[care]] about [[knowing]] how to directly {{Wiki|perceive}} [[reality]]?” That is an {{Wiki|excellent}} question. The point of the [[Buddhist teachings]] is that the direct [[perception]] of [[reality]] is necessary in order to be truly free. Our capacity to learn how to directly {{Wiki|perceive}} [[reality]] is the [[sine]] qua non for traversing the [[path]]. In fact, how free we are depends on how directly we {{Wiki|perceive}} [[reality]]. | ||
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In [[Sanskrit]], [[Abhi]] means “making [[manifest]].” [[Dharma]], in this case, means “what can be known or [[Wikipedia:Cognition|cognized]],” “the plurality of factors of [[reality]],” or simply “what there is.” There are three aspects to this [[definition]]: the first aspect is making manifest. You could do a whole study of [[Buddhism]] in terms of what is [[manifest]] and what is not yet [[manifest]]. The second aspect is direct [[perception]]. The third is this famous [[reality]], or “just what is.” | In [[Sanskrit]], [[Abhi]] means “making [[manifest]].” [[Dharma]], in this case, means “what can be known or [[Wikipedia:Cognition|cognized]],” “the plurality of factors of [[reality]],” or simply “what there is.” There are three aspects to this [[definition]]: the first aspect is making manifest. You could do a whole study of [[Buddhism]] in terms of what is [[manifest]] and what is not yet [[manifest]]. The second aspect is direct [[perception]]. The third is this famous [[reality]], or “just what is.” | ||
− | To elaborate on [[dharmas]] as “factors of [[reality]]” or “what there is,” there is a list of [[seventy-five dharmas]]. We could look at it like we would a periodic table of [[elements]] with all the different [[atoms]], from {{Wiki|hydrogen}} through einsteinium. There are lightweight [[atoms]] and heavyweight [[atoms]], each with their [[own]] [[characteristics]], their [[own]] {{Wiki|quantum}} spin (at the level of quarks), and their [[own]] capacity to engage in [[conditional]] relations with other [[atoms]] to make {{Wiki|molecules}}. These {{Wiki|molecules}} combine with other {{Wiki|molecules}} to make bigger {{Wiki|molecules}}. And sometimes, as with {{Wiki|carbon}}, an {{Wiki|atom}} continues making long strings called polymers, such as plastics, which we may later use as a plastic bottle. | + | To elaborate on [[dharmas]] as “factors of [[reality]]” or “what there is,” there is a list of [[seventy-five dharmas]]. We could look at it like we would a periodic table of [[elements]] with all the different [[atoms]], from {{Wiki|hydrogen}} through einsteinium. There are lightweight [[atoms]] and heavyweight [[atoms]], each with their [[own]] [[characteristics]], their [[own]] {{Wiki|quantum}} spin (at the level of quarks), and their [[own]] capacity to engage in [[conditional]] relations with other |
+ | |||
+ | [[atoms]] to make {{Wiki|molecules}}. These {{Wiki|molecules}} combine with other {{Wiki|molecules}} to make bigger {{Wiki|molecules}}. And sometimes, as with {{Wiki|carbon}}, an {{Wiki|atom}} continues making long strings called polymers, such as plastics, which we may later use as a plastic bottle. | ||
We can see polymers in their functional aspect, as, for instance, a plastic bottle, but we don’t see the {{Wiki|molecular}} {{Wiki|structure}} of the polymer itself. This distinction between [[the way things really are]] and the way they appear is crucial and is a {{Wiki|distinction}} that is elaborated upon in the [[Abhidharma]] (and in subsequent) {{Wiki|literature}}. It is said that the listing and [[understanding]] of the various factors of [[existence]] and their interactions is, in fact, the way things are. It is, however, difficult to be {{Wiki|aware}} at the level of the flowing interactions of the [[dharmas]] themselves. | We can see polymers in their functional aspect, as, for instance, a plastic bottle, but we don’t see the {{Wiki|molecular}} {{Wiki|structure}} of the polymer itself. This distinction between [[the way things really are]] and the way they appear is crucial and is a {{Wiki|distinction}} that is elaborated upon in the [[Abhidharma]] (and in subsequent) {{Wiki|literature}}. It is said that the listing and [[understanding]] of the various factors of [[existence]] and their interactions is, in fact, the way things are. It is, however, difficult to be {{Wiki|aware}} at the level of the flowing interactions of the [[dharmas]] themselves. | ||
− | Following the traditions he studied in [[Gandhara]], the great [[scholar]] Vasubandhu—the half-brother of [[Asanga]] and one of the great [[jewels]] of India—found it more amenable to classify the seventy-five basic factors of [[existence]] into a grouping of [[eighteen elements]] ([[dhatus]]) or, in another grouping, as [[twelve sense bases]] ([[ayatanas]]). At the level of the way things actually are, not only in [[Western]] [[science]] but also in [[Abhidharma]], there is an [[understanding]] that there is a | + | Following the traditions he studied in [[Gandhara]], the great [[scholar]] Vasubandhu—the half-brother of [[Asanga]] and one of the great [[jewels]] of India—found it more amenable to classify the seventy-five basic factors of [[existence]] into a grouping of [[eighteen elements]] ([[dhatus]]) or, in another grouping, as [[twelve sense bases]] ([[ayatanas]]). At the level of the way things actually are, not only in [[Western]] [[science]] but also in [[Abhidharma]], there is an [[understanding]] that there is a |
− | + | fundamental plurality of different energy patterns, which in [[Western]] [[science]], until recently, we called an “{{Wiki|atom}},” meaning “not divisible.” {{Wiki|Atom}} is simply a [[word]] for a fundamental pattern of [[energy]]. Of course, nowadays, we say that not even the {{Wiki|atom}} is so fundamental. What are the current and most fundamental building blocks that make up [[atoms]]? They are called quarks, which have rather wonderful names: [[beauty]], strangeness, and charm. | |
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− | |||
In a similar way, the [[Abhidharma]] [[tradition]] has a very {{Wiki|subtle}} and precise way of presenting what makes up our entire [[world]], both {{Wiki|physically}} and non-physically, perceptually, cognitively, somatically, physiologically, and so on. The {{Wiki|equivalent}} to this {{Wiki|atom}} (or quark) in the [[Abhidharma]] [[world]] is called a [[dharma]]. The study of the [[Abhidharma]] can be understood as consisting of becoming learned about both the [[essential]] features of these [[dharmas]] and also how these [[dharmas]] work together. | In a similar way, the [[Abhidharma]] [[tradition]] has a very {{Wiki|subtle}} and precise way of presenting what makes up our entire [[world]], both {{Wiki|physically}} and non-physically, perceptually, cognitively, somatically, physiologically, and so on. The {{Wiki|equivalent}} to this {{Wiki|atom}} (or quark) in the [[Abhidharma]] [[world]] is called a [[dharma]]. The study of the [[Abhidharma]] can be understood as consisting of becoming learned about both the [[essential]] features of these [[dharmas]] and also how these [[dharmas]] work together. | ||
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[[Abhidharma]] study, then, moves us from the imprecise [[language]] of [[thoughts]], [[emotions]], [[feelings]], intuitions, and [[desires]] into the precise [[language]] of the coming together and uncoming together of [[dharmas]], in this case, seventy-five [[dharmas]], which are discussed and categorized rather like an [[atomic]] chart of basic factors of [[existence]]. | [[Abhidharma]] study, then, moves us from the imprecise [[language]] of [[thoughts]], [[emotions]], [[feelings]], intuitions, and [[desires]] into the precise [[language]] of the coming together and uncoming together of [[dharmas]], in this case, seventy-five [[dharmas]], which are discussed and categorized rather like an [[atomic]] chart of basic factors of [[existence]]. | ||
− | [[The Treasury of Abhidharma]] | + | |
+ | =[[The Treasury of Abhidharma]]= | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
[[The first turning]] of the [[wheel of the dharma]] consisted of the [[teaching]] on the [[four noble truths]], the [[teaching]] on [[proper conduct]], and the [[teaching]] on the [[four mindfulnesses]] as found in the [[Pali]] [[Satipatthana Sutta]] and in the Sanskrit [[Sutra]] on [[Establishing Mindfulness]] (Smrityupasthana [[Sutra]]). | [[The first turning]] of the [[wheel of the dharma]] consisted of the [[teaching]] on the [[four noble truths]], the [[teaching]] on [[proper conduct]], and the [[teaching]] on the [[four mindfulnesses]] as found in the [[Pali]] [[Satipatthana Sutta]] and in the Sanskrit [[Sutra]] on [[Establishing Mindfulness]] (Smrityupasthana [[Sutra]]). | ||
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In fact, the [[Abhidharma]] names and catalogs those energies that block the [[heart]] from being open. One might say, then, that the study of what opens and what blocks the opening of the [[heart]] is the very core of the [[Abhidharma]]. | In fact, the [[Abhidharma]] names and catalogs those energies that block the [[heart]] from being open. One might say, then, that the study of what opens and what blocks the opening of the [[heart]] is the very core of the [[Abhidharma]]. | ||
− | The [[Discernment]] of All [[Dharmas]] | + | |
+ | =The [[Discernment]] of All [[Dharmas]]= | ||
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Let’s look at [[prajna]], [[discernment]], which is factor 18 from the list of seventy-five on the chart (included within the General Factors). In the [[Abhidharmakosha]] ([[chapter]] 1, verse 2a), [[Vasubhandu]] responded to the question, “What is [[Abhidharma]]?” by stating, “[[Abhidharma]] is [[pure]] [[prajna]] with its following. Prajna…is the discernment of the [[dharmas]].” | Let’s look at [[prajna]], [[discernment]], which is factor 18 from the list of seventy-five on the chart (included within the General Factors). In the [[Abhidharmakosha]] ([[chapter]] 1, verse 2a), [[Vasubhandu]] responded to the question, “What is [[Abhidharma]]?” by stating, “[[Abhidharma]] is [[pure]] [[prajna]] with its following. Prajna…is the discernment of the [[dharmas]].” | ||
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We have two [[senses]] of the [[word]] [[prajna]], two ways in which we can discern the way things are: (1) purely, which allows us to directly {{Wiki|perceive}} [[reality]] as it is, and (2) impurely ([[prajna]] in a [[defiled]] [[sense]]), which is the result of being caught up in [[effort]] due to hearing, [[thinking]], absorbing, and so on, in an unclear way. | We have two [[senses]] of the [[word]] [[prajna]], two ways in which we can discern the way things are: (1) purely, which allows us to directly {{Wiki|perceive}} [[reality]] as it is, and (2) impurely ([[prajna]] in a [[defiled]] [[sense]]), which is the result of being caught up in [[effort]] due to hearing, [[thinking]], absorbing, and so on, in an unclear way. | ||
− | [[Dharma]] Bears Its [[Own]] Unique [[Characteristics]] | + | |
+ | |||
+ | =[[Dharma]] Bears Its [[Own]] Unique [[Characteristics]]= | ||
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[[Vasubandhu]] [[taught]]: “[[Dharma]] is that which bears ([[dharana]]) its [[own]] specific or unique [[characteristic]].” This is one of the [[senses]] of the list of ten referents for the [[word]] [[dharma]]. What [[Vasubandhu]] indicates here is that each of these [[seventy-five dharmas]] has a specific, unique [[characteristic]]. Previously, we used the analogy of [[atoms]] and quarks. We don’t say, “I think it was probably {{Wiki|hydrogen}}, but maybe it was helium. I’m not sure. Anyway, there was a little bit of [[energy]], and what does it {{Wiki|matter}}?” We learn, instead, to know the precise [[characteristics]] of the [[atoms]] (or quarks and so on). It is rather the same with the [[dharmas]]. Precision is key. | [[Vasubandhu]] [[taught]]: “[[Dharma]] is that which bears ([[dharana]]) its [[own]] specific or unique [[characteristic]].” This is one of the [[senses]] of the list of ten referents for the [[word]] [[dharma]]. What [[Vasubandhu]] indicates here is that each of these [[seventy-five dharmas]] has a specific, unique [[characteristic]]. Previously, we used the analogy of [[atoms]] and quarks. We don’t say, “I think it was probably {{Wiki|hydrogen}}, but maybe it was helium. I’m not sure. Anyway, there was a little bit of [[energy]], and what does it {{Wiki|matter}}?” We learn, instead, to know the precise [[characteristics]] of the [[atoms]] (or quarks and so on). It is rather the same with the [[dharmas]]. Precision is key. | ||
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Otherwise, it’s as if someone who is not a [[skilled]] doctor went into a room and engaged in a display of being shocked and disgusted by the full manifestations of the symptoms of an {{Wiki|illness}}. Why are we shocked? Why are we surprised when someone gets upset? From the point of view and practice of the [[Abhidharma]] (and indeed the [[buddhadharma]]), when [[conditions]] are ripe, upset occurs, and when [[conditions]] are right, upset dissipates, and these conditions we can know—dharma is that which bears its [[own]] specific or unique [[characteristic]]. | Otherwise, it’s as if someone who is not a [[skilled]] doctor went into a room and engaged in a display of being shocked and disgusted by the full manifestations of the symptoms of an {{Wiki|illness}}. Why are we shocked? Why are we surprised when someone gets upset? From the point of view and practice of the [[Abhidharma]] (and indeed the [[buddhadharma]]), when [[conditions]] are ripe, upset occurs, and when [[conditions]] are right, upset dissipates, and these conditions we can know—dharma is that which bears its [[own]] specific or unique [[characteristic]]. | ||
− | [[Conditioned]] and [[Unconditioned Dharmas]] | + | |
+ | =[[Conditioned]] and [[Unconditioned Dharmas]]= | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
Let us examine the chart of the [[seventy-five dharmas]]. There are two great divisions in the chart: | Let us examine the chart of the [[seventy-five dharmas]]. There are two great divisions in the chart: | ||
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[[Unconditioned dharmas]] (73–75) | [[Unconditioned dharmas]] (73–75) | ||
[[Conditioned]] [[Dharmas]] | [[Conditioned]] [[Dharmas]] | ||
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The section on “[[Conditioned]] [[Dharmas]]” is divided into four major categories: | The section on “[[Conditioned]] [[Dharmas]]” is divided into four major categories: | ||
[[Forms]], which consist of eleven specific [[dharmas]] | [[Forms]], which consist of eleven specific [[dharmas]] | ||
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[[Mind]], which consists of one [[dharma]] | [[Mind]], which consists of one [[dharma]] | ||
− | III. [[Concomitant]] (or working together) [[mental factors]], which are further divided into subgroups | + | |
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | =III. [[Concomitant]] (or working together) [[mental factors]], which are further divided into subgroups= | ||
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+ | |||
[[Elements]] neither substantial [[forms]] (column I), nor involved in mental functioning (columns II and III), which consists of true factors that do not depend on a [[truth or reality]] in a {{Wiki|present}} [[moment]] of [[experience]] (in other lists, these are presented like what we might call in [[physics]] “laws that regulate the coming together of [[dharmas]]”) | [[Elements]] neither substantial [[forms]] (column I), nor involved in mental functioning (columns II and III), which consists of true factors that do not depend on a [[truth or reality]] in a {{Wiki|present}} [[moment]] of [[experience]] (in other lists, these are presented like what we might call in [[physics]] “laws that regulate the coming together of [[dharmas]]”) | ||
[[Unconditioned Dharmas]] | [[Unconditioned Dharmas]] | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
All of these seventy-two [[conditioned]] [[dharmas]] are rather beside the point if not for the very last column, those of [[the unconditioned]] [[dharmas]], those factors that [[name]] the possibility of freedom and [[liberation]] from [[suffering]]. Without that, probably no one would be [[interested]]. In order to give a full picture of all the [[dharmas]], in addition to the [[dharmas]] that come together and go apart, there are [[three dharmas]] that are not created and not conditioned. These include [[dharma]] 73, [[space]] itself. | All of these seventy-two [[conditioned]] [[dharmas]] are rather beside the point if not for the very last column, those of [[the unconditioned]] [[dharmas]], those factors that [[name]] the possibility of freedom and [[liberation]] from [[suffering]]. Without that, probably no one would be [[interested]]. In order to give a full picture of all the [[dharmas]], in addition to the [[dharmas]] that come together and go apart, there are [[three dharmas]] that are not created and not conditioned. These include [[dharma]] 73, [[space]] itself. | ||
In addition to [[space]], there are two ways to understand [[cessation of suffering]] ([[nirodha]]), [[dharmas]] 74 and 75. One [[sense]] of [[cessation]], that of [[cessation]] with remainder, refers to the [[awakening]] of the [[Buddha]] under the [[bodhi tree]]. The term with remainder is used to indicate that, although his [[defilements]] had ceased, the [[Buddha]] continued to teach and be seen and heard by many [[beings]] for over forty years. That is what is meant by “[[cessation]] with remainder.” The other [[sense]], [[dharma]] 75, “[[cessation]] without remainder,” refers to the final nirvana ([[parinirvana]]), or “[[death]],” of the [[Buddha]], which leaves no remainder. | In addition to [[space]], there are two ways to understand [[cessation of suffering]] ([[nirodha]]), [[dharmas]] 74 and 75. One [[sense]] of [[cessation]], that of [[cessation]] with remainder, refers to the [[awakening]] of the [[Buddha]] under the [[bodhi tree]]. The term with remainder is used to indicate that, although his [[defilements]] had ceased, the [[Buddha]] continued to teach and be seen and heard by many [[beings]] for over forty years. That is what is meant by “[[cessation]] with remainder.” The other [[sense]], [[dharma]] 75, “[[cessation]] without remainder,” refers to the final nirvana ([[parinirvana]]), or “[[death]],” of the [[Buddha]], which leaves no remainder. | ||
− | The Coming Together of [[Dharmas | + | |
+ | =The Coming Together of [[Dharmas= | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
Remember, everything that occurs is due to the working of [[dharmas]], so we might ask the questions, “How come all of these factors aren’t always working together all the time? What has to happen in order for some factors to lock into place, and what has to happen for those factors to be unlocked and no longer be working? How does [[impermanence]] work, and how does [[language]] work?” The answer to these questions is listed in this fourth column. | Remember, everything that occurs is due to the working of [[dharmas]], so we might ask the questions, “How come all of these factors aren’t always working together all the time? What has to happen in order for some factors to lock into place, and what has to happen for those factors to be unlocked and no longer be working? How does [[impermanence]] work, and how does [[language]] work?” The answer to these questions is listed in this fourth column. | ||
To play the [[Abhidharma]] “game,” this special mode of analysis, the answer has to be given in terms of [[dharmas]]. Then, to formulate the same question as an [[Abhidharma]] question, we might ask: “Which [[dharmas]] are responsible for the coming together of [[dharmas]]?” Just by hearing this, we move into the technical way in which an Abhidharmika—one who practices [[Abhidharma]]— [[thinks]] about these things. | To play the [[Abhidharma]] “game,” this special mode of analysis, the answer has to be given in terms of [[dharmas]]. Then, to formulate the same question as an [[Abhidharma]] question, we might ask: “Which [[dharmas]] are responsible for the coming together of [[dharmas]]?” Just by hearing this, we move into the technical way in which an Abhidharmika—one who practices [[Abhidharma]]— [[thinks]] about these things. | ||
− | Acquisition and Nonacquisition | + | |
+ | |||
+ | =Acquisition and Nonacquisition= | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | |||
The [[dharma]] responsible for the coming together of [[dharmas]] is 59: acquisition. The [[dharma]] that is responsible for disengaging groupings of [[dharmas]] is 60: nonacquisition. | The [[dharma]] responsible for the coming together of [[dharmas]] is 59: acquisition. The [[dharma]] that is responsible for disengaging groupings of [[dharmas]] is 60: nonacquisition. | ||
− | [[Birth]] | + | |
+ | =[[Birth]]= | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
The [[dharma]] that is responsible for the coming into [[existence]] of a situation is 66: [[birth]]. [[Birth]] here does not mean [[birth]] from a mother but the coming about of a new situation. If you think about it, it is strange that something new can occur. We have this [[Wikipedia:Habit (psychology)|habit]] of saying, “I have a new boyfriend, a new girlfriend, a new job, a new [[teacher]], a new [[understanding]], a new kind of {{Wiki|goat}} cheese, a new whatever.” But that does not mean we understand its [[characteristics]]. From the viewpoint of [[dharmas]], what is responsible for this [[experience]] of newness? It is 66: [[birth]]. | The [[dharma]] that is responsible for the coming into [[existence]] of a situation is 66: [[birth]]. [[Birth]] here does not mean [[birth]] from a mother but the coming about of a new situation. If you think about it, it is strange that something new can occur. We have this [[Wikipedia:Habit (psychology)|habit]] of saying, “I have a new boyfriend, a new girlfriend, a new job, a new [[teacher]], a new [[understanding]], a new kind of {{Wiki|goat}} cheese, a new whatever.” But that does not mean we understand its [[characteristics]]. From the viewpoint of [[dharmas]], what is responsible for this [[experience]] of newness? It is 66: [[birth]]. | ||
− | Fleeting Stability | + | |
+ | =Fleeting Stability= | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
The other strange thing about [[experiences]] is that they don’t immediately dissipate. They seem to be {{Wiki|stable}} for a while. If we have a new boyfriend or girlfriend, this is good news. If we are newly unemployed, this is bad news. But to give a full presentation of a situation or [[experience]], to say that it is new is not enough; it also sticks around for a while. In order to underline the impermanence of it, I call it fleeting stability (67). | The other strange thing about [[experiences]] is that they don’t immediately dissipate. They seem to be {{Wiki|stable}} for a while. If we have a new boyfriend or girlfriend, this is good news. If we are newly unemployed, this is bad news. But to give a full presentation of a situation or [[experience]], to say that it is new is not enough; it also sticks around for a while. In order to underline the impermanence of it, I call it fleeting stability (67). | ||
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And both in [[India]] and in the [[West]], great and lesser [[philosophers]] have wondered about whether or not what has changed is the [[nature]] and [[essence]], or only an accident, of its qualities. The fact that there seems to be a {{Wiki|movement}} from [[dharmas]] called [[birth]] (66) to [[dharmas]] called stability (67) to [[dharmas]] called [[decay]] (68) is given the [[name]] [[impermanence]] as a separate [[dharma]] (69). | And both in [[India]] and in the [[West]], great and lesser [[philosophers]] have wondered about whether or not what has changed is the [[nature]] and [[essence]], or only an accident, of its qualities. The fact that there seems to be a {{Wiki|movement}} from [[dharmas]] called [[birth]] (66) to [[dharmas]] called stability (67) to [[dharmas]] called [[decay]] (68) is given the [[name]] [[impermanence]] as a separate [[dharma]] (69). | ||
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[[Impermanence]] is the [[name]] given to the fact that all [[conditioned]] [[elements]] (all [[elements]] from 1 to 72) arise, stay for a while, and then [[decay]]. This is that famous “[[impermanence]].” It is one of the marks of [[conditioned existence]]. In the [[Abhidharma]], [[conditioned existence]] consists of seventy-two separate, analyzable factors. However, how do we usually understand “[[impermanence]]” in these contexts? [[Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche]] once asked why so many people think that [[impermanence]] is bad. He then suggested another way to think: [[imagine]] that my current situation of not having a Mercedes-Benz is impermanent. Expanding this [[sense]], we can think that our current situation of not being a full and complete [[buddha]] is actually [[impermanent]]! | [[Impermanence]] is the [[name]] given to the fact that all [[conditioned]] [[elements]] (all [[elements]] from 1 to 72) arise, stay for a while, and then [[decay]]. This is that famous “[[impermanence]].” It is one of the marks of [[conditioned existence]]. In the [[Abhidharma]], [[conditioned existence]] consists of seventy-two separate, analyzable factors. However, how do we usually understand “[[impermanence]]” in these contexts? [[Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche]] once asked why so many people think that [[impermanence]] is bad. He then suggested another way to think: [[imagine]] that my current situation of not having a Mercedes-Benz is impermanent. Expanding this [[sense]], we can think that our current situation of not being a full and complete [[buddha]] is actually [[impermanent]]! | ||
Latest revision as of 17:04, 9 July 2021
BY STEVEN D. GOODMAN
Author, professor, and translator of Tibetan Buddhist texts, Steven D. Goodman, passed away on August 3 at the age of 75. In this piece featured in the Summer 2020 issue of Buddhdharma, he explains how at first glance, the Abhidharma, with all its lists and analysis, may not seem so inviting. But give it another look, he says, and it explains the entire world.
Somebody could say, “Why bother? Why should I care about knowing how to directly perceive reality?” That is an excellent question. The point of the Buddhist teachings is that the direct perception of reality is necessary in order to be truly free. Our capacity to learn how to directly perceive reality is the sine qua non for traversing the path. In fact, how free we are depends on how directly we perceive reality.
These days in the West, any talk of a true reality is regarded by many as rather suspect. There are those who would say, “It’s a matter of opinion,” “One man’s meat is another man’s poison,” or “Life is just as you like”—anything goes. This is what the Buddha called nihilistic. So the notion of “the direct perception of reality” is, perhaps, the most important definition of Abhidharma.
In Sanskrit, Abhi means “making manifest.” Dharma, in this case, means “what can be known or cognized,” “the plurality of factors of reality,” or simply “what there is.” There are three aspects to this definition: the first aspect is making manifest. You could do a whole study of Buddhism in terms of what is manifest and what is not yet manifest. The second aspect is direct perception. The third is this famous reality, or “just what is.”
To elaborate on dharmas as “factors of reality” or “what there is,” there is a list of seventy-five dharmas. We could look at it like we would a periodic table of elements with all the different atoms, from hydrogen through einsteinium. There are lightweight atoms and heavyweight atoms, each with their own characteristics, their own quantum spin (at the level of quarks), and their own capacity to engage in conditional relations with other
atoms to make molecules. These molecules combine with other molecules to make bigger molecules. And sometimes, as with carbon, an atom continues making long strings called polymers, such as plastics, which we may later use as a plastic bottle.
We can see polymers in their functional aspect, as, for instance, a plastic bottle, but we don’t see the molecular structure of the polymer itself. This distinction between the way things really are and the way they appear is crucial and is a distinction that is elaborated upon in the Abhidharma (and in subsequent) literature. It is said that the listing and understanding of the various factors of existence and their interactions is, in fact, the way things are. It is, however, difficult to be aware at the level of the flowing interactions of the dharmas themselves.
Following the traditions he studied in Gandhara, the great scholar Vasubandhu—the half-brother of Asanga and one of the great jewels of India—found it more amenable to classify the seventy-five basic factors of existence into a grouping of eighteen elements (dhatus) or, in another grouping, as twelve sense bases (ayatanas). At the level of the way things actually are, not only in Western science but also in Abhidharma, there is an understanding that there is a
fundamental plurality of different energy patterns, which in Western science, until recently, we called an “atom,” meaning “not divisible.” Atom is simply a word for a fundamental pattern of energy. Of course, nowadays, we say that not even the atom is so fundamental. What are the current and most fundamental building blocks that make up atoms? They are called quarks, which have rather wonderful names: beauty, strangeness, and charm.
Author, professor, and translator of Tibetan Buddhist texts, Steven D. Goodman, passed away on August 3 at the age of 75. In this piece featured in the Summer 2020 issue of Buddhdharma, he explains how at first glance, the Abhidharma, with all its lists and analysis, may not seem so inviting. But give it another look, he says, and it explains the entire world.
A close up photo of an elephants eye.
Somebody could say, “Why bother? Why should I care about knowing how to directly perceive reality?” That is an excellent question. The point of the Buddhist teachings is that the direct perception of reality is necessary in order to be truly free. Our capacity to learn how to directly perceive reality is the sine qua non for traversing the path. In fact, how free we are depends on how directly we perceive reality.
These days in the West, any talk of a true reality is regarded by many as rather suspect. There are those who would say, “It’s a matter of opinion,” “One man’s meat is another man’s poison,” or “Life is just as you like”—anything goes. This is what the Buddha called nihilistic. So the notion of “the direct perception of reality” is, perhaps, the most important definition of Abhidharma.
In Sanskrit, Abhi means “making manifest.” Dharma, in this case, means “what can be known or cognized,” “the plurality of factors of reality,” or simply “what there is.” There are three aspects to this definition: the first aspect is making manifest. You could do a whole study of Buddhism in terms of what is manifest and what is not yet manifest. The second aspect is direct perception. The third is this famous reality, or “just what is.”
To elaborate on dharmas as “factors of reality” or “what there is,” there is a list of seventy-five dharmas. We could look at it like we would a periodic table of elements with all the different atoms, from hydrogen through einsteinium. There are lightweight atoms and heavyweight atoms, each with their own characteristics, their own quantum spin (at the level of quarks), and their own capacity to engage in conditional relations with other
atoms to make molecules. These molecules combine with other molecules to make bigger molecules. And sometimes, as with carbon, an atom continues making long strings called polymers, such as plastics, which we may later use as a plastic bottle.
We can see polymers in their functional aspect, as, for instance, a plastic bottle, but we don’t see the molecular structure of the polymer itself. This distinction between the way things really are and the way they appear is crucial and is a distinction that is elaborated upon in the Abhidharma (and in subsequent) literature. It is said that the listing and understanding of the various factors of existence and their interactions is, in fact, the way things are. It is, however, difficult to be aware at the level of the flowing interactions of the dharmas themselves.
Following the traditions he studied in Gandhara, the great scholar Vasubandhu—the half-brother of Asanga and one of the great jewels of India—found it more amenable to classify the seventy-five basic factors of existence into a grouping of eighteen elements (dhatus) or, in another grouping, as twelve sense bases (ayatanas). At the level of the way things actually are, not only in Western science but also in Abhidharma, there is an understanding that there is a
fundamental plurality of different energy patterns, which in Western science, until recently, we called an “atom,” meaning “not divisible.” Atom is simply a word for a fundamental pattern of energy. Of course, nowadays, we say that not even the atom is so fundamental. What are the current and most fundamental building blocks that make up atoms? They are called quarks, which have rather wonderful names: beauty, strangeness, and charm.
In a similar way, the Abhidharma tradition has a very subtle and precise way of presenting what makes up our entire world, both physically and non-physically, perceptually, cognitively, somatically, physiologically, and so on. The equivalent to this atom (or quark) in the Abhidharma world is called a dharma. The study of the Abhidharma can be understood as consisting of becoming learned about both the essential features of these dharmas and also how these dharmas work together.
Why should that be of importance to us? It is important because, just as in the study of physics, the study of the Abhidharma also shows the basic factors of existence and the basic laws that regulate their coming together. This makes up the entirety of what we call so casually and imprecisely “my world,” “my life,” “my emotions,” “my thoughts,” and so on. It is not as we would like it to be, or think it ought to be, or hope that someday it will be, but is precisely as it is and has always been.
Abhidharma study, then, moves us from the imprecise language of thoughts, emotions, feelings, intuitions, and desires into the precise language of the coming together and uncoming together of dharmas, in this case, seventy-five dharmas, which are discussed and categorized rather like an atomic chart of basic factors of existence.
The Treasury of Abhidharma
The first turning of the wheel of the dharma consisted of the teaching on the four noble truths, the teaching on proper conduct, and the teaching on the four mindfulnesses as found in the Pali Satipatthana Sutta and in the Sanskrit Sutra on Establishing Mindfulness (Smrityupasthana Sutra).
On the basis of that first turning, those who came after the Buddha made commentaries. It is in this context that Vasubandhu wrote a magnificent work called the Treasury of Higher Dharma or the Abhidharmakosha.
Vasubandhu himself merely summarized all the different streams of Abhidharma teachings that existed at the time he lived (in the fourth to fifth centuries CE) in the area of Gandhara (present-day Kashmir). Tradition recounts that Vasubandhu gathered all the different views extant at that time, and on the basis of those views he would lecture all day. After his lecture, he would go home and summarize that lecture by composing one karika, a four-lined summary verse. We have these lines of text in Sanskrit, Chinese, Tibetan, French, and English. On the basis of those summary verses, he then compiled them into almost five hundred verses, called the Verses That Contain the Treasury of the Abhidharma (Abhidharmakosha-karikas).
After Vasubandhu wrote these verses, he then wrote a commentary on them. The verses and commentary together are called the Abhidharmakoshabhashya. It is considered an encyclopedic “treasure” of information on how to make manifest the direct perception of reality.
This list of seventy-five dharmas is regarded by the Abhidharma tradition as comprehensive; it accounts for the entirety of our actual and possible existence. This is a total picture of everything that one needs to know in order to accomplish full and complete enlightenment. As mentioned before, everything is constituted by dharmas (in Sanskrit, this is expressed as sarvam dharmam). This word sarvam, “everything,” is used over and over again in the teachings of the Buddha. “Everything,” here, means all-inclusive, nothing missing, a full and complete teaching.
Why bother? Why don’t we just open our hearts and rest? Isn’t that what the teachings are all about? Well, that’s great if you can do it. These teachings seem to suggest, however, that opening to what is and resting in that is not so easy. There are many impediments, blockages, and doubts. There are so many contradictory thoughts and feelings.
In fact, the Abhidharma names and catalogs those energies that block the heart from being open. One might say, then, that the study of what opens and what blocks the opening of the heart is the very core of the Abhidharma.
The Discernment of All Dharmas
Let’s look at prajna, discernment, which is factor 18 from the list of seventy-five on the chart (included within the General Factors). In the Abhidharmakosha (chapter 1, verse 2a), Vasubhandu responded to the question, “What is Abhidharma?” by stating, “Abhidharma is pure prajna with its following. Prajna…is the discernment of the dharmas.”
Even if you were to stop reading now, you would already have something wonderful. You would know that the Abhidharma, the highest teachings of the dharma, consists precisely, and in an absolute way, of undefiled wisdom, as the capacity to know what arises as it arises. This knowledge is a treasure because it is this knowledge that leads us out of the mire of transmigration.
We also give the name Abhidharma to the way in which prajna works when it is not pure. That means Abhidharma and this treatise also talk about the way in which our capacity to note distinctions is defiled.
We have two senses of the word prajna, two ways in which we can discern the way things are: (1) purely, which allows us to directly perceive reality as it is, and (2) impurely (prajna in a defiled sense), which is the result of being caught up in effort due to hearing, thinking, absorbing, and so on, in an unclear way.
Dharma Bears Its Own Unique Characteristics
Vasubandhu taught: “Dharma is that which bears (dharana) its own specific or unique characteristic.” This is one of the senses of the list of ten referents for the word dharma. What Vasubandhu indicates here is that each of these seventy-five dharmas has a specific, unique characteristic. Previously, we used the analogy of atoms and quarks. We don’t say, “I think it was probably hydrogen, but maybe it was helium. I’m not sure. Anyway, there was a little bit of energy, and what does it matter?” We learn, instead, to know the precise characteristics of the atoms (or quarks and so on). It is rather the same with the dharmas. Precision is key.
There are concrete effects due to the specific workings of these various dharmas. Every love affair and every war can—at the level of analysis—be totally accounted for by these seventy-five dharmas. The Abhidharma is not studied in order to make a full account of every war and every love affair. However, it does help us to not be surprised when love affairs sometimes turn into a war. This is the nature of defiled dharmas, of defiled prajna.
Otherwise, it’s as if someone who is not a skilled doctor went into a room and engaged in a display of being shocked and disgusted by the full manifestations of the symptoms of an illness. Why are we shocked? Why are we surprised when someone gets upset? From the point of view and practice of the Abhidharma (and indeed the buddhadharma), when conditions are ripe, upset occurs, and when conditions are right, upset dissipates, and these conditions we can know—dharma is that which bears its own specific or unique characteristic.
Conditioned and Unconditioned Dharmas
Let us examine the chart of the seventy-five dharmas. There are two great divisions in the chart:
Conditioned dharmas (1–72) Unconditioned dharmas (73–75) Conditioned Dharmas
The section on “Conditioned Dharmas” is divided into four major categories:
Forms, which consist of eleven specific dharmas
Mind, which consists of one dharma
III. Concomitant (or working together) mental factors, which are further divided into subgroups
Elements neither substantial forms (column I), nor involved in mental functioning (columns II and III), which consists of true factors that do not depend on a truth or reality in a present moment of experience (in other lists, these are presented like what we might call in physics “laws that regulate the coming together of dharmas”) Unconditioned Dharmas
All of these seventy-two conditioned dharmas are rather beside the point if not for the very last column, those of the unconditioned dharmas, those factors that name the possibility of freedom and liberation from suffering. Without that, probably no one would be interested. In order to give a full picture of all the dharmas, in addition to the dharmas that come together and go apart, there are three dharmas that are not created and not conditioned. These include dharma 73, space itself.
In addition to space, there are two ways to understand cessation of suffering (nirodha), dharmas 74 and 75. One sense of cessation, that of cessation with remainder, refers to the awakening of the Buddha under the bodhi tree. The term with remainder is used to indicate that, although his defilements had ceased, the Buddha continued to teach and be seen and heard by many beings for over forty years. That is what is meant by “cessation with remainder.” The other sense, dharma 75, “cessation without remainder,” refers to the final nirvana (parinirvana), or “death,” of the Buddha, which leaves no remainder.
The Coming Together of [[Dharmas
Remember, everything that occurs is due to the working of dharmas, so we might ask the questions, “How come all of these factors aren’t always working together all the time? What has to happen in order for some factors to lock into place, and what has to happen for those factors to be unlocked and no longer be working? How does impermanence work, and how does language work?” The answer to these questions is listed in this fourth column.
To play the Abhidharma “game,” this special mode of analysis, the answer has to be given in terms of dharmas. Then, to formulate the same question as an Abhidharma question, we might ask: “Which dharmas are responsible for the coming together of dharmas?” Just by hearing this, we move into the technical way in which an Abhidharmika—one who practices Abhidharma— thinks about these things.
Acquisition and Nonacquisition
The dharma responsible for the coming together of dharmas is 59: acquisition. The dharma that is responsible for disengaging groupings of dharmas is 60: nonacquisition.
Birth
The dharma that is responsible for the coming into existence of a situation is 66: birth. Birth here does not mean birth from a mother but the coming about of a new situation. If you think about it, it is strange that something new can occur. We have this habit of saying, “I have a new boyfriend, a new girlfriend, a new job, a new teacher, a new understanding, a new kind of goat cheese, a new whatever.” But that does not mean we understand its characteristics. From the viewpoint of dharmas, what is responsible for this experience of newness? It is 66: birth.
Fleeting Stability
The other strange thing about experiences is that they don’t immediately dissipate. They seem to be stable for a while. If we have a new boyfriend or girlfriend, this is good news. If we are newly unemployed, this is bad news. But to give a full presentation of a situation or experience, to say that it is new is not enough; it also sticks around for a while. In order to underline the impermanence of it, I call it fleeting stability (67).
For a while we are here, and the general characteristics of this “here” situation is the sole ground that makes scientific investigation possible. Think about it: if it were the nature of all reality to instantaneously arise and dissipate, it would be impossible to engage in that famous repetition of the experiment. There has to be a relatively similar situation, a stability, in order to communicate or investigate anything at all. In fact, it is one of the hallmarks of mental health.
When the stabilities of ourselves and another individual are not harmonious, when the rate of decay of remembering or reflecting is different among individuals, we say we’re not compatible. It starts with something small like “The timing is a bit off here; it’s incompatible.” That is the “seed syllable” before we say, “There is a problem.” And the full visualization of that samsaric practice is “We must banish something.” All of this comes from differences of stability.
That which is extremely unstable is often regarded as negative, as if there is some force that wants or desires things to be stable. We categorize things and situations as good or bad depending on their stability. If something is painful, it is good if it is extremely unstable. If something is pleasurable, it is bad if it is extremely unstable. However, no matter how stable it is, sooner or later it will completely dissipate in terms of its current pattern. It won’t disappear, it decays (68); it undergoes a transformation to the point where its general characteristics are no longer appropriate as a full explanation.
And both in India and in the West, great and lesser philosophers have wondered about whether or not what has changed is the nature and essence, or only an accident, of its qualities. The fact that there seems to be a movement from dharmas called birth (66) to dharmas called stability (67) to dharmas called decay (68) is given the name impermanence as a separate dharma (69).
Impermanence
Impermanence is the name given to the fact that all conditioned elements (all elements from 1 to 72) arise, stay for a while, and then decay. This is that famous “impermanence.” It is one of the marks of conditioned existence. In the Abhidharma, conditioned existence consists of seventy-two separate, analyzable factors. However, how do we usually understand “impermanence” in these contexts? Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche once asked why so many people think that impermanence is bad. He then suggested another way to think: imagine that my current situation of not having a Mercedes-Benz is impermanent. Expanding this sense, we can think that our current situation of not being a full and complete buddha is actually impermanent!
There is a great deal to study, and if we think this is boring and we don’t have time, I can hear Vasubandhu’s laughter because, from the viewpoint of the Abhidharma, these factors are what we see whenever we look into the mirror.
If we feel embarrassed or if we laugh, all those passing moments of embarrassment, laughter, and boredom are completely accounted for as simply the coming together and the dissipation of dharmas. One moment we are embarrassed, the next we laugh, then we stop. This is what we are: a movement or a stream of unending “coming-togethers” and “going-aparts.”
What is amazing, according to the Abhidharma and according to the Buddha, is that we as that stream can know the stream. That’s fantastic news. There are only two ways the stream goes—knowing itself or not.
Whether we are aware or not, all of these factors are combining and recombining with each other all the time. Unconsciously or consciously, they are streaming, they are flowing, they are working when we’re meditating, when we’re not meditating, when we’re sitting, walking, sleeping, and laughing. There’s no situation in which these basic factors are not present. All of them together, as they get together—this is reality. It allows us, with a degree of precision that is not so easily seen in some other Buddhist teachings, to tune in to the variety of all the different factors that make up our thoughts, our emotions, our experiences.
Normally we have a rather sloppy, imprecise, bewildered, or arrogant way of relating to our experiences. We have a habit of actually making prostrations to this arrogance and bewilderment on a regular basis. We do so with the utterance “I,” and sometimes, to vary it, “mine” or “you,” “yours” or “not yours,” and sometimes “not mine.” This is the way most of us proceed through our lives, and at the end of our life we’re a little exhausted. We have huge demeritorious piles of arrogance and bewilderment, with a completely clear conscience.
The good news is that the Abhidharma says we can break that habit; we can cut it. We can tune in and have as a target exactly this habit of arrogance and bewilderment. When we do tune in, there’s a smashing; there’s a bit of calm and clearing. In that calm clarity we may glimpse a bit how things actually are. One of the proofs that we have actually glimpsed this is a slight disinclination to continue to prostrate to this arrogant, bewildered heap. It becomes a little bit more difficult to say so quickly and with a clear conscience: “my,” “my problem.”
The Abhidharma is an invitation to smash, to break down, to cut through, and to completely destroy and overcome every tendency toward extremes of arrogance, greed, and bewilderment. What allows us to do this is a special kind of wisdom energy (prajna). Prajna is a dharma, a basic energy packet, that has as its function the capacity to know, through analysis, the specific differences of all the other dharmas, and how they combine into conglomerations that make up the totality of ourselves, our world, our experiences, both actual and possible. You can go quite far with this prajna; you can perfect it.
Source
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