The Abhidhamma Sutta

A lot of people talk about the "Abhidhamma sutta" in a very casual way and most people are frightened to hear even the word "abhidhamma". They think it is hard to grasp and boring to read.

However, in actual fact, I have found the study of Abhidhamma to be one of the most fascinating subjects of study for me. I never had the opportunity to study "psychology" in an academic setting, i.e. I never had the chance to go to a university and study "psychology". Therefore, I decided to do the next best thing; I bought a book from the "dummies series" and got a book called "Psychology for Dummies".

Here are the main books that form the collection of subjects for the "Abhidhamma Sutta"

1. Dhammasangani ("Enumeration of Phenomena").
2. Vibhanga ("The Book of Treatises").
3. Dhatukatha ("Discussion with Reference to the Elements").
4. Puggalapaññatti ("Description of Individuals").
5. Kathavatthu ("Points of Controversy").
6. Yamaka ("The Book of Pairs").
7. Patthana ("The Book of Relations").

I will deal with each of these books at a later date.

Ref: Access to Insight website (www.accesstoinsight.org)

Note: For those who are new to the study of Buddhism in general and Theravada Buddhism in particular, this website called "Access to Insight" is a wonderful reference source containing many writings by Buddhist monks and lay scholars. I have found it to be very useful in my study of Buddhism in the English language.