Abhidhamma in the Sutta

In the Anguttara Nikāya, Book of the Ones (Ch VIII, § 4) we read about right understanding as being the most precious in life - that which doesn’t bring sorrow:

“Of slight account, monks, is the loss of such things as relatives. Miserable indeed among losses is the loss of wisdom. Of slight account, monks, is the increase of such things as relatives. Chief of all the increases is that of wisdom... Of slight account, monks, is the loss of such things as wealth. Miserable indeed among losses is the loss of wisdom. Of slight account, monks, is the increase of such things as wealth. Chief of all the increases is that of wisdom... “Of slight account, monks, is the loss of such things as reputation. Miserable indeed among losses is the loss of wisdom. Of slight account, monks, is the increase of such things as reputation. Chief of all the increases is that of wisdom. Wherefore I say, monks, you should train yourselves thus: We will increase in wisdom. You must train yourselves to win that.”

This sutta is an exhortation to develop right understanding of realities. Understanding of realities is the most precious in life, as the above-quoted sutta states. Sutta reading is not easy and we have to carefully consider each word of the sutta. We have to know what kind of understanding is meant in this sutta. The Buddha pointed to the development of understanding of all realities in daily life, no matter he taught Sutta or Abhidhamma. The Abhidhamma helps us to understand the deep meaning of the suttas. We may be inclined to overlook the implications of the meaning of understanding, when we read that understanding is the most precious of all. We have to know what kind of understanding, understanding of which objects. Also in the suttas the Buddha teaches to develop right understanding of ultimate realities, but in the suttas the Buddha mostly speaks about people’s situations in daily life, about their clinging to pleasant objects, and the sorrow caused by clinging. He spoke in conventional terms in order to help people to understand what is true in the ultimate sense. Whatever reality arises does so because of the proper conditions. The conditioned realities of our life are citta, consciousness, cetasika, mental factors arising with the citta and rūpa, physical phenomena. These are three conditioned paramattha dhammas. There is no person, no self who sees, clings, feels sadness; there are only nāma, mental phenomena, and physical phenomena, rūpa. In the above-quoted sutta we are reminded that right understanding is more precious than people we hold dear or possessions. It is the understanding that whatever occurs in life, be it pleasant or unpleasant, are only conditioned dhammas. When we suffer the loss of dear people we should remember that also sadness is a conditioned dhamma, a cetasika, mental factor, arising with akusala citta. It only lasts for one moment, it falls away and then there is a next moment of consciousness. At the moment of seeing there is no sadness at the same time; seeing experiences a different object: visible object. Each citta only experiences one object at a time. Through the Abhidhamma we are reminded all the time that there is no person who clings, no person who suffers, that only citta and the accompanying cetasikas experience different objects, be these unpleasant or pleasant. There is no person who develops understanding; understanding, paññā, is a cetasika that can only arise when there are the appropriate conditions for it. The Abhidhamma is not a theory one finds in a textbook; the teaching of the Abhidhamma is about all the realities that appear at this moment. The Abhidhamma teaches about seeing, about thinking of what was seen, about all the defilements arising on account of what is experienced through the senses and the mind-door.