Introduction to Abhidhamma

The Buddha taught conventional truth, sammutti sacca, and ultimate truth, paramattha sacca. The Commentary to the “ Middle Length Sayings”, sutta 5, “No Blemishes”, states:

“There is a twofold teaching of the Buddha, the Blessed One: the teaching in the conventional way and the teaching by way of ultimate realities. There is a human, a being, a woman, a man, a man of the warrior caste, a brahman, a god, and Mara. Such is the teaching in the conventional way. Impermanence, dukkha, anattā, the aggregates, elements, sensefields (āyatana), satipaṭṭhāna. Such is the teaching by way of ultimate realities. Here the Blessed One taught to those in the conventional way who by means of it, after having heard the teaching , penetrated the meaning and abandoned ignorance, and were skilled to attain distinction. But who by means of ultimate realities, after having heard the teaching, penetrated the meaning and abandoned ignorance, and were skilled to attain distinction, to those he taught by way of ultimate realities.”

In the Suttanta we find the teaching in conventional way, but also the teaching by way of ultimate realities. When the Buddha spoke in the suttas about situations and people, he pointed to the truth of impermanence, dukkha and anattā. He knew the dispositions of different beings and which kind of teaching was most suitable for them. The teaching of the Abhidhamma is mainly by way of ultimate realities, paramattha dhammas. In order to have understanding of the Abhidhamma it is essential to know the difference between ultimate realities, paramattha dhammas, and concepts, paññatti, such as a person or a tree.