The course will begin with an introduction to the fundamental doctrines of Early Buddhism. This will be followed up with a historical survey of their development, first, in the books of the Abhidhamma Pitaka and, later, in the post-canonical exegetical literature consisting of both the Pali commentaries and the sub-commentaries and the Abhidhammic compendiums of the medieval period.. Attention will be focused on the following aspects:
1. dhamma theory as the cornerstone of the philosophy and psychology of the Abhidhamma.
2. the two levels of reality: consensual (sammuti ) and ultimate (paramattha).
3. the category of pannatti and the Abhidhamma theory of expression.
4. the Abhidhamma analysis of mind: consciousness (citta) and its concomitants (cetasika); bhavanga as subliminal consciousness and the Abhidhamma theory of perception.
5. the Abhidhamma analysis of matter and the theory of material clusters (rupa-kalapa).
6. the Abhidhamma doctrine of conditional relations (paccayakara-naya).
7. doctrine of momentariness as the Abhidhamma interpretation of impermanence.
Where necessary, the course will take into consideration parallel developments in the other schools of Buddhist thought, particularly the Sarvastivada and the Sautrantika.
Recommended for reference:
A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma, General Editor: Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi, Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, 1993.
（英语授课）
导 师： 本院众导师 Prof. Y.Karunadasa
导师简介：
Professor Y Karunadasa is an internationally known authority on Pali Abhidhamma and Theravada Buddhism. He obtained his PhD from the University of London, and his published thesis, entitled Buddhist Analysis of Matter, has been reviewed as “the final word on the subject for many years to come.” He was twice the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, and for 11 years served as the Director of the Postgraduate Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies of the same university. （Y Karunadasa 教授是国际知名的巴利文系毗昙学及上座部佛学权威。他以《佛教对色法的分析》(Buddhist Analysis of Matter)荣获英国伦敦大学的博士学位。该论文出版后博得好评；曾被评为“于未来多年将能继续成为此论题之定论”。他曾两次受聘为斯里兰卡克兰尼亚大学文学院院长；并担任过同校巴利文及佛学研究生院院长，任期长达十一年。）
课程编号：
开课日期：2004年09月21日
堂 数：约16堂
导 师： 本院众导师 Prof. Y.Karunadasa
导师简介：
Professor Y Karunadasa is an internationally known authority on Pali Abhidhamma and Theravada Buddhism. He obtained his PhD from the University of London, and his published thesis, entitled Buddhist Analysis of Matter, has been reviewed as “the final word on the subject for many years to come.” He was twice the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, and for 11 years served as the Director of the Postgraduate Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies of the same university. （Y Karunadasa 教授是国际知名的巴利文系毗昙学及上座部佛学权威。他以《佛教对色法的分析》(Buddhist Analysis of Matter)荣获英国伦敦大学的博士学位。该论文出版后博得好评；曾被评为“于未来多年将能继续成为此论题之定论”。他曾两次受聘为斯里兰卡克兰尼亚大学文学院院长；并担任过同校巴利文及佛学研究生院院长，任期长达十一年。）
课程编号：
开课日期：2004年09月21日
堂 数：约16堂