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.
（英語授課）
導 師： 本院眾導師 Prof. Y.Karunadasa
導師簡介：
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 教授是國際知名的巴利文系毗曇學及上座部佛學權威。他以《佛教對色法的分析》(Buddhist Analysis of Matter)榮獲英國倫敦大學的博士學位。該論文出版後博得好評；曾被評為「於未來多年將能繼續成為此論題之定論」。他曾兩次受聘為斯里蘭卡克蘭尼亞大學文學院院長；並擔任過同校巴利文及佛學研究生院院長，任期長達十一年。）
課程編號：
開課日期：2004年09月21日
堂 數：約16堂
導 師： 本院眾導師 Prof. Y.Karunadasa
導師簡介：
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 教授是國際知名的巴利文系毗曇學及上座部佛學權威。他以《佛教對色法的分析》(Buddhist Analysis of Matter)榮獲英國倫敦大學的博士學位。該論文出版後博得好評；曾被評為「於未來多年將能繼續成為此論題之定論」。他曾兩次受聘為斯里蘭卡克蘭尼亞大學文學院院長；並擔任過同校巴利文及佛學研究生院院長，任期長達十一年。）
課程編號：
開課日期：2004年09月21日
堂 數：約16堂