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(Pali, Abhidhamma), "Special Teaching"; the third part of the Buddhist canon (Tripitaka). The Abhidharma represents the earliest compilation of Buddhist philosophy and psychology. In it the teachings and analyses concerning psychological and spiritual phenomena contained in the discourses of the Buddha and his principal disciples are presented in a systematic order. It constitutes the dogmatic basis of the Hinayana and Mahayana. It took form in the period between the third century B.C.E. and the third century C.E. The final codification took place between 400 and 450 C.E. It is extant in different versions (Abhidharma of the Theravada and Sarvastivada). The Abhidharma reflects the views of the individual Buddhist schools in that it gives interpretations and explanations of the concepts that appear in the sutras. Its primary use is in the study of the teaching.

The Abhidharma of the Theravada school, which received its definitive form from Buddhaghosha, is written in Pali and consists of seven books:

(1) the Book of the Elements of Existence (Dhamma-sangani), which contains an enumeration of both mental elements organized in relation to various meditations and material elements organized into groups;
(2) the Book of Classifications (Vibhanga), which defines the aggregates (skandha), fields (ayatana), and faculties (indriya), etc.
(3) the Book of Points of Controversy (Kathavatthu), which deals with 219 points of controversy significant for the history of the development of Buddhist thought;
(4) the Book of Individuals (Puggalapannati), which describes the different types of clerics and lay people;
(5) the Book of Elements (Dhatukatha), which is concerned with the elements (dhatu),
(6) the Book of Pairs (Yamaka), which derives its name from its treatment of questions in a "doubled"--i.e., positive and negative--fashion; and
(7) the Book of Causality (Patthana), which describes the relations existing between individual dharmas.
This and read more at: The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen

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