Part one : The place of Abhidharma in Buddhism
“The three baskets” is the name given to the teaching of the Buddha, which is made up of the Sutrapitaka (Pali: Suttapitaka, English: the Discourse Basket), the Vinayapitaka (the Discipline Basket) and l'Abhidharmapitaka (the Basket of the Higher Knowledge of Phenomena). Click here...


Part two : The Abhidharmakosha
There are five main branches of philosophical study in Tibetan Buddhism that are common to all schools:
1. Tsema (Buddhist epistemology)
2. The philosophy of Madyamaka (the middle way)
3. The Abhidharma (superior knowledge of phenomena)
4. Vinaya (ethics)
5. Prajnaparamita (the transcendental quality of wisdom)
With regard to these five branches, the great Indian masters wrote reference works that were elucidated through commentaries written by their principle disciples. Click here...


Part three : The Eight Chapters of the Abhidharmakosha
Suffering and the origin of suffering, cessation and the path are the main subject of the Abhidharmakosha. Chapters 1 and 2 give a general explanation about samsara and nirvana. They are an introduction to understanding how samsara functions. Chapters 3, 4 and 5 explain contaminated phenomena in detail. Click here...


Part four : Chapters 6, 7 and 8 of the Abhidharmakosha
Now that the origin and nature of the sufferings of samsara have been identified, and its causes and effects have been understood, all that is left to do is learn how to leave it all behind. This is the focus of chapters 6, 7 and 8. Click here...


Part five : Presentation of the Abhidharmasamuccaya by Asanga
Before approaching the Abhidharmasamuccaya, we should be familiar with the context of Asanga's works. Click here...


Part six : Presentation of the Abhidharmasamuccaya
The Abhidharmasamuccaya consists of two sections:
1.the Akranasamuccaya (Collection of Characteristics) and
2.the Viniscayasasamuccaya (Collection of Explanations)
Each section contains four chapters. Section 1; the Akranasamuccaya Click here...


Part seven :
The four parts of the « Collection of Explanation » are:
the Truths, the Dharma, the Attainments of the Path and the Art of Debate.
The first chapter, the Four Noble Truths. Click here...


Part eight :
In the last three chapters of the second and last part of the Abhidharmasamuccaya, Asanga gives classifications of Buddha's teachings, the attainments through its practice and the types of individuals on the path. He ends with a chapter on rethoric skill. Click here...

Part nine : The transmission lineages of the Abhidharma from India to Tibet
As for all the teachings of the Buddha, the Abhidharma teachings came to us through an uninterrupted transmission from India toTibet. The blue annals of Gos lotsawa present the lineages of theAbhidharmakosa and the Abhidharmasamuccaya. Click here...