Updates to Paramattha
Just for those who started reading Paramattha but never went beyond the Paṭṭhāna section — I have now added little exercises to the end of each Paṭṭhāna condition so you…
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16/05/2026
A Critique of the Binary: Ultimate vs. Relative Truth in Buddhist Philosophy
Is "ultimate truth" a static, abstract inventory of the universe, or is it something more personal and profound? In this insightful essay, Bhikkhu Dhammananda challenges the rigid binary between "ultimate" and "relative" truth, a cornerstone of traditional Abhidhamma. He argues that by prioritizing abstract doctrines, we risk devaluing the very territory of our lived experience—our relationships, our ethics, and our personal growth. Drawing on the five niyāmas (natural laws), he proposes a powerful alternative: a developmental model where truth is a moving horizon. What is "ultimate" is not what is most fundamental, but what is most relevant to our current stage of being. This essay offers a compelling vision of philosophy not as a collection of facts, but as a practical path to seeing more clearly and becoming more whole.
12/04/2026
What are the Four Noble Truths?
An exploration of the Four Noble Truths — the foundation of Buddhist teaching. Based on a previous Dhamma talk. Covers suffering, dependent origination, and the Noble Eightfold Path with practical insights for the spiritual journey
12/03/2026
Beyond the Moment: Rethinking Impermanence as Conditional Duration
A philosophical critique of the Abhidhamma doctrine of momentariness. This paper proposes "Conditional Duration" as a more practical framework for understanding impermanence and continuity in meditation and daily life.
22/01/2026
New Companion Booklet to Paramattha
Introducing a practical companion to Paramattha, which explores the Abhidhamma through the Four Paramatthas and the twenty-four Paṭṭhāna conditions as principles shaping lived experience.
02/01/2026
Meditation on the Four Elements – A Practical Guide
Join me for a practical Dhamma talk exploring meditation on the four elements. This talk offers step‑by‑step guidance, body‑scanning techniques, and reflections on how awareness of and work with the elements can reveal inner vision and strength.
15/11/2025
Ānāpānasati (mindfulness of breathing) and the Factors of Jhāna
A short Talk on Ānāpānasati (mindfulness of breathing) and five factors of Jhāna. This time with my face. Whether you are a beginner or have been practicing meditation for some…
04/10/2025
Free Will and Destiny in Buddhism
When people ask about free will and destiny, they often want a simple answer: Do we really have free will, or is everything already determined? In Buddhism, the answer is…
25/09/2025
Why Impermanence Matters – A Reflection on Vigata Paccaya (Dhamma-talk)
Impermanence is everywhere—in the things we own, in the people we love, in our thoughts and memories, and even in our very character. In this brief talk, I explore Vigata-paccaya,…
05/09/2025
Videos
The Paṭṭhāna — Jewel of Buddhist Philosophy (Video)
✨ New Video on the Paṭṭhāna ✨ The Paṭṭhāna is the great book of conditional relations in the Abhidhamma—sometimes called the “crown jewel” of Buddhist philosophy. It explains in detail how everything in existence is connected and conditioned.
21/08/2025
Is the Present Moment Overrated in Spirituality?
In spirituality as well as in Buddhism in general, we often find a strong emphasis on the present moment. Statements such as “The present moment is the only thing real” or “The past…
21/05/2025
Videos
The Four Paramattha of Buddhist Philosophy
Buddhist Abhidhamma Philosophy divides all of reality into four ultimate constituents—known as the Four Paramatthas: Matter (Rūpa), Mind (Cetasika), Consciousness (Citta), and Nibbāna. In this short video, I offer a…
24/04/2025
Newest Updates to This Abhidhamma Project
I’m excited to share some important updates about my book Paramattha and my ongoing efforts to make the Dhamma more accessible and engaging for all. Paramattha Now Available in Paperback Paramattha is now…
27/02/2025
The Foundations of the World (A Talk on Nissaya Paccaya)
In this Dhamma talk, I explore the foundations of the world—how everything arises based on a foundation of something else. As part of my Paṭṭhāna series, I translate the Pāli word nissaya as “foundation.”…
20/02/2025
Correspondences in Nature and the Power of thinking in Analogies (A Talk on Aññamañña Paccaya)
In this Dhamma talk, I discuss correspondences in nature and how thinking in analogies can be a valuable aid on the path to enlightenment. This talk is part of my…
04/02/2025
The Universality of Sequences (A Talk on Samanantara Paccaya)
In this Dhamma Talk, I explore the ‘Universality of Sequences,’ showing how sequences are a phenomenon that exists throughout existence (broken down into matter, mind, consciousness, and Nibbāna) and are…
01/01/2025
Repetition as a Universal Fact of Existence (The Paṭṭhāna Condition of Repetition)
A talk on Repetition as a universal fact of existence. Part of my Patthana series, in this talk I explore the Paṭṭhāna condition of Repetition, Āsevana Paccaya. As usual I…
22/11/2024
Basics of Buddhist Philosophy (Abhidhamma) – 2 Talks
These are two short talks on the basics of Abhidhamma. I hope you find them insightful and helpful in understanding these fundamental concepts. The first talk, “The Vocabulary of Insight,”…
13/08/2024
The Four Elements of Wisdom – Dhamma Talk MP3
The wisdom of the elements And their almost sacred dance Their nature, danger, usefulness, The need for them for truthfulness This all here is seeked to get explored And to…
09/07/2024
Wisdom of the elements
From Greece, to Native America, from Egypt to India, the idea of four fundamental elements which form the foundation for understanding the natural world, is so universal, that a study of them might be an not unrewarding pursuit.
14/05/2024
Can Buddhists believe in God?
In modern times Buddhism we commonly find the statement that Buddhists do not believe in god. Therefore choosing Buddhism as your religion means choosing not to believe in god. However,…
05/03/2024
Summary of the Patthāna Conditions
'The Paṭṭhāna', traditionally regarded as the quintessence of the Buddha's wisdom and as the surest proof of his omniscience; is a system which, in mathematical order, seeks to expand the comprehension of matter, mind and consciousness to cover the entirety of existence.
10/02/2023
Purejāta-Pacchājāta Paccaya – Condition of Latency and Manifestation
The condition wherein things, material or immaterial, exist rather as a potential, without actually being manifest, is what is called a condition of latency. It is the condition of mental…
23/01/2023
Improving Nature to transcend Suffering-Cycles
Nature is cyclical and moody. Sometimes she gives, sometimes she takes…Man’s inner nature too is cyclical and moody. Yet, to some degree man has proven a capacity to move beyond certain cycles, into a direction not indicated by nature
04/01/2023
Acquiring Knowledge
Now let’s talk about practical matters. The Abhidhamma system may indeed be used for an almost infinite amount of things. Principally should the study of this system give a person…
03/01/2023
Kamma, Meditation and Rebirth
For a Buddhist practitioner, gaining a comprehensive understanding of the law of kamma, is one of the essential things to aim at. So, here a small elucidation of this very…
01/01/2023
Continuity
Sometimes people studying Buddhism, especially in relation to the vipassanā schools, end up with some conclusion that there is no continuity in mental and material phenomena…So here we want to…
01/01/2023
The Spiritual side to Giving
Whenever we give something, whenever we sacrifice something from whatever material goods we possess, or from our time, …we are going against the stream of the world. We are going…
27/12/2022
Ancient Methods of attaining Knowledge ‐ Abhidhamma and Astrology
"When I the starry courses know, And Nature's wise instruction seek, With light of power my soul shall glow, As when with spirits spirits speak." Since ancient times, there have…
23/12/2022
Videos
♥️ / Meditation
The Factors of Jhana
The Buddha time and again urged his followers to try to attain the Jhānas (Stages of Meditation), but nowadays few people know how to attain them. This animation describes step…
05/12/2022
Five Spiritual Faculties
Every person who through proficiency in some skill rises himself up above his fellow human beings, does so through having found some way of cultivating a dynamic interaction of these…
02/12/2022
Anger, Desire and Delusion
Anger Anger is life resisting life. It is when life is identified with what it is not, that it resists its own flow. But as lives vision of life becomes…
14/10/2022
Dependent Origination applied
All the major religions of the world possess a certain creation myth...an explanation of how the world came about...as well as what its ending will be....Buddhism too has an conception…
14/10/2022
Paramattha- On Ultimate Truth
Concepts and Ultimate truth Phenomena are ever only phenomena, words and concepts are ever only words and concepts. But if we possess a word or concept, which has for us…
14/10/2022
Philosophical Notes on Vithi
The Vithi model shows the mind as a sequence and depicts the order by which mental phenomena occur. Apart from that, it indicates, that certain aspects of cognition/ of processing…
14/10/2022
What is Bīja Niyāma?
Bīja Niyama is the law of organic life. Bīja literally means 'seed', in the sense of 'germ of life'. Thus, Bīja Niyama, is essentially the law that governs the growth…
14/10/2022
4 Using the Mind
Using your mind Just repeating something that was said before,... are you using your mind?...If you make a calculator that only shows the input as output..who would buy it? ...Yet,…
14/10/2022
The Problem of Good and Evil
Good begets good, bad begets bad. Most people, at the very least have heard such saying. Yet, although there may be situations in life where it is quite obvious what…
14/10/2022
Application of the Knowledge of the 5 Niyamas
Once a person has acquired an understanding of the Niyāma, he may order each item of importance under the functionings of those natural laws. That is, how anything that he…
14/10/2022
The Mental process in Human Development
For gaining a clearer understanding about the mental process, we might consider about it in the light of human development and its relation to the higher faculties. Example: A person…
14/10/2022
Unwholesome Emotion
If we want to learn how to transcend unwholesome states of mind, we need to make a start in understanding those little understood inner forces that we experience as undesirable emotions.
It is only through true understanding, that we may transcend the ignorance which is at the root of all unwholesome emotions.
Here only two examples of some unwholesome emotion and how the understanding of it can help to overcome (/transcend) it.
14/10/2022
Ārammaṇa Paccaya – Condition of Objects
Ārammana, usually translated as objects, may more accurately be thought of as supports of the mind (and the senses). Thus, this condition is describing any relation between mind or matter…
14/10/2022
Citta Niyāma – The Law of Mentation
Citta Niyāma is the law of mind. It is the law that governs the appearance and sequence in regard to mental phenomena. Even as the coarsest and deadest of matter,…
14/10/2022
Sahajāta Paccaya – Condition of Synchronicity
Wherever mental or material phenomena exist in a relation of synchronous alignment, they will share certain qualities with each other. All such phenomena are grouped under this relation. In ordinary…
14/10/2022
♥️ / Meditation
Developing Mettā Meditation by Understanding Emotions and Energy
With every mental impulse, your body throws off particles of energy. Strong mental impulses produce a larger quantity of these particles. And how far these spread is largely dependent on…
14/10/2022
Kamma Niyāma – The Law of Kamma
Kamma Niyāma - The Law of Kamma Kamma Niyāma is the law of will or intention. Whenever the mind based on previous investigation and classification (of some sense-sphere phenomena) is…
14/10/2022
Meditation on The Four Elements
Should a person desire to practice Four Elements meditation as a subject for establishing mindfulness, he should frequently recite to himself the names of the primary elements and further on,…
14/10/2022
Ahāra Paccaya – Condition of Fuel or Nutriment
Nutriment or Fuel condition refers to the way in which a particular physical thing or mental state or process is supported in its further growth. Most people will have had…
13/10/2022
Learning and what Hinders it
Conceiving of a past and a future and a good and a bad, the mind seeks to make more often decisions that assure a greater 'good' in the vaster space…
13/10/2022
Sampayutta Paccaya- Condition of Attraction
Whenever one phenomenon, by virtue of its own qualities, pulls another phenomenon towards itself, it is called attraction. On all the conceivable scales of life, can there be found this…
13/10/2022
Physiology of a Celibate’s Demon
Now, our body needs nutriment. When we eat our food, that food gets digested in the stomach and then send further downward to the lower intestines. Along our spine, there…
13/10/2022
Notes on Iddhi Padas (Roads to Success)
If while observing yourself and remembering your dhamma practice, you of and on formulate a desire, such as 'may I realize, what I have not yet realized', or more concretely…
17/09/2022
Dhamma Niyāma – The Law of Holiness
As choices become more consistent and as the mind becomes more capable of making intelligent kammical calculations that are in alignment with those choices, individuality reaches its peak. Ultimately the…
13/07/2022
Illustrations
Bīja Niyāma – The Law of Organic Life
Bīja literally means ‘seed’, in the sense of ‘germ of life’. Thus this law of Bīja Niyāma, is essentially the law that governs the growth of organic life…from the smallest…
13/07/2022
Utu Niyāma – The Law of Physical Nature
The Buddha declared, that an absolute beginning of things can not be found,…yet in regard to the phenomenal world, whether on a grand scale or in the very tiny things,…
13/07/2022
Anantara Paccaya – Condition of Combinations
A combination is a coming together of various elements, material or immaterial, to form a new whole. In fact, the whole universe is but a combination of elements. But to…
13/07/2022
Conditions of Emotions using the Abhidhamma method
Emotion Emotions are the first stirrings of a latent mind seeking manifestation For doing work with/ for collaborating with some of the good forces of this universe,…big or small…we’d better…
13/07/2022
Healthy Mindfulness
Nowadays it is perhaps more important than ever, that we learn to better look after ourselves and gain greater control over the workings of our body. Thus increasing our potential…
12/07/2022
The Patthāna
Beware that this is a rather old post, one of the first ones perhaps, so some of it might need to be revised. For a better understanding of what the…
13/02/2022