Why Abhidhamma is not Buddha's word

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Quotes from notable monks:

Nyanatiloka Mahathera - Guide Through the Abhidhamma Pitaka

The third collection of the Páli Tipiþaka, or ‘Triple Basket,’ the so called Abhidhamma Piþaka, belongs—at least in its form handed down to us—undoubtedly to a younger period than the other two collections. But in spite of this fact, it should in no way be considered a corruption or distortion of the Buddha’s doctrine but rather an attempt to systematize all the doctrines laid down in the Suttas, and to elucidate them from the philosophical or, more correctly speaking, psychological and physiological standpoint.

Henepola Gunarathana - A Critical Analysis of the Jhanas 

The Abhidhammapitaka gives the appearance of being a somewhat later scholastic attempt at systematization, but its teachings are fully consistent with the suttas and help shed light on  many points requiring precise analysts and fine definition. 

Ajahn Brahm


Ajahn Brahmali

It is very obvious that the suttas and the Abhidhamma were not spoken by the same person. Then there is the enormous discrepancies between the Abhidhammas of the different schools. Whereas the suttas are very similar across the different textual traditions, the Abhidhammas have little in common. This points to a post-sectarian date for their composition (or at least finalization).
There are a number of areas, in my view, where there are discrepancies between the suttas and the Abhidhamma (one of these being the Abhidhamma idea of lokuttarajjhāna). But rather than me giving you a list, it is sufficient to know that the Abhidhamma is not the word of the Buddha. This means that the suttas are primary and that the Abhidhamma at most fills in the picture by giving supplementary information. For too many people the Abhidhamma is primary and they read the suttas through the lens of ideas developed in the Abhidhamma. This often leads one to read ideas into the suttas that were developed a long time after the Buddha. Some of these ideas may be wrong, or at the very least they may distort one's understanding of the sutta material.


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