Abhidhamma

Abhidhamma is a particular approach to the Buddha’s teachings which began to develop some two or three centuries after his passing. The word abhidhamma means ‘pertaining to dhammas.’ Abhidhamma developed when early Buddhist thinkers tried to analyse phenomena into its most basic units which they called dhammas and then attempted to describe their characteristics, their duration, their interaction with one other and their kammic results. Whereas the Buddha’s generally restricted himself to empirical experience, abhidhamma tends to be more speculative.

References

Abhidhamma Studies, Nyanaponika, 1985.