As reading southern Abhidhammas, I found that the two southern Abhidhammas, Dhammasaṅgaṇī and Peṭakopadesa, had different understanding of the dhammāyatana from other Abhidhammas such as Vibhaṅgapāḷi. The diff erence is: the former thinks that dhammāyatana does not contain asaṅkhata, while the latter thinks that dhammāyatana contains asaṅkhata. These two views have caused serious confl icts in theory and practice, which are related to the fundamental problems of Buddhism.
According to the above research, the conclusions of this paper are as follows: (1) the definitions of dhammāyatana in these two commentaries are different from those in other Southern commentaries, and also different from those in the commentaries of northern Abhidhammas. (2) These two different understandings not only cause the confl ict of theory, but also cause the confl ict of practice.
On the basis of the conclusion, three possible situations are inferred: (1) At the time of the collection of the southern Abhidhammas, the tendency of Buddhism sect was not obvious. (2) the southern Abhidhammapitaka do not belong to the same school, It came into being earlier. (3) the views of Abhidhammas such as Vibhaṅga are close to those of the northern Abhidhammas, they may have a common origin.
In addition, this paper puts forward two considerations: (1) whether the two different understandings reflect different sectarian traditions. (2) Whether there are different theoretical systems in Abhidhamma system.
Academic contribution: This paper fi nds that the understanding of dhammāyatana in the Dhammasaṅgaṇī and Peṭakopadesa is diff erent from other southern Abhidhammas. This paper summarizes the confl ict from theory to practice, and puts forward several possible inferences and thinking.
