Overview
The seventeenth triad of the Abhidhamma Mātikā categorizes phenomena based on their existential status in relation to arising. This triad is crucial for understanding how kamma functions, specifically distinguishing between what is happening now, what has never happened, and what is kammically guaranteed to happen.
The List
- Uppannā dhammā - Arisen states: Phenomena (consciousness, mental factors, and matter) that have reached their moment of arising, presence, or dissolution, but have not yet ceased entirely.
- Anuppannā dhammā - Not arisen states: Phenomena that have not yet arisen, or phenomena that have been permanently prevented from arising (e.g., the defilements destroyed by an Arahat).
- Uppādino dhammā - Bound to arise states: The resultant consciousnesses and kammically acquired matter that are absolutely guaranteed to arise in the future because the kamma required to produce them has already been performed.
Textual References
- Abhidhamma: Dhammasaṅgaṇī (Mātikā 17) – Used to explain the inevitability of kammic results (vipāka) once the volitional cause (cetanā) has been executed.