Chapter VIII

Compendium of Categories

(Samuccayasangahavibhāga)

§2 in Brief: Great Essentials and Derived Matter (Format)

Guide to §2

Matter is twofold: The Abhidamma enumerates twenty-eight types of material phenomena, which are briefly comprised in two general categories: the four great essentials and material phenomena derived from the four great essentials. The four great essentials (mahābhūta) are the primary material elements – earth, water, fire and air. These are the fundamental constituents of matter which are inseparable and which, in their various combinations, enter into the composition of all material phenomena derived from, or dependent upon, the four great essentials. These are twenty-four in number. The great essentials may be compared to the earth, the derivative phenomena to trees and shrub that grow in dependence on the earth… pg 237

Table 6.1 – The 28 Material Phenomena At a Glance