I am not familiar with the variety of these schools and their defining characteristics so i guess it was not a good analogy. What i meant is that it is strange that one would ordain in a group and reject their interpretation or a part of their canon.
My practice consists of developing the various kinds of concentration, perceptions, contemplation and asceticism.
I started by studying the Sutta alongside with commentaries and Abhidhamma.
I have not found any mistakes in the Abhidhamma and think it is quite helpful in tying up many loose ends.
I suspect that i will keep working out the particulars and reconciling the various theories & interpretation to get a better understanding of the Canon as a whole and it’s constituents for the rest of my life .
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People sometimes change too. I, being born in Sri Lanka had much kudos for Abhidhamma. But after practice I see no need for it - it’s actually a complication, but I didn’t attempt to understand everything before starting to practice as it wasn’t necessary. People get a sense of ‘understanding’ something deep without an appropriate direct experiencing, from grasping the abhidhamma. This is just theory, and sometimes they don’t progress to meditative realisation. I did an Abhidhamma diploma and got little…
Theravadins worship the authenticity of the words of the Buddha and that is reflected in the enthusiasm for his original dhamma 
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Ah. Very good. Currently I am studying DN33. I expect to spend at least a year on DN33. What Abhidhamma would you recommend for DN33? Sometimes I have questions. And to answer those questions I usually find what I need in other suttas. Does DN33 have its own Abhidhamma?
Oh and also I am very fond of MN1 but notice that there are very different interpretations of the last part with Nandī dukkhassa mūlan’ti. This is an extremely critical phrase and I would like to not have idiosyncratic understanding here. What would you recommend?
Thank you.
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There is no particular Abhidhamma section for DN33 that i can think of. However given that DN33 mentions almost everything worth mentioning the Abhidhamma books can definitely help understanding many of those worthy mentions.
What i prefer doing is researching particular themes and terminology such as the elements, the aggregates, the path, sense-bases and whatnot by reconciling Abhidhamma and the Sutta content.
As i understand it, the Dhamma is practiced in accord with the Dhamma when it is practiced for disenchantment, disenchantment has dispassion as its purpose, dispassion as its reward and dispassion has knowledge and vision of release as it’s purpose and reward. Therefore if disenchantment leads to dispassion and dispassion is non-relishing, non-infatuation, non-delight in regards to conditioned phenomena and all worlds, then it can be understood that relishing, infatuation and delight in conditioned phenomena can be said to be the root condition for the manyfold of becoming.
One who realizes the highest release (extinguishing, nibbana) has a direct realization of the Four Noble Truths referred to as seeing the fourfold round of the aggregates; such are the aggregates, such is their origination, such is their cessation, such is the path to their cessation.
When the release is realized he comes to know the cessation of the All and discerns what is not included in the Allness of the All, knowing the Feeling as Feeling, Perception as Perception, knowing Cessation of Feeling as the Cessation of Feeling… and the Cessation of Perception as Cessation of Perception, he does not proclaim neither Feeling or Perception to be a Self, nor Feeling or Perception to be belonging to self, nor Feeling or Perception as constituent of Self or Self belonging to or being the constituent of Feeling or Perception, he does not consider Self to be in the All, a Self Apart from the All, a Self coming from the All or the All as belonging to or constituing a Self.
Therefore when he discerns the cessation of feeling and perception, the cessation of the All, he does not think of the cessation as belonging to a Self or as a cessation of a Self.
Therefore it is said in the next line;
He directly knows extinguishment as extinguishment.
But he doesn’t identify with extinguishment, he doesn’t identify regarding extinguishment, he doesn’t identify as extinguishment, he doesn’t identify that ‘extinguishment is mine’, he doesn’t take pleasure in extinguishment.
When a person brings the removal of greed hatred and delusion to culmination by relying on that path to destruction of greed hatred and delusion he is said to be one without delusion and that absence of delusion in him is the Nibbana Element with residue. Therefore it is said;
he has understood that relishing is the root of suffering,
and that rebirth comes from continued existence; whoever has come to be gets old and dies.
That’s why the Realized One—with the ending, fading away, cessation, giving up, and letting go of all cravings—has awakened to the supreme perfect Awakening, I say.”
Thus one without delusion does not relish, has no craving and does not undergo birth and old age no more.
the list of relevant sutta is quite long;
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an11/an11.001.than.html
https://suttacentral.net/sn45.7/en/bodhi
https://suttacentral.net/an9.47/en/sujato
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.049.than.html
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.117.than.html
https://suttacentral.net/an7.45/en/sujato
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.11.0.than.html
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an11/an11.010.than.html
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.039.than.html
https://suttacentral.net/sn55.5/en/sujato
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn44/sn44.002.than.html
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn35/sn35.023.than.html
As for the Abhidhamma there are these chapters of the Dhammasanghani book that are most relevant for this interpretation;
https://suttacentral.net/ds2.1.5/en/caf_rhysdavids
https://suttacentral.net/ds2.1.8/en/caf_rhysdavids
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Ah. OK. I was afraid of that, but your answer makes total sense. I am going blind and reading is torture for me. Listening to suttas works fine. Listening to Abhidhamma for all of the material in DN33 would be quite painful. I would get lost.
Thank you for your clarification of MN1. It took a long time to write and a long time to read. I find myself 100% in agreement with what you wrote. What you wrote is exactly what I understood when reading MN1 myself. Yay! 
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I think that in general the expression is somewhat open to interpretation because I attempted to express in brief the meaning as I inferred it from the content referenced. There are several implications being made, some of which are disagreeable to many.
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In fact, all three terms of the OP hinge on their definition:
1: Theravadin
2: reject
3: Abhidhamma.
The 1st and 3rd are matters of history and viewpoint.
The 2nd – “reject” – borders on kusala/akusala, if not morality.
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This is what prompted the question and i am open to exploration of alternative definitions and viewpoints.
i don’t understand the meaning of this expression.
Actually, those points of disagreement are quite important to discuss and discussion is one of the core things we do here in the forum. Would it be possible for you to start a new post, perhaps on MN1 and a specific disagreement? That would be of great value because it would help us all eliminate idiosyncratic understanding.
Let’s please start with one disagreement to discuss in that new post for simplicity!
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I will abstain from discussing these matters because they are quite well known and it usually boils down to whether or not people find Abhidhamma and Mahavihara interpretations to be agreeable to them in regards to some of the Sutta i referenced.
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Well, then I shall bumble on in ignorance while the rest argue. Hopefully one day someone will explain to me what causes disagreement regarding the Abhidhamma. Given my disability and old age, I doubt I will live long enough to read the Abhidhamma as a whole.
In the meantime, perhaps this exchange between the two of has highlighted out why many of us prefer the clarity of the suttas to having arguments about the Abhidhamma. The agreement on the suttas themselves is actually quite remarkable and directly underscores their value to all of us.
i think it is very possible that you could meet someone who would express disagreement. The particular matters i was referring to is the definition of what exactly is Path attainment, what is Noble Concentration, what means absorption independent of earth, water, fire, wind, neither this world nor the next and what is and if there is a relationship between DN11, MN49, AN11.10 and Ud8.1
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Oh. Ok. I am just reading the suttas to become a better person for myself and the world. So far I am quite happy with what the suttas and practice have given me. Indeed more people smile at me than before. The higher, formless attainments are a bit abstract, but the perception of non-self has been extremely important. In terms of Noble Concentration, I think you are referring to the four jhanas. The jhana study has not be so useful to me. Rather, SN12.23 Vital Conditions has been VERY important for my study and practice in relinquishing craving.
In terms of absorption independent of the four elements, I think you are touching on the higher meditations. These deal with the heart’s releases as well as the formless dimensions and the devas, since, for example, the Brahma realm is better than the realm of the Gods Who Control the Creation of Others. That gets into stuff well beyond my experience. Instead, I much prefer MN121 with its emptiness. No devas, no powers, just emptiness.
Therefore I cannot help with your journey, but I wish you well. 
I shall plod along into emptiness. 
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I think that developing the perception of non-self and the perception of impermanence is much more important that working out the particulars of terminology.
Not really. Noble Concentration is a path factor defined as any unification of mind accompanied by 7 other factors (Maha-cattarisaka Sutta: The Great Forty). There are 5 developments of Noble Concentration, 4 by means of jhana and a 5th where a theme is well penetrated by means of discernment.(Samadhanga Sutta: The Factors of Concentration)
As long as one does not become fixated in some view without a very good reason and due consideration i think one is doing it correctly.
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The idea is to focus less on what’s Theavada or the significance of the Abhidhamma, and look at how the latter gets “rejected”.
Clearly some teachers consider abhidhamma material not suitable for teaching directly to lay students/practitioners, so reject it in that sense – a matter of teaching tactics.
Some might question the value of abhidhamma as practice guidance, where admittedly it doesn’t suit some individuals
Others question it’s authenticity – not verifiable as literally taught by the Buddha himself. The manner and tone of this kind of rejection is what I’ve referred-to as a matter of kusala (skillful or profitable) or akusala (the opposite). As more thoughtful proponents of “EBT” are careful to admit, abhidhamma, as well as commentarial components of Theravadan tradition, are not de facto wrong, let alone “perversion”, as some will have it, of the Buddha’s intentions.
All later interpretations (i.e. of those who didn’t personally hear the Buddha teach) elaborate the significance they find in studying and practicing what’s in the sutta-s, including modern “EBT” interpretations. When some today interpret the EBT and find it doesn’t fit with other interpretations in the tradition, they on occasion express views which appear to “reject” those others in a disdainful manner – reminds me of born-again Christians who insist they know what Christ really taught from their own “literal” interpretations (i.e. applying modernistic norms of meaning) and aggressively attack others for their diverging interpretations. Such behavior often engenders conflict in unskillful (akusala) ways.
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This is the kind that makes me raise an eyebrow.
Thanks for clarification.
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To me “Theravada” is a broad classification, a diverse collection of schools, teachers and approaches.
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Well firstly, here’s a funny video of Ajahn Brahm dismissing the Abhidhamma:
This is great news because it means we have less books to read! He also mentions sutta MN69 demonstrating that “abhidhamme abhivinaye” had different meanings in EBTs:
“A wilderness monk should make an effort to learn the teaching and training.” (Sujato)
Āraññikenāvuso, bhikkhunā abhidhamme abhivinaye yogo karaṇīyo.
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I have found the Abhidhamma useful now and then. I also just find it a bit forbidding in its size and massive detail. Thank you for the video. As an engineer I do find myself often following the practical advice of heretics.
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