Introduction to Abhidharma and Its Psychology of Mental Factors

Taught by Khenpo Mriti (PhD)

Four Saturday Sessions October-December (2026)

Starting Satruday, October 17, 2026

ONLINE Program

We welcome you to this new series with Khenpo Mriti (PhD), Introduction to Abhidharma and Its Psychology of Mental Factors. In this four-session online series, Khenpo Mriti introduces the foundations of Abhidharma teachings and explores its distinctive approach to understanding the mind and human experience. The series moves from the historical development of Abhidharma literature to its philosophical and psychological analysis, culminating in the Yogācāra classification of mental factors.

Schedule of four teaching sessions, all times USA Eastern time zone:

• Saturday, October 17, 4:30-6:00 pm Eastern
• Saturday, November 14, 4:30-6:00 pm Eastern
• Saturday, December 5, 4:30-6:00 pm Eastern
• Saturday, December 19, 4:30-6:00 pm Eastern

Follow-on series by Khenpo Mriti on this topic are anticipated.

Students of all levels are welcome.

A brief introduction to Khenpo Mriti and fuller program description with suggested readings are below.

REGISTRATION DEADLINE IS: Tuesday, October 13, 2026.

Registration is required. Teleconference instructions for connecting will be provided to

registered participants. Limited number of seats available.

***

Delivery format: Khenpo Mriti will be broadcasting live, and recordings of the classes are planned to be made available to registered program participants. Student interaction with Khenpo Mriti will be facilitated as much as possible through available technology.

Registration information: To register, click the "Register Now" button on this page, and then select a registration level (Full-$60, Patron-$90, Half-$30, or Scholarship-variable), which covers all of the teaching sessions. A limited number of openings are available. After registering here, you will receive an immediate email confirmation that you have registered. Then subsequently you will be emailed an invitation to Google Classroom where class announcements will be made, such as the Zoom links. Please be on the look-out in your email inbox and accept the Google Classroom invitation.

No one is turned away due to lack of funds; the Scholarship Level is available for making an offering that you can afford.

Email any questions to: virtual@bodhipath.org

REGISTRATION DEADLINE IS: Tuesday, October 13. Registration is required. Teleconference instructions for connecting will be provided to registered participants. Limited number of seats available. To register, click the "Register Now" button on this page.)

Brief Introduction to Khenpo Mriti

Khenpo Mriti is a Tibetan Buddhist scholar, teacher, and translator whose education bridges traditional Buddhist training and contemporary academic study. A former Buddhist monk, he completed his training in Tibetan Buddhist ritual and philosophy at Jangchub Choeling Karma Kagyu Monastery and subsequently received his Khenpo degree from the Vikramashila Buddhist Institute in Pokhara, Nepal. He later pursued higher education in the West, earning an MA from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver and a PhD from McGill University, Montreal.

After completing his formal traditional studies, Khenpo Mriti continued studying Indo-Tibetan Buddhist philosophy under Acharya Sempa Dorje for more than eight years, serving as his research assistant during that time. His doctoral research focused on Buddhist Abhidharma psychology, particularly the classification and analysis of mental factors in the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist tradition. He has published several scholarly articles on Buddhist psychology and related subjects in both Tibetan and English.

Khenpo Mriti also served as General Secretary to Karmapa International Buddhist Society (KIBS), Delhi, from 2011 to 2015, and concurrently as Dean of Karmapa International Buddhist Institute (KIBI) during the same period.

Khenpo Mriti currently serves as a full-time Tibetan editor at the Institute of Tibetan Classics and as a part-time lecturer at Canadian universities. He also teaches Buddhism internationally at Buddhist institutes, Dharma centers, community organizations, and schools. His teaching integrates traditional Buddhist philosophical training, contemporary academic scholarship, and practical approaches to understanding Buddhism in the modern world.

His brief biography is also available on the teachers page of the Bodhi Path website.

Program Description

What is Abhidharma:

The Indian Buddhist thinker Vasubandhu
opens his famous work, the Abhidharmakośa, by explaining why the study
of Abhidharma is important: complete freedom from ignorance cannot be attained
without transcendent wisdom, and the Buddha taught Abhidharma as a means of
cultivating that wisdom (Chapter 1:3). Those who join this program should therefore
study Abhidharma to acquire this supreme form of human intelligence.

The Sanskrit term Abhidharma is
traditionally understood as “higher doctrine” or “higher teaching.” It denotes
a systematic analysis of phenomena intended to deepen the understanding of
reality and cultivate the wisdom required to overcome ignorance and suffering. Central
to this analysis is the Buddhist doctrine of non-self (anātman, Skt.) articulated through the framework of the five aggregates (pañcaskandha,
Skt.). Abhidharma is traditionally considered one of the Three Baskets (Tripiṭaka, Skt.) of Buddhist teachings. The other two are the Vinaya,
which concerns monastic discipline and ethical conduct, and the Sūtra,
which contains the Buddha’s discourses on meditation and practice. Although
these three categories organize the Buddha’s teachings by theme, their content
often overlaps.

In this four-session online series of
Bodhi Path US, Khenpo Mriti introduces the foundations of Abhidharma teachings and
explores its distinctive approach to understanding the mind and human
experience. The series moves from the historical development of Abhidharma
literature to its philosophical and psychological analysis, culminating in the Yogācāra
classification of mental factors.

The four teaching sessions will explore the
following themes:

Session 1: The Historical Development of
Abhidharma Literature

The first teaching session examines the emergence and development of Abhidharma
literature within the history of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. It introduces the major
Abhidharma traditions and explores how Buddhist thinkers developed increasingly
systematic ways of analyzing the Buddha’s teachings.

Session 2: Key Arguments in Abhidharma
Thought

The second teaching session introduces some important philosophical arguments developed
in Abhidharma literature. These arguments demonstrate how Abhidharma thinkers
analyzed no-self theory, phenomena, and the relationship between different
aspects of reality in order to clarify the Buddhist path to liberation.

Session 3: Mind and Cognitive Awareness in
Abhidharma

The third teaching session turns to the question of mind itself. What is mind or
cognitive awareness? How does Abhidharma define consciousness, and how does it
understand the relationship between consciousness and the objects of
experience? This session provides an important foundation for understanding the
Buddhist analysis of mental states.

Session 4: The Yogācāra Taxonomy of Mental
Factors

The final teaching session focuses on the Yogācāra school's systematic classification of
mental factors (caitasikas, Skt.). It examines how different mental events
are identified, classified, and understood in relation to consciousness. This
analysis provides a particularly rich Buddhist framework for understanding
emotions, cognitive processes, and patterns of mental experience.

Taken together, the four sessions succinctly
provide an introduction to Abhidharma as both a philosophical system and a
sophisticated Buddhist framework for understanding the mind. The series
clarifies how the doctrine of non-self challenges the mistaken conception of an
eternal self, while offering a nuanced account of human agency within the five
aggregates. Ultimately, it demonstrates how the detailed analysis of
consciousness and mental factors contributes to the broader Buddhist aims of
cultivating wisdom, transforming the mind, and overcoming the causes of
suffering.

How to benefit from suggested readings for this teaching series:

The following books add to your learning experience, and to receive the most benefit, the relevant sections are best read before each session. For example, for the first session, please read sections on the history of Abhidharma in the suggested books, and so on.

1. Bhikkhu Dhammajoti K. L. (2007) "Sarvastivada Abhidharma"

https://archive.org/details/sarvastivadaabhidharma1bhikkhudhammajotik.l._961_k/page/n7/mode/2up

2. Mriti’s Dissertation (2026) "Abhidharma
Taxonomy of Mental Factors in Tibetan Buddhism." McGill University Library.

https://mcgill.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1600266350

3. Multiple authors (2020) "The Mind (Volume 2): Science
and Philosophy in Indian Buddhist Classics." Wisdom Publications.