This book contains a translation of one of the greatest presentations of abhidharma in any tradition: Vasubandhu’s Verses on the Treasury of Abhidharma, along with the 9th Karmapa Wangchuk Dorje’s clear and concise explanation of it, Youthful Play (ཆོས་མངོན་པ་མཛོད་དང་། དེའི་འགྲེལ་པ་གཞོན་ནུ་རྣམ་རོལ།), translated by David Karma Choephel.

Though the abhidharma is recognized as one of the major topics of the Buddhist teachings, up until now there have been few translations of any of the great texts on it available in a Western language. This book contains a translation of one of the greatest presentations of abhidharma in any tradition: Vasubandhu’s Verses on the Treasury of Abhidharma, along with the 9th Karmapa Wangchuk Dorje’s clear and concise explanation of it, Youthful Play. Taken together, these two works give a thorough explanation of the abhidharma of the foundation vehicle as taught in the northern Buddhist traditions that spread to Tibet as well as to China and other East Asian countries. Indeed, this text will be helpful for those studying the abhidharma of all traditions. This book gives thorough explanations of all the fundamental concepts and terms found in the Buddhist teachings. Beginning from the aggregates, sense bases, and elements, it presents the nature of the phenomena we experience, describes the karma and afflictions that create suffering, and shows the factors of the path that leads to liberation. In this way, it is like an encyclopedia of Buddhism that thoroughly explains the the meaning of the many different technical terms found in the sutras, vinaya, and other Buddhist teachings if you are wondering what something you have read in a Buddhist text really means, there is a good chance it is explained in this book. It thus provides an invaluable aid to students who want to deepen their understanding not only of the abhidharma but of all the Buddhist teachings. (This publication was made possible with the generous support of Tsadra Foundation.)