Buddha Abhidhamma - Ultimate Science - BuddhaNet

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Pa¤¤attis are the names of living and non living; they also refer
to the things and the persons themselves. Thus not only the names
‘man, dog, table, house, etc.’ are pa¤¤attis but the man, the dog,
the table, the house, etc, are also pa¤¤attis.
It is apparent that ‘names’ are not the ultimate realities because
a particular thing has been given different names in different
languages. There is an interesting episode about giving
names in Myanmar.
A lad by the name of Mr. Ba appeared for the matriculation
examination. He failed in his first attempt. He appeared for the
same examination again next year under the new name of Mr. Ba
Hla. He failed again. In the third year he changed his name to
Mr. Ba Hla Than and sat for the examination again. Again he
didn’t have a better luck. So to improve his luck he took the name
of Mr. Ba Hla Than Tin in the fourth year. He failed in the
examination again. Nevertheless he appeared for the examination
again in the fifth year under the longer name of Mr. Ba Hla Than
Tin Nyunt. Well, he passed the examination this time. So he was
known as Mr. Ba Hla Than Tin Nyunt when he joined the
university of Yangon.
The point is that, since names can be chosen at will to designate
various things and persons, they cannot be ultimate realities. Yet
we have to use these names in our everyday expressions and
speeches to communicate with one another. Other people understand
correctly what we mean and what we refer to. So these
expressions and speeches with no intention of lying are called
samuti-sacca or conventional truth.
Now according to Abhidhamma, not only the names but also
the things and the persons the names refer to do not really exist.
You may argue: “Why? We can see the table, the house, the man,