Modern scholars tend to peel back the Abhidhamma’s dense metaphysical tapestry in two main ways: as a pragmatic map of experience or as a genuine ontology of “ultimate realities.”

1. Pragmatic-psychological reading
   • Taxonomy of Mind: Many see the Abhidhamma’s sixteen mind-moments and hundreds of “dharma” categories less as solid substances and more as phenomenological snapshots—early cognitive science at work. In this view, its elaborate breakdown of consciousness, feeling and perception “hits the nail on the head” for anyone mapping mental processes.
   • Mindfulness Meets Neuroscience: Recent fMRI studies (like a 2024 Cambridge paper linking mindfulness practice to specific neural networks) align with Abhidhamma’s granular approach to mental events. It’s treated less as a metaphysical truth-claim and more as a psychotechnical manual.

2. Ontological-realist reading
   • Ultimate Realities (Paramattha Dhammas): Another camp takes the Abhidhamma literally—asserting that dhammas are irreducible building blocks of existence. This echoes certain strands of analytic metaphysics, where fundamental entities underpin reality.
   • Process Philosophy Parallels: Comparisons to Whitehead’s “process” universe pop up now and then. Both systems reject static substances in favor of momentary events in flux, pointing toward a becoming-centered cosmos.

3. Nominalist vs. Realist debates
   • Construct or Concrete? Some argue Abhidhamma constructs are pedagogical tools, a bit like Newtonian mechanics—useful but not “final word.” Others argue they reflect a realist vision, positing mind-moments and material phenomena as ontologically on par.

4. Broader influences and tensions
   • Scholastic Layering: Because much of this material was systematized centuries after the Buddha, questions arise about how much is authentic teaching versus later scholastic refinement.
   • Dialogue with Western thought: Phenomenologists from Husserl to Merleau-Ponty have been fascinated by Abhidhamma’s methodical dive into lived experience—suggesting surprising convergences across time and culture.

In the end, modern readings either lean on the Abhidhamma as a manual for inner technology—resonating with today’s wellness industry— or elevate it to a full-blown metaphysical system. Either way, its legacy continues to spark lively back-and-forth among philosophers, psychologists and neuroscientists alike.