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92-946: Buddhist texts are religious texts that belong to, or are associated with, Buddhism and its traditions . There is no single textual collection for all of Buddhism. Instead, there are three main Buddhist Canons : the Pāli Canon of the Theravāda tradition , the Chinese Buddhist Canon used in East Asian Buddhist tradition , and the Tibetan Buddhist Canon used in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism . The earliest Buddhist texts were not committed to writing until some centuries after

184-525: A Buddha is often seen as "a spiritual king, relating to and caring for the world", rather than simply a teacher who after his death "has completely 'gone beyond' the world and its cares". Buddha Sakyamuni 's life and death on earth is then usually understood as a "mere appearance", his death is an unreal show, in reality he continues to live in a transcendent reality. Thus the Buddha in the Lotus sutra says that he

276-495: A Mystic". Burmese Buddhist literature developed unique poetic forms from the 1450s onwards, a major type of poetry is the pyui' which are long and embellished translations of Pali Buddhist works, mainly jatakas . A famous example of pyui' poetry is the Kui khan pyui' (the pyui' in nine sections, 1523). There is also a genre of Burmese commentaries or nissayas which were used to teach Pali. The nineteenth century saw

368-579: A buddha that its contents are true Dharma. Then these sutras may be properly regarded as buddhavacana . Sometimes texts that are considered commentaries by some are regarded by others as buddhavacana . In Indo-Tibetan Buddhism , what is considered buddhavacana is collected in the Kangyur ('The Translation of the Word'). The East Asian and Tibetan Buddhist Canons always combined buddhavacana with other literature in their standard collected editions. However,

460-466: A compilation or discussion of beliefs, ritual practices, moral commandments and laws , ethical conduct, spiritual aspirations, and admonitions for fostering a religious community. Within each religion, these sacred texts are revered as authoritative sources of guidance, wisdom, and divine revelation . They are often regarded as sacred or holy, representing the core teachings and principles that their followers strive to uphold. According to Peter Beal,

552-399: A corpus of religious texts from the "canonical" literature. At its root, this differentiation reflects the sects and conflicts that developed and branched off over time, the competitive "acceptance" of a common minimum over time and the "rejection" of interpretations, beliefs, rules or practices by one group of another related socio-religious group. The earliest reference to the term "canon" in

644-513: A definitive canon". While the term scripture is derived from the Latin scriptura , meaning "writing", most sacred scriptures of the world's major religions were originally a part of their oral tradition , and were "passed down through memorization from generation to generation until they were finally committed to writing", according to Encyclopaedia Britannica . In Islam , the Sunnah are

736-652: A distinctly tantric character, like some of the shorter Perfection of Wisdom sutras and the Mahavairocana Sutra . At least some editions of the Kangyur include the Heart Sutra in the tantra division. Such overlap is not confined to "neighbouring" yanas: at least nine "Sravakayana" texts can be found in the tantra divisions of some editions of the Kangyur. One of them, the Atanatiya Sutra ,

828-462: A flowering of Burmese Buddhist literature in various genres including religious biography, Abhidharma, legal literature and meditation literature. An influential text of Thai literature is the "Three Worlds According to King Ruang" (1345) by Phya Lithai, which is an extensive Cosmological and visionary survey of the Thai Buddhist universe. See Mahāyāna sūtras for historical background and

920-613: A list of some sutras categorised by source. Around the beginning of the common era , a new genre of sutra literature began to be written with a focus on the Bodhisattva ideal, commonly known as Mahāyāna ("Great Vehicle") or Bodhisattvayāna (" Bodhisattva Vehicle"). The earliest of these sutras do not call themselves 'Mahāyāna,' but use the terms Vaipulya (extensive, expansive) sutras, or Gambhira (deep, profound) sutras. There are various theories of how Mahāyāna emerged. According to David Drewes, it seems to have been "primarily

1012-455: A number of ways. The Western terms "scripture" and "canonical" are applied to Buddhism in inconsistent ways by Western scholars: for example, one authority refers to "scriptures and other canonical texts", while another says that scriptures can be categorized into canonical, commentarial, and pseudo-canonical. Buddhist traditions have generally divided these texts with their own categories and divisions, such as that between buddhavacana "word of

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1104-415: A present authenticity exercise and spiritual practice In an effort to preserve these scriptures, Asian Buddhist institutions were at the forefront of the adoption of Chinese technologies related to bookmaking , including paper , and block printing which were often deployed on a large scale. Because of this, the first surviving example of a printed text is a Buddhist charm, the first full printed book

1196-565: A question-and-answer format that recapitulates various rules in different groupings, as well as a variety of analyses. The Chinese texts include two sections not found in the Pali tradition, the Niddanas and Matrkas that have counterparts in the Tibetan tradition's Uttaragrantha. Relatively little analysis of these texts have been conducted, but they seem to contain an independent reorganization of

1288-529: A range of subjects. The Theravāda tradition has an extensive commentarial literature , much of which is still untranslated. These are attributed to scholars working in Sri Lanka such as Buddhaghosa (5th century CE) and Dhammapala . There are also sub-commentaries ( ṭīkā ) or commentaries on the commentaries. Buddhaghosa was also the author of the Visuddhimagga , or Path of Purification , which

1380-471: A religious community. The terms sacred text and religious text are not necessarily interchangeable in that some religious texts are believed to be sacred because of the belief in some theistic religions such as the Abrahamic religions that the text is divinely or supernaturally revealed or divinely inspired , or in non-theistic religions such as some Indian religions they are considered to be

1472-467: A religious text, has origins as early as 2150 BCE, and stands as one of the earliest literary works that includes various mythological figures and themes of interaction with the divine. The Rigveda , a scripture of Hinduism , is dated 1500 BCE. It is one of the oldest known complete religious texts that has survived into the modern age. There are many possible dates given to the first writings which can be connected to Talmudic and Biblical traditions,

1564-554: A text "having [religious] authority and often collected into an accepted canon". In modern times, this equation of the written word with religious texts is particular to the English language , and is not retained in most other languages, which usually add an adjective like " sacred " to denote religious texts. Some religious texts are categorized as canonical, some non-canonical, and others extracanonical, semi-canonical, deutero-canonical, pre-canonical or post-canonical. The term "canon"

1656-608: A textual movement, focused on the revelation, preaching, and dissemination of Mahāyāna sutras, that developed within, and never really departed from, traditional Buddhist social and institutional structures." Early dharmabhanakas (preachers, reciters of these sutras) were influential figures, and promoted these new texts throughout the Buddhist communities. Many of these Mahāyāna sūtras were written in Sanskrit (in hybrid forms and in classical Sanskrit) and then later translated into

1748-794: Is "the father of the world", "the self existent ( svayambhu )...protector of all creatures", who has "never ceased to exist" and only "pretends to have passed away." Hundreds of Mahāyāna sūtras have survived in Sanskrit, Chinese and Tibetan translation. There many different genres or classes of Mahāyāna sutras, such as the Prajñāpāramitā sūtra s, the Tathāgatagarbha sūtras and the Pure Land sūtra s . The different Mahāyāna schools have many varied classification schemas for organizing them and they see different texts as having higher authority than others. Some Mahāyāna sūtras are also thought to display

1840-728: Is a highly charged topic within Theravadin communities: see ordination of women in Buddhism Buddhists in China , Korea , Taiwan and Vietnam follow the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya (四分律), which has 250 rules for the bhikkhus and 348 rules for the bhikkhunis. Some schools in Japan technically follow this, but many monks there are married, which can be considered a violation of the rules. Other Japanese monks follow

1932-653: Is a manual of doctrine and practice according to the Mahavihara tradition of Sri Lanka. According to Nanamoli Bhikkhu , this text is regarded as "the principal non-canonical authority of the Theravada." A similar albeit shorter work is the Vimuttimagga . Another highly influential Pali Theravada work is the Abhidhammattha-sangaha (11th or 12th century), a short 50 page introductory summary to

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2024-602: Is also included in the Mikkyo (esoteric) division of the standard modern collected edition of Sino-Japanese Buddhist literature. Some Mahāyāna texts also contain dhāraṇī , which are chants that are believed to have magical and spiritual power. The following is a list of some well known Mahāyāna sutras which have been studied by modern scholarship: Religious text Religious texts , including scripture , are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They often feature

2116-554: Is derived from the Greek word " κανών ", "a cane used as a measuring instrument". It connotes the sense of "measure, standard, norm, rule". In the modern usage, a religious canon refers to a "catalogue of sacred scriptures" that is broadly accepted to "contain and agree with the rule or canon of a particular faith", states Juan Widow. The related terms such as "non-canonical", "extracanonical", "deuterocanonical" and others presume and are derived from "canon". These derived terms differentiate

2208-463: Is derived from the ratification, enforcement , and its use across generations. Some religious texts are accepted or categorized as canonical , some non-canonical, and others extracanonical, semi-canonical, deutero-canonical, pre-canonical or post-canonical. "Scripture" (or "scriptures") is a subset of religious texts considered to be "especially authoritative", revered and "holy writ", "sacred, canonical", or of "supreme authority, special status" to

2300-497: Is often translated as 'discipline', with Dhamma-vinaya , 'doctrine and discipline', used by the Buddha to refer to his complete teachings, suggesting its integral role in Buddhist practice. According to an origin story prefaced to the Theravada Bhikkhu Suttavibhanga , in the early years of the Buddha's teaching the sangha lived together in harmony with no vinaya, as there was no need, because all of

2392-661: Is one example of such a collection, while there is evidence that the Dharmaguptaka school had a similar collection, known as the Kṣudraka Āgam a. Fragments of the Dharmaguptaka minor collection have been found in Gandhari. The Sarvāstivāda school also seems to have had a Kṣudraka collection of texts, but they did not see it as an "Āgama". These "minor" collections seem to have been a category for miscellaneous texts, and

2484-463: Is part of the "sutta" or "sutra" genre. The Sūtras (Sanskrit; Pāli: Sutta ) are mostly discourses attributed to the Buddha or one of his close disciples. They are considered to be buddhavacana by all schools. The Buddha's discourses were perhaps originally organised according to the style in which they were delivered. They were later organized into collections called Nikāyas ('volumes') or Āgamas ('scriptures'), which were further collected into

2576-660: Is the Mahāvastu ("Great Event"), which is a collection of various texts compiled into a biography of the Buddha. Within it can be found quotations and whole sutras, such as the Mahāsāṃghika version of the Dharmacakrapravartana . The other major type of text aside from the sutras are the Vinayas . Vinaya literature is primarily concerned with aspects of the monastic discipline and the rules and procedures that govern

2668-629: Is the Buddhist Diamond Sutra (c. 868) and the first hand colored print is an illustration of Guanyin dated to 947. The concept of buddhavacana (word of the Buddha) is important in understanding how Buddhists classify and see their texts. Buddhavacana texts have special status as sacred scripture and are generally seen as in accord with the teachings of the historical Buddha , which is termed "the Dharma ". According to Donald Lopez ,

2760-747: Is the Pāli Canon, also known as the Tripiṭaka ("three baskets"). Generally speaking, the Theravāda school rejects the Mahāyāna sūtras as buddhavacana (word of the Buddha), and do not study or see these texts as reliable sources. In East Asian Buddhism , what is considered buddhavacana is collected in the Chinese Buddhist canon ; the most common edition of this is the Taishō Tripiṭaka , itself based on

2852-769: The Vimanavatthu (as well as its Chinese parallel, the Vimānāvadāna ). There are also some unique individual texts like the Milinda pañha (literally The Questions of Milinda ) and its parallel in Chinese, the Nāgasena Bhikśu Sūtra (那先比丘經). These texts depict a dialogue between the monk Nagasena , and the Indo-Greek King Menander (Pali: Milinda). It is a compendium of doctrine, and covers

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2944-726: The Bodhisattva Precepts only, which was excerpted from the Mahāyāna version of Brahmajālasutra (梵網經). And the Bodhisattva Precepts contains two parts of precepts: for lay and clergy. According to Chinese Buddhist tradition, one who wants to observe the Bodhisattva Precepts for clergy, must observe the Ten Precepts and High Ordination [Bhikkhu or Bhikkhunī Precepts] first. Tibetan Buddhists in Tibet , Bhutan , Mongolia , Nepal , Ladakh and other Himalayan regions follow

3036-524: The Buddha 's early disciples were highly realized if not fully enlightened. After thirteen years and as the sangha expanded, situations arose which the Buddha and the lay community felt were inappropriate for mendicants . According to Buddhist tradition, the complete Vinaya Piṭaka was recited by Upāli at the First Council shortly after the Buddha 's death. All of the known Vinaya texts use

3128-415: The Buddha ," many of which are known as " sutras ", and other texts, such as " shastras " (treatises) or " Abhidharma ". These religious texts were written in different languages, methods and writing systems . Memorizing, reciting and copying the texts was seen as spiritually valuable. Even after the development and adoption of printing by Buddhist institutions, Buddhists continued to copy them by hand as

3220-549: The Dharmaguptaka , Mahāsāṅghika , Mahīśāsaka , Mūlasarvāstivāda , and others. The most widely studied early Buddhist material are the first four Pāli Nikayas , as well as the corresponding Chinese Āgamas . The modern study of early pre-sectarian Buddhism often relies on comparative scholarship using these various early Buddhist sources. Various scholars of Buddhist studies such as Richard Gombrich , Akira Hirakawa, Alexander Wynne, and A. K. Warder hold that early Buddhist texts contain material that could possibly be traced to

3312-758: The Gandharan Buddhist Texts , dated to the 1st century BCE and constitute the Buddhist textual tradition of Gandharan Buddhism which was an important link between Indian and East Asian Buddhism. Parts of what is likely to be the canon of the Dharmaguptaka can be found among these Gandharan Buddhist Texts . There are different genres of early Buddhist texts, including prose " suttas " ( Sanskrit : sūtra , discourses), disciplinary works ( Vinaya ), various forms of verse compositions (such as gāthā and udāna ), mixed prose and verse works ( geya ), and also lists ( matika ) of monastic rules or doctrinal topics. A large portion of Early Buddhist literature

3404-506: The Quran (the book of Islam ) are the divine revelation ( wahy ) delivered through Muhammad that make up the primary sources of Islamic law and belief/theology . However sects of Islam differ on which hadiths (if any) should be accepted as canonical (see Criticism of hadith ). Vinaya The word Vinaya is derived from a Sanskrit verb that can mean to lead, take away, train, tame, or guide, or alternately to educate or teach. It

3496-522: The Sūtra Piṭaka ("Basket of Discourses") of the canons of the early Buddhist schools. Most of the early sutras that have survived are from Sthavira nikaya schools, no complete collection has survived from the other early branch of Buddhism, the Mahāsāṃghika . However, some individual texts have survived, such as the Śālistamba Sūtra (rice stalk sūtra). This sūtra contains many parallel passages to

3588-842: The Theravāda Abhidhamma and the Sarvastivada Abhidharma , which survives in Chinese translation. However, texts of other tradition have survived, such as the Śāriputrābhidharma of the Dharmaguptaka school, the Tattvasiddhi Śāstra ( Chéngshílun ), and various Abhidharma type works from the Pudgalavada school. Later post-canonical Abhidharma works were written as either large treatises ( śāstra ), as commentaries ( aṭṭhakathā ) or as smaller introductory manuals. They are more developed philosophical works which include many innovations and doctrines not found in

3680-559: The Tripiṭaka Koreana . This collection, unlike the Pāli Tripiṭaka , contains Mahāyāna sūtras, Śāstras (scholastic treatises), and Esoteric Buddhist literature . According to Hsuan Hua from the tradition of Chinese Buddhism , there are five types of beings who may speak the sutras of Buddhism: a Buddha, a disciple of a Buddha, a deva, a ṛṣi, or an emanation of one of these beings; however, they must first receive certification from

3772-496: The historical Buddha himself or at least to the early years of pre-sectarian Buddhism . In Mahāyāna Buddhism , these texts are sometimes referred to as " Hinayana " or " Śrāvakayāna ". Although many versions of the texts of the early Buddhist schools exist, the only complete collection of texts to survive in a Middle Indo-Aryan language is the Tipiṭaka (triple basket) of the Theravāda school. The other (parts of) extant versions of

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3864-423: The nagas ) until people were ready to hear them, or by stating that they had been revealed directly through visions and meditative experiences to a select few. According to David McMahan, the literary style of the Mahāyāna sūtras reveals how these texts were mainly composed as written works and how they also needed to legitimate themselves to other Buddhists. They used different literary and narrative ways to defend

3956-410: The śrāvaka texts as well as generating more spiritual merit and benefit. Thus, they are seen as superior and more virtuous to non-Mahāyāna sutras. The Mahāyāna sūtras are traditionally considered by Mahāyāna Buddhists to be the word of the Buddha. Mahāyāna Buddhists explained the emergence of these new texts by arguing that they had been transmitted in secret, via lineages of supernatural beings (such as

4048-796: The " Jatakas ", or birth stories. Various Vinaya collections survive in full, including those of the following schools: Theravāda (in Pali ), Mula-Sarvāstivāda (in Tibetan translation) and the Mahāsānghika , Sarvāstivāda , Mahīshāsika, and Dharmaguptaka (in Chinese translations). In addition, portions survive of a number of Vinayas in various languages. Aside from the Sutras and the Vinayas, some schools also had collections of "minor" or miscellaneous texts. The Theravāda Khuddaka Nikāya ('Minor Collection')

4140-609: The 37 factors leading to Awakening . Scholars like Erich Frauwallner have argued that there is an "ancient core" of early pre-sectarian material in the earliest Abhidharma works, such as in the Theravada Vibhanga , the Dharmaskandha of the Sarvastivada , and the Śāriputrābhidharma of the Dharmaguptaka school. Only two full canonical Abhidharma collections have survived both containing seven texts,

4232-716: The Abhidhamma, which is widely used to teach Abhidhamma. Buddhaghosa is known to have worked from Buddhist commentaries in the Sri Lankan Sinhala language , which are now lost. Sri Lankan literature in the vernacular contains many Buddhist works, including as classical Sinhala poems such as the Muvadevāvata (The Story of the Bodhisattva's Birth as King Mukhadeva, 12th century) and the Sasadāvata (The Story of

4324-744: The Bodhisattva's Birth as a Hare, 12th century) as well as prose works like the Dhampiyātuvā gätapadaya (Commentary on the Blessed Doctrine), a commentary on words and phrases in the Pāli Dhammapada . The Theravāda textual tradition spread into Burma and Thailand where Pali scholarship continued to flourish with such works as the Aggavamsa of Saddaniti and the Jinakalamali of Ratanapañña. Pali literature continued to be composed into

4416-435: The Buddha, ṛṣis , and devas were considered capable to transmitting buddhavacana. The content of such a discourse was then to be collated with the sūtras , compared with the Vinaya , and evaluated against the nature of the Dharma. These texts may then be certified as true buddhavacana by a buddha, a sangha , a small group of elders, or one knowledgeable elder. In Theravāda Buddhism, the standard collection of buddhavacana

4508-405: The Buddha. In the Pali tradition, a specific chapter of the Khandhaka deals with issues pertaining specifically to nuns, and the Mulasarvastivada tradition devotes most of one of the two volumes of its Ksudrakavastu to issues pertaining to nuns. Beyond this point, the distinct Vinaya traditions differ in their organization. The Pali Vinaya includes a text known as the Parivāra that contains

4600-476: The Buddhas Amitabha , Akshobhya and Vairocana , and the bodhisattvas Maitreya , Mañjusri , Ksitigarbha , and Avalokiteshvara . An important feature of Mahāyāna is the way that it understands the nature of Buddhahood . Mahāyāna texts see Buddhas (and to a lesser extent, certain bodhisattvas as well) as transcendental or supramundane ( lokuttara ) beings, who live for eons constantly helping others through their activity. According to Paul Williams, in Mahāyāna,

4692-507: The Buddhist monastic community ( sangha ). However, Vinaya as a term is also contrasted with Dharma, where the pair (Dhamma-Vinaya) mean something like 'doctrine and discipline'. The Vinaya literature in fact contains a considerable range of texts. There are, of course, those that discuss the monastic rules, how they came about, how they developed, and how they were applied. But the vinaya also contains some doctrinal expositions, ritual and liturgical texts, biographical stories, and some elements of

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4784-399: The Mahāyāna to reject the traditional rules of the Vinaya: If he thinks or says, "A future buddha has nothing to do with learning or observing the law of the Vehicle of the Śrāvakas ," he commits a sin of pollution ( kliṣṭā āpatti ). Louis de La Vallée-Poussin wrote that the Mahāyāna relies on traditional full ordination of monastics, and in doing so is "perfectly orthodox" according to

4876-461: The Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya was transmitted in Tibet by Shantarakshita, but did not survive the later persecution of Tibetan Buddhists undertaken by Udum Tsenpo . Afterwards, Tibetan nuns were getsunma (Tib. novice) nuns (Skt. śramaṇerīs) only, after taking the lay vows of eight or ten Precepts , see ordination of women in Buddhism . The Mahāyāna Bodhisattvabhūmi , part of the Yogācārabhūmi Śāstra , regards it an offense for monastics following

4968-451: The Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, which has 253 rules for the bhiksus (monks) and 364 rules for bhiksunis (nuns). In addition to these pratimokṣa precepts, there are many supplementary ones. The Tibetan Buddhist tradition of fully ordained bhikṣuṇī nuns officially recommenced in Bhutan on 23 June 2022, when 144 women were ordained. According to Nyingma school and Kagyu school scholars, the full ordination lineage of bhikkhuni for nuns within

5060-400: The Pali suttas. As noted by N. Ross Reat, this text is in general agreement with the basic doctrines of the early sutras of the Sthavira schools such as dependent origination , the " middle way " between eternalism and annihilationism, the " five aggregates ", the " three unwholesome roots ", the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path . Another important source for Mahāsāṃghika sutras

5152-506: The Theravada Nidānakathā and the Dharmaguptaka Abhiniṣkramaṇa Sūtra . One of the most famous of biographies is the Buddhacarita , an epic poem in Classical Sanskrit by Aśvaghoṣa . Aśvaghoṣa also wrote other poems, as well as Sanskrit dramas . Another Sanskrit Buddhist poet was Mātṛceṭa, who composed various pious hymns in slokas . Buddhist poetry is a broad genre with numerous forms and has been composed in many languages, including Sanskrit, Tibetan, Chinese and Japanese. Aside from

5244-428: The Theravada tradition the Patimokkha rules occur in writing only alongside their exegesis and commentary, the Vibhanga described below. While the Prātimokṣa is preserved independent of the Vibhanga in many traditions, scholars generally do not believe that the rules it contains were observed and enforced without the context provided by an interpretive tradition, even in the early era- many of the exceptions and opinions of

5336-445: The Tibetan and Chinese Buddhist canons (the Kangyur and the Taishō Tripiṭaka respectively) which then developed their own textual histories. Sanskrit had been adopted by Buddhists in north India during the Kushan era and Sanskrit Buddhist literature became the dominant tradition in Buddhist India until the decline of Buddhism there . Mahāyāna sūtras are also generally regarded by the Mahāyāna tradition as being more profound than

5428-508: The Tripitakas of early schools include the Chinese Āgamas , which includes collections by the Sarvāstivāda and the Dharmaguptaka . The Chinese Buddhist canon contains a complete collection of early sutras in Chinese translation, their content is very similar to the Pali, differing in detail but not in the core doctrinal content. The Tibetan canon contains some of these early texts as well, but not as complete collections. The earliest known Buddhist manuscripts containing early Buddhist texts are

5520-436: The Vibhanga seem to stem from older customs regarding what was and wasn't permissible for wandering ascetics in the Indian tradition. The second major component of the Vinaya is the Vibhanga or Suttavibhanga , which provides commentary on each of the rules listed in the Prātimokṣa. This typically includes the origin of the rule in a specific incident or dispute, along with variations that indicate related situations covered by

5612-535: The Vinaya is a set of rules known as Patimokkha in Pāli and Prātimokṣa in Sanskrit. This is the shortest portion of every Vinaya, and universally regarded as the earliest. This collection of rules is recited by the gathered Sangha at the new and full moon. Rules are listed in descending order, from the most serious (four rules that entail expulsion), followed by five further categories of more minor offenses. Most traditions include an explicit listing of rules intended for recitation, called Prātimokṣa-sutra , but in

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5704-471: The Vinaya rules that may be an earlier strata of texts. The Theravada Vinaya is preserved in the Pāli Canon in the Vinaya Piṭaka . The Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya is preserved in both the Tibetan Buddhist canon in the Kangyur , in a Chinese edition, and in an incomplete Sanskrit manuscript. Some other complete vinaya texts are preserved in the Chinese Buddhist canon (see: Taishō Tripiṭaka ), and these include: Six complete versions are extant. Fragments of

5796-523: The canonical Abhidharma works are generally claimed by scholars not to represent the words of the Buddha himself, but those of later Buddhists. There are different types and historical layers of Abhidharma literature. The early canonical Abhidharma works (like the Abhidhamma Pitaka ) are not philosophical treatises, but mainly summaries and expositions of early doctrinal lists with their accompanying explanations. These texts developed out of early Buddhist lists or matrices ( mātṛkās ) of key teachings, such as

5888-440: The canonical Abhidharma. The early Buddhist schools also preserved other types of texts which developed in later periods, which were variously seen as canonical or not, depending on the tradition. One of the largest category of texts that were neither Sutra, Vinaya nor Abhidharma includes various collections of stories such as the Jātaka tales and the Avadānas (Pali: Apadāna ). These are moral fables and legends dealing with

5980-461: The central tenets of their eternal Dharma . In contrast to sacred texts, many religious texts are simply narratives or discussions pertaining to the general themes, interpretations, practices, or important figures of the specific religion. In some religions (e.g. Christianity ), the canonical texts include a particular text ( Bible ) but is "an unsettled question", according to Eugene Nida . In others ( Hinduism , Buddhism ), there "has never been

6072-410: The conclusion that they must stem from a common origin. Parallel and independent Prātimokṣa rules and Vibhnagas exist in each tradition for bhikkhus and bhikkhunis . The majority of rules for monks and nuns are identical, but the bhikkhuni Prātimokṣa and Vibhanga includes additional rules that are specific to nuns, including the controversial Eight Garudhammas whose authorship is not attributed to

6164-484: The context of "a collection of sacred Scripture" is traceable to the 4th-century CE. The early references, such as the Synod of Laodicea , mention both the terms "canonical" and "non-canonical" in the context of religious texts. One of the oldest known religious texts is the Kesh Temple Hymn of ancient Sumer , a set of inscribed clay tablets which scholars typically date around 2600 BCE. The Epic of Gilgamesh from Sumer , although only considered by some scholars as

6256-402: The conventional language and narrative stories found in the sutras. The prominent modern scholar of Abhidharma, Erich Frauwallner has said that these Buddhist systems are "among the major achievements of the classical period of Indian philosophy ." Modern scholars generally believe that the canonical Abhidharma texts emerged after the time of the Buddha, in around the 3rd century BCE. Therefore,

6348-414: The criteria for determining what should be considered buddhavacana were developed at an early stage, and that the early formulations do not suggest that Dharma is limited to what was spoken by the historical Buddha. The Mahāsāṃghika and the Mūlasarvāstivāda considered both the Buddha's discourses and those of his disciples to be buddhavacana . A number of different beings such as Buddhas, disciples of

6440-694: The death of Gautama Buddha . The oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts are the Gandhāran Buddhist texts , found in Pakistan and written in Gāndhārī , they date from the first century BCE to the third century CE. The first Buddhist texts were initially passed on orally by Buddhist monastics , but were later written down and composed as manuscripts in various Indo-Aryan languages (such as Pāli , Gāndhārī , and Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit ). These texts were collected into various collections and translated into other languages such as Buddhist Chinese ( fójiào hànyǔ 佛教漢語) and Classical Tibetan as Buddhism spread outside of India . Buddhist texts can be categorized in

6532-548: The earliest of which is found in scribal documentation of the 8th century BCE, followed by administrative documentation from temples of the 5th and 6th centuries BCE, with another common date being the 2nd century BCE. High rates of mass production and distribution of religious texts did not begin until the invention of the printing press in 1440, before which all religious texts were hand written copies, of which there were relatively limited quantities in circulation. The relative authority of religious texts develops over time and

6624-482: The early Magadhan language and Pāli through the use of repetition, communal recitation and mnemonic devices. These texts were later compiled into canons and written down in manuscripts. For example, the Pāli Canon was preserved in Sri Lanka where it was first written down in the first century BCE. There are early texts from various Buddhist schools, the largest collections are from the Theravāda and Sarvāstivāda schools, but there are also full texts and fragments from

6716-536: The fifth century, with very few manuscripts having been found before then (the exceptions are from Bamiyan ). However, according to Walser, the fifth and sixth centuries saw a great increase in the production of these texts. By this time, Chinese pilgrims, such as Faxian , Yijing , and Xuanzang were traveling to India, and their writings do describe monasteries which they label 'Mahāyāna' as well as monasteries where both Mahāyāna monks and non-Mahāyāna monks lived together. Mahāyāna sūtras contain several elements besides

6808-534: The general view of what is and is not buddhavacana is broadly similar between East Asian Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism. The Tibetan Kangyur, which belongs to the various schools of Tibetan Vajrayāna Buddhism , in addition to containing sutras and Vinaya, also contains Buddhist tantras and other related Tantric literature. The earliest Buddhist texts were passed down orally in Middle Indo-Aryan languages called Prakrits , including Gāndhārī language ,

6900-551: The legitimacy of these texts as Buddha word. Mahāyāna sūtras such as the Gaṇḍavyūha also often criticize early Buddhist figures, such as Sariputra for lacking knowledge and goodness, and thus, these elders or śrāvaka are seen as not intelligent enough to receive the Mahāyāna teachings, while more the advanced elite, the bodhisattvas, are depicted as those who can see the highest teachings. These sūtras were not recognized as being Buddha word by various early Buddhist schools and there

6992-630: The modern era, especially in Burma, and writers such as Mahasi Sayadaw translated some of their texts into Pali. There are also numerous Esoteric Theravada texts, mostly from Southeast Asia . This tradition flourished in Cambodia and Thailand before the 19th century reformist movement of Rama IV . One of these texts has been published in English by the Pali Text Society as "Manual of

7084-404: The monastic vows and rules of the early Buddhist traditions: From the disciplinary point of view, the Mahāyāna is not autonomous. The adherents of the Mahāyāna are monks of the Mahāsāṃghika, Dharmaguptaka, Sarvāstivādin and other traditions, who undertake the vows and rules of the bodhisattvas without abandoning the monastic vows and rules fixed by the tradition with which they are associated on

7176-507: The names of certain Buddhas or bodhisattvas, maintaining Buddhist precepts, and listening to, memorizing, and copying sutras." Some Mahāyāna sūtras claim that these practices lead to rebirth in Pure lands such as Abhirati and Sukhavati , where becoming a Buddha is much easier to achieve. Several Mahāyāna sūtras also depict important Buddhas or Bodhisattvas not found in earlier texts, such as

7268-541: The norm, along with regular collective meals organized by lay donors or funded by monastic wealth. The earliest dates that can be established for most Vinaya texts is their translation into Chinese around the 5th century CE. The earliest established dates of the Theravada Vinaya stem from the composition of Buddhaghosa 's commentaries in the 5th century, and became known to Western scholarship through 17th- and 18th-century manuscripts. The Mulasarvastivada Vinaya

7360-486: The previous births of Gautama Buddha in both human and animal form. The different Buddhist schools had their own collections of these tales and often disagreed on which stories were canonical. Another genre that developed over time in the various early schools were biographies of the Buddha. Buddha biographies include the Mahāvastu of the Lokottaravadin school, the northern tradition's Lalitavistara Sūtra ,

7452-589: The procurement and distribution of robes. The final segment of this division, the Ksudrakavastu ("Minor division") contains miscellanea that does not belong to other sections, and in some traditions is so large that it is treated as a separate work. Strong agreement between multiple different recensions of the Skandhaka across different traditions and language with respect to the number of chapters (generally 20) and their topics and contents has led scholars to

7544-582: The promotion of the bodhisattva ideal, including "expanded cosmologies and mythical histories, ideas of purelands and great, 'celestial' Buddhas and bodhisattvas , descriptions of powerful new religious practices, new ideas on the nature of the Buddha, and a range of new philosophical perspectives." These texts present stories of revelation in which the Buddha teaches Mahāyāna sutras to certain bodhisattvas who vow to teach and spread these sutras. These texts also promoted new religious practices that were supposed to make Buddhahood easy to achieve, such as "hearing

7636-1071: The remaining versions survive in various languages. The first three listed below are still in use. Buddhism in Myanmar , Cambodia , Laos , Sri Lanka , and Thailand followed the Theravadin Vinaya, which has 227 rules for bhikkhus and 311 for bhikkhunis . As the nun's lineage died out in all areas of the Theravada school, traditionally women's roles as renunciates were limited to taking eight or ten Precepts : see women in Buddhism . Such women appears as maechi in Thai Buddhism, dasa sil mata in Sri Lanka, thilashin in Burma and siladharas at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in England. More recently, women have been undergoing upasampada as full ordination as bhikkhuni , although this

7728-558: The rule, as well as exceptions that account for situations that are not to be regarded as violations of a more general rule. The third division of the Vinaya is known as the Vinayavastu, Skandhaka, or Khandhaka, meaning 'divisions' or 'chapters'. Each section of these texts deals with a specific aspect of monastic life, containing, for instance, procedures and regulations related to ordination, obtaining and storing medical supplies, and

7820-567: The same system of organizing rules and contain the same sections, leading scholars to believe that the fundamental organization of the Vinaya must date from before the separation of schools. While traditional accounts fix the origins of the Vinaya during the lifetime of the Buddha, all of the existing manuscript traditions are from significantly later- most around the 5th century CE. While the early Buddhist community seems to have lived primarily as wandering monks who begged for alms, many Vinaya rules in every tradition assume settled monasticism to be

7912-645: The term scripture – derived from " scriptura " (Latin) – meant "writings [manuscripts] in general" prior to the medieval era, then became "reserved to denote the texts of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible". Beyond Christianity, according to the Oxford World Encyclopedia , the term "scripture" has referred to a text accepted to contain the "sacred writings of a religion", while The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions states it refers to

8004-567: The traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time evidently saw and followed and passed on to the next generations. According to classical Islamic theories, the sunnah are documented by hadith (the verbally transmitted record of the teachings, deeds and sayings, silent permissions or disapprovals attributed to Muhammad ), and alongside

8096-640: The work of Aśvaghoṣa, another important Sanskrit poet was Mātr̥ceṭa, known for his One Hundred and Fifty Verses. Buddhist poetry was also written in popular Indian languages, such as Tamil and Apabhramsa . One well known poem is the Tamil epic Manimekalai , which is one of the Five Great Epics of Tamil literature . Other later hagiographical texts include the Buddhavaṃsa , the Cariyāpiṭaka and

8188-519: Was brought to Tibet by Khenpo Shantarakshita by c.  763 , when the first Tibetan Buddhist monks were ordained, and was translated into Chinese by the 8th century. Earlier Sanskrit manuscripts exist from the 5th to the 7th century. Scholarly consensus places the composition of the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya in the early centuries of the first millennium, though all the manuscripts and translations are relatively late. The core of

8280-400: Was lively debate over their authenticity throughout the Buddhist world. Various Mahāyāna sūtras warn against the charge that they are not word of the Buddha, showing that they are aware of this claim. Buddhist communities such as the Mahāsāṃghika school were divided along these doctrinal lines into sub-schools which accepted or did not accept these texts. The Theravāda school of Sri Lanka also

8372-474: Was perhaps never definitively established among many early Buddhist schools. Early Buddhist texts which appear in such "minor" collections include: Abhidharma (in Pāli , Abhidhamma ) texts which contain "an abstract and highly technical systematization" of doctrinal material appearing in the Buddhist sutras. It is an attempt to best express the Buddhist view of "ultimate reality" ( paramartha-satya ) without using

8464-442: Was split on the issue during the medieval period. The Mahavihara sub-sect rejected these texts and the (now extinct) Abhayagiri sect accepted them. Theravāda commentaries mention these texts (which they call Vedalla/Vetulla ) as not being the Buddha word and being counterfeit scriptures. Modern Theravāda generally does not accept these texts as buddhavacana (word of the Buddha). The Mahāyāna movement remained quite small until

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