| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
The writings fall into three general categories and the scrolls that recorded them were therefore kept in three baskets. Because of this, a Buddhist scripture collection is traditionally known as a tipitaka.
The first category, the Vinaya Pitaka, was the code of ethics to be obeyed by the early sangha, monks and nuns. Some rules and practices were regarded by the Buddha as essential and foundational to the pursuit of his philosophical teachings. Others were invented on a day-to-day basis as the Buddha encountered various behavior problems with the monks.
The second category is the Sutta Pitaka (literally "basket of threads", Sanskrit: Sutra Pitaka) consists primarily of accounts of the Buddha's life and teachings. The Sutta Pitaka has numerous subdivisions. The suttas it contains are recognized as authentic by every Buddhist school, although MahayanaGuan Yin from Mt. Jiuhua in China's Anhui province. The image's many arms represent the bodhisattva's limitless capacity and commitment to helping other beings. Mahyna (literally Great Vehicle Chinese:) is one of the major branches of Buddhism (See Yana f and VajrayanaVajrayna Buddhism also known as Tantric Buddhism Mantrayana and Esoteric Buddhism is often viewed as the third major school of Buddhism, alongside the Theravada and Mahayana schools. Note that 'Yana' means 'vehicle' in Sanskrit. The Vajrayana is actually Buddhists also recognize additonal sutras. Practitioners outside of the Theravada school refer to Pali Canon suttas as agamas or nikayaNikaya is a word of Pali origin and Sanskrit usage which was adopted into English in reference to Buddhist texts. Regarding the Buddhist canon (the Sutta Pitaka in particular) the meaning of the term is equivalent to the English "volume" or "tome" althougs.
The third category, the AbhidhammaThe abhidhamma is the name of one of the three pitakas, or baskets of tradition, into which the Tipitaka, the canon of Theravada Buddhism, is divided. It consists of seven sections: 1. Dhamma Sangani (enumeration of qualities). Vibhanga (exposition). Pitaka, is a collection of texts in which the underlying doctrinal principles presented in the Sutta Pitaka are reworked and reorganized into a systematic framework that can be applied to an investigation into the nature of mind and matter. The Abhidhamma per se is specific Theravada Buddhism; however, other schools have their own collections of commentaries which take the place of the Abhidhamma Pitaka in their respective tipitakas.