The three principal
“canons” of Buddhist scriptures survive today corresponding to the
three main traditions of living Buddhism : the Pali or Theravada canon
of the southern tradition of Sri Lanka and South-East Asia; the Chinese
Tripitaka of the eastern tradition of China, Korea, and Japan; and the
Tibetan Kanjur and Tenjur of the northern tradition of Tibet and
Mongolia.
The use of the term
“Pali” as the name of the language of the Theravada canon of Buddhist
scriptures derives from the expression pali-bhasa, “the language of the
Buddhist texts”. This language is an ancient Indian language closely
related to Sanskrit, mainly due to the fact that Buddhist scriptures
were subject to varying degress of “sanskritization” as Sanskrit became
less an exclusively brahmanical language and more the accepted language
of Indian culture — the language in which to communicate learning and
literature.
Theravada Buddhist
tradition traces the Pali canon back to a recension of Buddhist
scriptures brought from northern India to Sri Lanka in the third century
BCE by Mahinda, the son of the emperor Asoka. These did not come in
book form but were memorized by Mahinda and his company and, according
to tradition, were written down for the first time in the first century
BCE. However the historical value of this tradition is doubtful, with
most scholars sceptical of the suggestion that the Pali Canon existed
exactly as we have it today already in the third century BCE. However we
do know that what the commentators had before them in the fifth century
CE in Sri Lanka corresponded fairly exactly to what we have now,
significant portions of which must go back to the third century BCE. It
is unclear how many other recensions of the canon of Buddhist scriptures
existed in other languages, what is known however is that the Pali
canon is the only one to have survived apparently complete in an Indian
language.
The more archaic
material of the Pali Canon takes the form of the four primary Nikayas or
“collections” of the Buddha’s discourses, along with the Vinaya or
Buddhist monastic code. It is accurate to state that it is these texts
which constitute the essential common heritage of Buddhist thought and
they therefore represent the most convenient starting point in the quest
for an understanding of Buddhism. Their contents are generally accepted
to have come from the lips of the Buddha and therefore represent the
teachings of the historical Buddha. These two original canonical
collections of the Buddha’s word came to be augmented in the following
centuries by the literature Abhidhamma, a system of philosophical
psychology rooted in the twin Buddhist insights of selflessness and
dependent origination.
The three different
collections are therefore known as the Pali Tipitaka or the “three
baskets” —the Sutta-Pitaka, the Vinaya-Pitaka and the Abhidhamma-Pitaka.
Sutta-Pitaka
The Sutta-Pitaka is
the main source for the doctrine of the Buddha and it is spoken of as
being divided into five collections (Nikayas) of texts. The five Nikayas
arrange the Buddha’s discourses in the first place according to length —
Collection of long
discourses (Digha Nikaya) comprises some thirty sutras (or suttas)
arranged in three volumes.
Collection of
middle-length discourses (Majjhima Nikaya) comprises some 150 Pali
sutras.
Grouped collection
of short sutras (Samyutta Nikaya) grouped principally according to
subject matter and dominated by the subjects of dependent arising, the
aggregates, the sense-spheres and the path.
Numbered collection
of short sutras (Anguttara-Nikaya) consisting of short sutras built
around a numbered list and grouped according to number rather than
topic.
Collection of minor
texts (Khuddaka Nikaya) which contains various miscellaneous texts,
many in verse form and which contain some of the earliest and some of
the latest material in the whole of the Canon.
The Digha-Nikaya
contains 34 long independent suttas which deal with various aspects of
the doctrine. The Brahmajala- Sutta, the Sammannaphala Sutta and the
Maha-parinibbana Sutta contain several of the most important early
Buddhist writings. As well as containing detailed accounts of the
spiritual training of monks, descriptions of ascetic practice and
important doctrinal expositions, the Suttas of the Digha-Nikaya are a
valuable source for life in ancient India in general. Several of its
Suttas also provide information on the biography of the Buddha —
legendary and historical — that is not found elsewhere in the canon.
In the
Majjhima-Nikaya there are some 150 suttas of medium length loosely
grouped together according to subject matter and title. Like the
Digha-Nikaya, the Majjhima-Nikaya shows little cohesion in content. Its
Suttas deal with almost all aspects of Buddhist doctrine, ranging from
monastic life, asceticism, morality and meditation to the Four Noble
Truths and the Eightfold Path. Variations in depicting the Buddha
indicate differences with regard to the suttas’ time of composition.
Two of the most
important and well known Suttas found in the Majjhima-Nikaya include the
Satipatthana Sutta (Foundations of Mindfulness) and the Anapanasati
Sutta (Mindfulness of Breathing).
The first of these
two is one of the fullest and most important suttas by the Buddha
dealing with meditation, with particular emphasis on the development of
insight. The Buddha begins by declaring the four foundations of
mindfulness to be the direct path for the realization of Nibbana, then
gives detailed instructions on the four foundations of mindfulness : the
contemplation of the body, feelings, mind, and mind-objects. The second
is an exposition of sixteen steps in mindfulness of breathing and of
the relation of this meditation to the four foundations of mindfulness
and the seven factors of enlightenment.
The Samyutta-Nikaya
includes almost 3,000 shorter suttas that are arranged according to
their contents. It is subdivided into 56 collections (samyuttas)
arranged into five vaggas (groups), each of which looks at particular
aspects of the doctrine. This arrangement without doubt suggests
editorial intervention stemming from a conscious selection of the
material. Like the Majjhima-Nikaya the suttas of the Samyutta-Nikaya
deal with a broad spectrum of topics, with the majority of texts
displaying a shift towards a more scholastic way of exposition.
The
Anguttara-Nikaya consists of over 2,000 individual, short suttas. Unlike
the Samyutta-Nikaya’s subject-orientated approach, the Anguttara-Nikaya
lists its suttas according to numerical criteria, arranged serially in
ascending order. It is subdivided into eleven sections (nipatas)
organized in about 160 vaggas. Typically, each nipata contains suttas
that deal with subjects in a similar fashion and are connected to the
number of the section.
The Khuddaka-Nikaya
is the longest collection all the Nikayas and comprises fifteen books
of varying subjects, contents and character, most of which were written
in verse. It includes both some of the earliest and some of the latest
material found in the Pali Canon, as well as some of the most well known
such as :
The Dhammapada or
“Verses on Dhamma” a popular collection of 423 pithy verses of a largely
ethical nature. Its popularity is reflected in the numerous times it
has been translated into Western languages.
The Udana or
“Inspired Utterances of the Buddha” which contains eighty short
discourses.
The Sutta Nipata or
“Group of Discourses”, a collection of 71 verse suttas including some
very early material such as the Atthakavagga.
Vinaya Pitaka
The Vinaya — Pitaka
contains the rules of conduct that were drawn up by the Buddha in
response to misbehaviour by his monastic disciples. The prime objective
therefore of the Vinaya was to guarantee the smooth running of the
Buddhist order. For this purpose it laid out various sets of sanctions
to be meted out in response to violations of accepted parameters of
behaviour, and lays down guidelines for the functioning of the order.
The majority of rules address ethical concerns intended to maintain the
community’s moral standard and more often than not rest on ancient
Indian conventions of morality, complemented by rules that serve the
requirements of the Buddhist order.
As it is known
today, the Vinaya Pitaka is divided into three major categories. Firstly
there is the Sutta-vibhanga which consists of the 227/311 Patimokkha
rules for monks and nuns. It has always maintained an elevated position
in Buddhism and has undergone little change. Governing social behaviour
and cultural conventions as well as spiritual concerns, the
Sutta-vibhanga gives an insight into many aspects of life in ancient
India.
The second category
of the Vinaya, the Khandhaka, introduces a wider circle of Vinaya rules
which complement the Vinaya precepts, and most of them concern the
collected acts of the order and address discord in the communal life.
The third and final section of the Vinaya is the Parivara, a collection
of auxiliary works that grew up around the Vinaya in the centuries
following the Buddha’s demise.
Abhidhamma Pitaka
The
Abhidhamma-Pitaka is later than the Sutta and Vinaya Pitakas. It is a
comprehensive, systematic treatment of the Buddha’s teachings that came
to prominence in the Buddhist community during the first three centuries
after the Master’s death. The development of Abhidhamma spanned the
broad spectrum of the early Buddhist schools, though the particular
tracks that it followed in the course of its evolution differed
substantially from one school to another. As each system of Abhidhamma
assumed its individual contours, often in opposition to it’s rivals, the
respective school responsible for it added a compilation of Abhidhamma
treatises to its collection of authorized texts. In this way the two
original canonical collections of the Buddha’s word — the Sutta and
Vinaya Pitakas — came to be augmented by a third collection, the
Abhidhamma Pitaka, thus giving us the familiar Tipitaka, or “Three
Baskets of the Doctrine”.
The seven treatises
of the Pali Abhidhamma Pitaka are the Dhammasangani, the Vibhanga, the
Dhatukatha, the Puggalapannatti, the Kathavatthu, the Yamaka and the
Patthana. From these seven the two works which best exemplify the mature
version of the canonical Abhidhamma system are the Dhammasangani and
the Patthana. The first of these emphasizes the analytical approach with
its most notable achievement being the reduction of the complex
panorama of experience to distinct mental and material phenomena. The
Patthana then offers a synthetic approach to the factors enumerated in
the first book, delineating the conditional relations that hold between
the diverse mental and material phenomena disclosed by analysis.
In conclusion we
can see that the works included in the three pitakas came into existence
early enough to attain canonical status, in other words by the time the
canon was closed they had gained sufficient influence and standing to
be considered.
Abandoning the dark
way,
Let the wise man
cultivate the bright path.
Having gone from
home to homelessness,
let him yearn for
that delight in detachment,
So difficult to
enjoy.
Giving up sensual
pleasures, with no attachment
the wise man should
cleanse himself of defilements of the mind.
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