Teachings From The Pali Canon
The Pali Canon is the body of texts taught by Buddha Sakyamuni. They are a set of three: The Suttas, The Vinaya, and The Abhidhamma. These three works are traditionally called the Tipitaka in Pali or Tripitaka in Sanskrit. Tipitaka means 'three baskets'. Pitaka means 'basket'. Hence, tipitika, or tripitaka, meaning three-baskets. These texts are also referred to as Buddhist scripture or sacred texts of Buddhism.The Tipitaka was memorized and orally taught by monks for approximately three to four hundred years before being inscribed on palm leaves during the Fourth Buddhist Council in Sri Lanka. The Pali Canon document still exists today and is the only surviving Buddhist scripture from this early period.
The Sutta Pitaka
The first basket is the Sutta Pitaka. The suttas are the teachings of Sakyamuni over the forty-five years that he traveled and taught. Scholars believe that some of these suttas may actually have been teachings by Sakyamuni's disciples.There are five nikayas or collections of suttas:
1.Digha Nikaya, the Long Discourses.
2.Majjhima Nikaya, The Middle-Length Discourses.
3.Samyutta Nikaya, The Connected Discourses.
4.Anguttara Nikaya, The Numerical Discourses.
5.Khuddaka Nikaya, The Minor Discourses.
The Vinaya Pitaka
The second basket is the Vinaya Pitaka and deals with the rules set out for the monks and nuns.The Abhidhamma Pitaka
The Abhidhamma Pitaka are later works that attempt to analyze, explain and classify the suttas. They are often described as philosophy, psychology, metaphysics.The Three Baskets are the Buddhist Scriptures of the Theravada school. The Theravada school only uses these canons as they believe that only the Buddha's word should be taught.
These scriptures are also a part of the Mahayana school's canon. The Mahayana school has many more scriptures though. These extra scriptures are not the teachings of Buddha. They are the teachings of later monks.
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