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There
are three major essential holy Buddhist texts: The Tripitaka, Mahayana Sutras,
and the Tibetan Book of the Dead. The Sutras consist of Buddha's discourses to
his disciples, and they are divided into three parts: the Sutta
Pitaka, the Vinaya
Pitaka, and the Abhidhamma
Pitaka. The Sutta Pitaka is the largest part of the Buddhist scriptures,
and it contains the actual teachings of Buddha.
The Lotus Sutra is one of the most important sutras in Mahayana Buddhism and was likely written down between 100 B.C. and 200 A.D. already well known in India, the sutra became more famous and influential when it was translated into Chinese by Kumarajiva in the year 406.
The Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Sutra
is that all living beings, whether they realize it or not, have the capacity to
become enlightened. Everyone, without exception, can unlock the perfect wisdom
and great compassion that reside in the depths of life.
Memories
of the sayings of the Buddha carried down through oral tradition after he died,
483 B.C.E., and were compiled into collections called suttas (Pali) or sutras (Sanskrit).
These collections, plus the Vinaya
Pitaka (monastic rules) and Abidhamma/Aabidharma
(philosophical texts) compose the Buddhist Canon.
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".
One
of the earliest and most widely read Buddhist scriptures, The Dhammapada
presents the philosophical and practical foundations of Buddhism by way of
teaching verses. These are collections of wisdom verses, regarded as having
been spoken by the Buddha himself. The original version of the Dhammapada is in
the Khuddaka Nikaya, a division of
the Pali Canon of Theravada
Buddhism.
