Sacred Book of Buddhism: What is it?, Gods and Pali Canon

Do you know what the Sacred Book of Buddhism is? Well, if you don't know it, here we are going to tell you everything about the Buddhavacana or Pali Canon, the most sacred book of all Buddhists and with a fairly deep-rooted importance for many years.

Holy Book of Buddhism

Holy Book of Buddhism

The sacred book of the Buddhists or Buddhavacana began to be transmitted orally first through the priests who were followers of Buddha, later their teachings began to be composed and interpreted in various dialects of India, they were translated into other languages ​​in the same way that Buddhism was expanding.

The way they wanted the book to be seen was established from the very moment their writings began to be designed, including the Dharma that was believed to be spoken only by Buddha. Within these writings you can find other books that were integrated into it, such as the Mahāsāṃghika and the Mūlasarvāstivāda that were part of the talks given by the Buddha and many of his disciples.

There are also the sutras that are part of these talks that are contrasted with the Vinaya and that must be seen in an integral way with regard to the Dharma, all of them make up the Buddhavacana, which are known as all the teachings that Buddha gave to his Samgha or followers.

Now, in the so-called Theravada Buddhism, a compilation of the Buddhavacana is made, which is called the Pali Canon, of which it is believed that some of its parts and the Agamas may have in their content real lessons that can be verified, that are of the Buddha himself. For the Buddhism found in East Asia, the Buddhavacana is collected in a Chinese Buddhism whose most popular version is the Taishō Tripiṭaka.

For the Chinese there are five creatures that have the ability to speak of the Buddhist sutras: Buddha, a faithful follower of Buddha, a Deva, a Rsi or a diffusion of one of them. But all of them summarize that the genuine Dharma comes from Buddha. For the Buddhism of Tibet, the Buddhavacana can be gathered in the writings of Kangyur, which, apart from containing the Vajrayana, sutras and the vinaya, also includes the tantras.

Gautama Buddha and Buddhism

Buddhism is a way of believing of a philosophical and spiritual type, where there is no God, that is to say that it denies the existence of a universal Creator, and makes a relationship of the dharmic family from Brahmanism and Vedism. Its initiator was Siddharta Gautama, a young Indian from the nobility who lived around 600 BC, and after living a life full of luxury, he decides to leave and abandon everything in order to have a relationship with the outside world.

He was a man of a simple character, he became an ascetic in order to find moral and spiritual perfection. He sought enlightenment through austerity, and through his life he had spiritual revelations before Jesus of Nazareth was born.

Already converted into Gautama Buddha, he never wanted to be seen as a divine being or as a prophet, but as a man who carried out great works to change his essence and through them he managed to master his limitations as a human being to become a new being, in an illuminated.

Buddha did not leave any writing of what he taught, since everything was done orally as was the tradition in India, so none of them are written by him, but all the writings began to be considered sacred in which it is done teaching of many traditions and teachings of the Buddha. The earliest writings of Buddhism date back to the XNUMXst century BC.

Likewise, none of these authors of Buddhist writings are known, since they are all anonymous, different from what can be found in the sacred books of the West. An air of spirituality and religiosity prevails in them where anonymity was the most recommended. Neither can critical or historical analyzes be found in them where it is possible to know who wrote them or in what year.

Holy Book of Buddhism

When Buddha died, all the teachings that he left were those that were recorded in the memory of his followers of the Sangha, and their transmission from one generation to another was orally through repetition and recitation that was done in the various monasteries of India, that is why they were grouped through Canon.

What is clear is that this Canon or sacred book not only has the teachings that were collected from Buddha, but through the centuries new stories or legends were added to it, doctrines that had evolved and established a practice of life and rules of new monastery life.

Hence, the most rapid expansion was made to the south of India and to Ceylon, where it arrived 200 years before the birth of Christ, giving this region the largest and most complete collection of all the teachings of the Buddha. Of all these larger and more complete collections we can enjoy the Pali Canon and the Sanskrit Canon. Of course, over the years these books spread throughout the world and translations have already been made into the languages ​​of English, Spanish, French and German.

What is The Holy Book of Buddhism about?

The sacred book of the Buddhists or Buddhavacana are several religious writings in different dialects and contents, which have the teachings that Buddha gave to all his followers.

textual traditions

According to tradition, the first texts of Buddhism were transmitted orally, which were in Indo-Aryan dialects known as Prakrits, among them were the Gāndhārī, early Magadhan and Pali dialects, the latter used reiteration or recitation of them publicly through memory assistants. And when it spread throughout the territory, other languages ​​or dialects such as Chinese and Tibetan emerged.

Holy Book of Buddhism

Sri Lanka was the first to uphold the Pali canon and its first printed Theravadan Pali impression. In the Pali convention of Sri Lanka I create editorials for the printing of them, in addition to other treatises such as the Abhidhamma, of which can be found written in languages ​​​​such as the Tibetan, Chinese, Korean dialects and many other regions of East Asia.

From this Pali Canon those who are not authorized with Buddhaghosa's Visuddhimagga in which are summarized Theravada and Mahavamsa lessons. The copies that are known as closest to the Buddhists were found in Gandhara, which is located in the north of Pakistan, very close to Islamabad, they were dated from the XNUMXst century and they establish how the customs of Gandharan Buddhism were, which is a version of Indian and East Asian Buddhism.

When the Kushans came to power in India, Sanskrit writing began to be used to record the writings of Buddhism. This writing is the one that had the most importance and predominated in India, until Buddhism declined in that country. Already in the Christian era they begin to write in other ways about everything that had to do with the way of thinking of the Bodhisattva that was known as the Mahayana Sutras.

These began to be written in Sanskrit and from there came the ordinances of Tibetan and Chinese Buddhism that were known by the names of Kangyur and the Taisho Tripitaka, which are considered today as literary works. For the Mahayanists, the sutras are an original expression of the Buddha, whose transmission was in mystery through creatures of the sky, whom they call Nagas. Others of them were transmitted by different buddhas or bodhisattvas. More than 60 Mahayana sutras are found in Sanskrit, Chinese or Tibetan.

Holy Book of Buddhism

The Mahayana traditions are works that are called Shastras that are a kind of treatise to read the sutras, keep them protected and also develop them, these were elaborated by rational Buddhists of Nagarjuna, Vasubandhu and Dharmakirti, but these are also written in Sanskrits.

By the end of the XNUMXth century, another kind of Buddhist messages called Tantras appeared, where various ceremonies and methods of Yoga, uses of mandalas, mudras and the penances of Fire were established. The Tantras are a kind of message to be able to enter Vajrayana Buddhism, which is the one found in Tibet.

The Garbhavakranti Sutra joins the Vinaya Pitaka, in one of the earliest schools of Buddhism as the Ratnakuta. Many of the Mahayana writings have a form of Tantra, especially those found in the Perfection of Wisdom.

Some of the Buddhist writings managed to reach a development to form a new group in themselves and are known as vaipulya or broad sutras, among them is the Flower Garland Sutra, which is a solitary Sutra that has several sutras within it. him, one of them is the Gandavyuha Sutra.

In Tibetan Buddhism there is a kind of unique books called gter-mama or terma which form writings that are accepted as created by experts in Tantra and that are in the form of codes, which were placed through different forms by the chiefs connoisseurs of tantras.

Holy Book of Buddhism

These Baths were located by the gTer-stons or tertöns, who are specialists in obtaining these writings, which are usually obtained in caves, among them one has been found where it is said that a couple are mental baths that are located in a psyche terton. In the Nyingma school and the Bön Convention are many of these writings which are

believed to have been a composition by Padmasambhava, one of these best-known termas books is the Tibetan Book of the Dead or Bardo Thodol.

Texts of the Early Buddhist Schools

The early schools of Buddhism have many writings, which were brought together so that the Middle Indo-Aryan dialect known as the Tripitaka, translated as the triple box belonging to the Theravadin school, could be maintained. Several alternative type adaptations of these Tripitakas have been made in early schools where they manage to incorporate the Agamas, which is full of messages corresponding to the Sarvastivada and the Dharmaguptaka.

According to some Chinese Buddhist ordinances we can find a large number of the first sutras that are quite fundamental like those of the Pali canon itself, they are very similar in their details but not in the doctrine that each one has. Some of the standard we find in the Dharmaguptaka are also found in Gandharan Buddhist texts and we can also find some of the Vinaya Pitaka texts in the Chinese or Mahayana canon.

vinaya

It is an ancient writing that deals with the parts of the ascetic order, it goes together with the dharma (Dhamma-Vinaya) that means precept and control.

This scripture has many writings that deal with religious norms, how they could meet on good terms, how they were created and how they were connected to each other. It also contains various doctrinal documents in formal and customary writing, many anecdotal stories and the so-called Jatakas or birth stories components.

Holy Book of Buddhism

The Pratimoksha is the content that is most linked to the Vinaya and is the most used, six finishing vinayas can be found:

  • The Theravada, which is written in Pali
  • The Mula-Sarvastivada which is in Sanskrit and remains intact in a Tibetan interpretation.
  • The Mahasanghika, Sarvastivada, Mahishasika, and Dharmagupta, which were originally in Indian dialects, but only the Chinese interpretation is known.

In the same way partitions can be found since the vinayas are found in different dialects.

sutras

The sutras, which are called Pali Sutta in Sanskrit, are a comprehensive compendium of many talks or conversations attributed to the Buddha, to some of his closest disciples.

What is interesting about them is that all of them that have not been from the Buddha are found in the Buddhavacana, or the so-called expression of the Buddha, his talks at the beginning were resolved according to the style in which they were transmitted, at first there were 9 but later they came to 12. These Sanskrit forms:

  • Sutra: are the expository or explanatory talks of the Buddha.
  • Geya: It is a mixed exposition called section talk, it is related to the Sagathavagga that corresponds to the Samyutta Nikaya.
  • Vyakarana: These are clarifications or tests and refer to talks that come with organized questions and answers.
  • Gatha: are the sections.
  • Udana: are the rousing speeches.
  • Ityukta: with those who begin their sentence with "So says Bhagavan."
  • Jataka: they are the ones that speak of a past life.
  • Abhutadharma: deals with reflections and things that have no explanation.
  • Vaipulya: they are broader conversations and some that deal with topics that give happiness.
  • Nidana: Lessons dealing with the conditions of the birthplace are included.
  • Avadana: It is about adventure stories.
  • Upadesha: deals with guidelines.

The first nine of them are recorded in the enduring Agamas, the last three were added later. For the Theravada these are writings that were arranged in the sacred texts.

Holy Book of Buddhism

Abhidharma

In Pali language Abhidharma means more dharma, and this is based on investigations of wonders. It is believed that it was originally made through arrangements in different lessons, and is based on taking examinations of the wonders and how they are connected to each other. In Theravada Abhidhamma it is found in the Pali Canon, but for other Theravada religious communities these writings are not conspicuous.

Although the Theravadin Abhidhamma is one of the most well-cared for and well-known, it itself in some of the 18 schools of Buddhism of the 80s had its own inimitable accumulation of Abhidharma with much literary material that could be read. to share. Although not all schools recognize it as sanctioned, many believe that the Sautrantika came to a halt with the Vinaya group and the sutras.

other writings

Among other writings is the Milinda pañha which translates as Milinda's Questions, it is established that there is an exchange between Nagasena and the Indo-Greek King Menander, this work contains a summary of the teachings and many more topics that came to be incorporated into the Canon. pali.

Also found as other authoritative Buddhist writings are the Nettipakarana and the Petakopadesa. In the same way the Dhyana sutras which are Buddhist writings of reflections where the contemplation of the Sarvastivada school is seen with reflections of the proto-mahayana, these writings are handcrafted by Buddhist writers of yoga in Kashmir and are believed to be part of Chinese Buddhism.

Texts of the Theravada Tradition

The writings that are found in Pali have a writing of many commentaries, but that have not been able to be translated much, these are attributed to researchers from Sri Lanka, and among them are the writings of:

  • Buddhaghosa dating from the XNUMXth century after Christ, this was the creator of the Visuddhimagga better known as "Path of Purification", a manual of convention and work where the Mahavihara customs of Sri Lanka, the Vimuttimagga and the Abhidhammattha-sangana are indicated which is from the XNUMXth or XNUMXth century and sets forth a summary of the Abhidhamma.
  • dhammapala

Buddhaghosa made his work on the basis of Buddhist editorials in the Sinhalese dialect, which are not available today. In the Sri Lankan vernacular writings are available with many works of Buddhism such as the Muvadevavata which tells of the story of Bodhisattva as King Mukhadeva in the XNUMXth century and the Sasadavata which tells of the story of Bodhisattva's birth in the form of a hare in the XNUMXth century. XII century.

There is also the exhibition work Dhampiyatuva gätapadaya or Commentary on the Blessed Doctrine which deals with words and expressions.

The Pali Literary Convention reached Biormania and Thailand where Pali continues to thrive, this writing dates from the avant-garde era. There are also writings of Tantric Theravada used in Southeast Asia, the convention also flourished in Cambodia before the development of Rama IV in the XNUMXth century.

Buddhist writing in Burma produced many beautiful structures beginning in the 1450s, including long and decorated interpretations of Pali works of Buddhism known as Jatakas, including the verse of Pyui´o Kui khan pyui´. Burmese speeches better known as nissayas began to be used for Pali instruction.

That is why the 1345th century saw a great flourishing of this writing that led to religious memoirs, legal writing and contemplative writing. And in Thailand there is the writing of the Three Worlds according to King Ruang, written in XNUMX, which is attributed to Phya Lithai where you can see the great cosmological and imaginative vision of the entire universe of Buddhism in Thailand.

Mahayana texts

They are known as prajña or agreements of cunning and understanding. Cunning is the way in which reality is considered as what is really seen.

It does not have philosophical reflections but rather points out what the original idea of ​​the world is, it establishes a method in everything, it denies itself dichotomously when seeing things, that is, they say that they do not exist, but also that they are not non-existent, but that they are in a void of basic perpetual nature.

Saddharma-Pundarika

The Lotus Sutra, White Lotus Sutra or White Lotus Sutra of the Sublime Dharma, is a writing that is known in three ways but that everything has a single purpose or objective. His lessons involve obtaining the means in order to be able to provide help to creatures whose limits are restricted. It stands out because the Buddha Prabhutaratna appears, who already had several deaths before, that is, past lives.

It establishes that a Buddha is not off limits after his parinirvana, that the hope of living is not understood in view of what one has or obtains in past lives, thus framing a premise of any subsequent Triyaka teaching, it is I relate years later with Tien tai in China, the Japanese Tendai school and the Nichiren schools of Japan.

Sutra texts

Of the sutra texts three can be found that are notable in their classification:

  • The Sutra of Infinite Life or Sutra of the Great Pure Land
  • The Amitabha Sutra or Little Pure Land Sutra
  • The Contemplation Sutra or Visualization Sutra

In them it is established how everything begins and as the nature of the Western Pure Land where Buddha Amitabha lives, there the enumeration of the 48 promises of Amitabha as a bodhisattva is made, and from where the factory of the pure land for all creatures and that in them they could make essays on the Dharma are to have problems or distractions.

The Sutras themselves make expressions that creatures can be awakened by unadulterated lead and by practices, references are made to Amithaba as an adult, where they highlight his excellences and constantly say his name. These Pure Land sutras became statements of Buddhism by focusing on the saving intensity of reliance on the promise of Amithaba.

The Pali Canon

Known as Tipitaka or Tripitaka, which means in Pali Ti, three and pitaka baskets or basket, it is a group of ancient books or texts of Buddhism in the Pali language, where the body of doctrines and the foundation of Theravada Buddhism are obtained. This Pali canon is known as Tripitaka or "Three Baskets" since they were written on dry palm leaves and kept in three different baskets.

Its transcription was in the year I before Christ, after having been an oral tradition for more than 400 years. This Pali canon is made up of a selection of all Theravada Buddhist doctrines:

vinaya pitaka: called basket of Monastic Discipline, it is a first division of the Pali canon where the support of life is established in monasteries of the Sangha, in them are the norms that regulate the life of monks or Bhikkhus and nuns or Bhikkunis, as they must coexist in the monastery and what are the rules of etiquette or education that they must have to be in harmony not only among their members within the monastery, but also in life with the laity.

The vinaya-pitakano are only rules but also include the stories that gave rise to each one of them, and give the details of how Buddha sought the solution to the problems that appeared in the Sangha to maintain harmony in it, knowing that it was growing and diversifying. This work consists of six volumes.

Sutta-pitaka: or called the Basket of Discourses, in this is a collection of speeches and sermons, which are believed to be from the Buddha himself or from his closest disciples, in other words in it are all the teachings of Buddha, the longest are the suttas containing 5 volumes or Nikayas.

After these two, which are the main ones, come the following:

  • Digha Nikaya: contains 34 long speeches of the Buddha that have three volumes.
  • Majjhima Nikaya: Contains 150 middle discourses.
  • Samyutta Nikaya: This is a collection of 7762 related discourses, which are grouped into subjects made up of 56 sections or sanyuttas.
  • Anguttara Nikaya: You have 9950 Single Topic Speeches in Ascending Order.

The Khuddaka Nikaya: contains 15 Small Texts grouped into 20 volumes having various subjects, written in verse, and containing the oldest and newest Pali material. This is composed of:

  • Khuddaka-patha: Short "Brief Lectures" that are to be recited.
  • Dhammapada: "Verses on the Dhamma", composed of 423 ethical verses, are very popular as they are the most translated into Western languages
  • Udana: there are 80 short suttas that are based on Verses of Inspiration.
  • Itivuttaka: they are short suttas that begin with “and are as said.
  • Sutta-nipata: called "Set of Discourses", where there are 71 suttas in verse form.
  • Vimana-vatthu: or "Stories about the Mansions" dealing with divine births.
  • Peta-vatthu: "Stories of the Dead" or treatise on the rebirths of spirits.
  • Thera-gatta: or "Verses of the Ancients" it tells how the first monks managed to achieve enlightenment.
  • Theri-gatta: it is the same previous book but this refers to how the first nuns managed to achieve enlightenment.
  • Jataka: contains 247 stories of the births, or past lives of the Buddha, to make treatises on morality. This section is quite late in the Pali Canon where many legends from India are believed to have been incorporated, and are used in sermons today.
  • Nidessa: comments to one of the parts of the Sutta-nipata.
  • Patisambhida-magga: or Abhidhamma analysis of the doctrine.
  • Apadana: Past life stories of monks and nuns found in the Thera-gatta and Theri-gatta books.
  • Buddhavamsa: also called Chronicle of the Buddhas, where the story of the 24 past Buddhas is told.
  • Cariya-pitaka: called "Basket of Conduct" where Gotama's behavior in his previous lives is discussed and where he manages to accumulate the perfections to be a Boghisatta.

Abhidhamma-pitaka: o Basket of Additional Teachings” where texts are found that deal with the principles of the doctrines that are in the first two baskets, here they can be found more reorganized and in a better structure through a system that makes investigations of the nature of mind and matter, has 7 ancient texts grouped in a 7-volume edition.

According to Indian legends, Gautama Buddha preached about the nature of philosophy, which he called the Supreme Dhamma or Abhidhamma, about the first gods and his disciple and first follower Sariputra, one of the ten followers of Sakyamuni Buddha or the Buddha. greater wisdom. Sari Putra means the son of Sari, this was the one who told mortal men what the Dharma was, bringing them the theological and philosophical treatises so that they could have an initiation for their understanding.

This work has a lot of philosophy, psychology and ethics. Psychology is not the one we know in the West, but the one that has to do with the soul, seen as a mass of material and mental elements that undergo constant changes.

Sanskrit Canon

This is the name given to a compendium of Buddhism that is written in that language, and that originated in northern India. Initially it had a division similar to the Trpitaka, but later it was divided into nine parts or Dharmas that are known as Book of the Laws, in this canonical and non-canonical books are obtained, as in the Pali canon, but they have great authority in religion.

Among them we can find the Perfection of Wisdom, the Wonderful Life of Buddha, the Lotus of the Good Law, the Incomprehensibility of the world for those who are not a Buddha, the Lord of the Ten Lands, Treatise on Mystic Concentration, Preaching of Lanka , Study on Buddha Nature and Uplifting Legends.

Among the non-canonical works are the Commentaries on Nirvana, the Nothingness of Life, the Formation of the Universe or the primordial Buddha who was born from himself, Analysis of the Individual Categories, Conversion of the Thief Anguli, The Lotus of Mercy, treatise of Moral and metaphysics, Miraculous Powers of the Buddhas, Conversions by Bodhisattva Manjushri, Introduction to the knowledge of the Buddhas, the Great Drum and the supernatural Powers to achieve meditation.

The non-canonical ones are the following: Word of Charity, Filled with Legend, Cases from the Life of the Buddha, Pali Canon, and the Udana of the Pali Canon.

Chinese and Tibetan Collections

These canons have original comments and are of great value since they are in the Pali or Sanskrit language that have been preserved over time in Chinese and Tibetan, the version of the current Chinese canon dates from the year 1924 and 1929, when it was printed under the name of Taisho Issaikyo and whose first impression is from the year 972 of our era. The Tibetan canon has the Kanjur and Tanjur sections.

Other links that we can suggest that you know or read are the following:


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