When I turned to Buddhism for a way out of the maze, my first decision was to find, to the best of my knowledge and ability, what the Buddha actually taught.
I was not interested in opinions about what he said, or interpretations of his teachings. Nor was I interested in the many elaborations and “improvements” that had sprung up over the centuries, often devised and voiced by monks or other teachers who thought more of themselves than of the source-words of the Buddha.
This search—though I did not suspect it at the time—led me to Theravada Buddhism, the Teachings of the Elders, which, I would venture to say, is probably the only branch of religion today in possession of a complete, and for all intents and purposes unaltered canon as taught by its founder.
By Word
Bear in mind that the society of the historical Buddha was a verbal one. Few, if any things, were ever written down, and all of the Buddha’s teachings (Suttas—or Sutras in Sanskrit) were for the first few hundred years after the Buddha’s death, passed on by recitals from one generation to another.
Surely some things were omitted or altered in this passing from mouth to ear to mouth to ear, but you should also know that a trained mind (and these Buddhists were well-trained indeed) can retain, verbatim and accurately, far more than we can even conceive of today—thousand of pages (which Ananda, the keeper of the Dhamma, is reputed to have done with comparative ease).
By Letter
Most canonical collections belonging to most of the early mainstream Indian Buddhist schools were lost when Indian Buddhism was devastated by the Muslims who invaded northern India in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Only one complete collection of texts belonging to one of the early Indian Buddhist schools managed to survive intact. This is the collection preserved in the language now known as Pali.
This collection belonged to the ancient Theravada school, which had left its northern India homeland and—perhaps with amazing foresight—traveled to what is not Sri Lanka and so managed to escape the havoc wrought upon Buddhism by the Muslims.
It is traditionally considered that the Pali Canon was finally committed to letters in Sri Lanka in the first century B.C.E. At that time, the monks, apprehensive that the orally preserved teachings might eventually be lost, collectively inscribed the texts on palm leaves and bound these into volumes, which have since served as the source-documents for what still today is known as the Pali Canon.
The Three Baskets
The Pali Canon is often referred to as the Tipitaka (sometimes Tripitaka), the “Three Baskets” or “Three Compilations.” This threefold classification was not unique to the Theravada school but was in common use among the Indian Buddhist schools as a way to categorize the Buddhist canonical texts. Even today the scriptures preserved in Chinese translation are known as the Chinese Tripitaka.
The three baskets are:
- The Vinaya Pitaka, the Compilation of Discipline, contains the rules laid down by the Buddha for the guidance of the monks and nuns and the regulations prescribed for the harmonious operations of the monastic order.
- The Sutta Pitaka, the Compilation of Discourses, contains the suttas (or sutras in Sanskrit)—the discourses of the Buddha and those of his chief disciples as well as inspirational works in verse, verse narrative, and certain works of a commentarial nature.
- The Abhidhamma Pitaka is the compilation of Philosophy, constituting seven treatises which subject the Buddha’s teachings to rigorous philosophical systematization.
When I think of the Pali Canon, however, I think of the Sutta Pitaka, the collection the Buddha’s sermons or discourses.
The Nikayas
The Sutta Pitaka consists of four major Nikayas (or assemblies) which are:
- The Digha Nikaya, the Collection of Long Discourses, which consists of thirty-four suttas arranged into three vaggas, or books.
- The Majjhima Nikaya, the Collection of Middle Length Discourses, and consists of 152 suttas arranged into three vaggas.
- The Samyutta Nikaya, the Collection of Connected Discourses, and consists of nearly three thousand short suttas grouped into fifty-six chapters called samyuttas, which in turn are grouped into five vaggas.
- The Anguttara Nikaya, the Collection of Numerical Discourses, and consists of some 2,400 short suttas arranged in eleven chapters called nipatas.
There is a fifth Nikaya called the Khuddaka Nikaya, meaning the Minor Collection. This Nikaya, while it does include perhaps the most famous and most loved of all the Buddha’s teachings: The Dhammapada, is a collection (and much added to over the centuries) of minor works that are not readily thought of as being part of the core canon.
Into English
A current day novice Buddhist—and in may ways I consider myself just such a one—is fortunate in that the four Major Nikayas are all translated into English, much of it updated quite recently by Bhikkhu Bodhi, a Buddhist monk and Pali scholar.
For Study
Please visit the individual pages of current Pali Canon translations (see drop-down menu or tree) for more information and to order.
Good Reading,
Ulf Wolf