Do Mahayana & Tibetan Buddhists accept all of the Pali Canon, even if it conflicts with their scriptures?
While all sects of Buddhism do study the Pali Canon, the later Mahayanas sutras do present distinctly different viewpoints. The Theravadans who claim that the Pali Canon is beyond reproach are doing a disservice to the Dharma. Mahayanans tend to accept most of the Pali Canon but still do not see it as the Final Authority — they lay a great deal more stress in the Mahayana sutras like the Lotus and MahaParinirvana etc than the Theravadans. Also, scholars have shown that the Mahayana sutras are as old as the Theravada ones and followed by the majority of Buddhists. For any Buddhist to say that he or she is right and the other sect is wrong clearly has missed the entire point of the Great Buddha’s teachings. Councils were held due to this and this was sorted out way back when. There is nothing inauthentic about the non-Pali scriptures and in many ways they opened up the Dharma to many more people than the Hinayana texts ever could.
