What is the sacred text (Holy Book) of Buddhists?
The sacred book of Buddhism is called the Tripitaka (called Tipitaka in Pali). It is also called the Pali Canon, after the language in which it was first written. It is written in an ancient Indian language called Pali which is very close to the language that the Buddha himself spoke. The Tripitaka is a very large book. The English translation of it takes up nearly forty volumes. Buddhism is based on Buddha’s teachings. At first these were passed down by word of mouth and later were complied into two sets of scripture. One set by Council of Monks of the Theravada school (the Tripitaka) the other by the Mahayana school ( the Sutras). Both were similar. Both Theravada and Mahayana Buddhists generally accept the Tripitaka (called Tipitaka in Pali) as the Buddhist sacred writings. The three section of the Tripitaka (three baskets of Wisdom) are • Vinaya Pitaka (the Discipline Basket) – A rule book for monks and nuns There are 227 rules for monks,and more for nuns. • Sutta Pitaka (the Teach
