Thank you for visiting. This article is one part of a series explaining the “original texts” of the world’s mythologies and religions, and is an index page gathering the original texts of “Buddhism.”
Buddhism is one of the three great world religions, alongside Christianity and Islam, and is also one of the most familiar religions for Japanese people. Its teaching began with the enlightenment that the “Buddha” preached in India about 2,500 years ago, became an enormous body of scriptures, and spread to all of Asia.
Buddhism’s original texts are of the “scripture type,” in which a clear scripture is established, like Christianity’s Bible. In this series, I explain that enormous body of original texts clearly, divided into 6 articles, showing what is written where.
The comprehensive index of the world’s mythology and religion original texts, including others besides Buddhism, can be seen on the following page.
The Whole Picture of Buddhism’s Original Texts — the Tripitaka and Two Great Currents
Buddhism’s scriptures are classified into three by their role, called the “Tripitaka.” “Pitaka” means “container, collection.”
And Buddhism, through history, divided largely into two currents, each of which transmitted different original texts.
| Current | Main original texts | Region of spread |
|---|---|---|
| Theravada Buddhism | The Pali Tripitaka (the Pali Canon) | Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia |
| Mahayana Buddhism | The Chinese- and Tibetan-translated sutras (Prajnaparamita, Lotus, etc.) | China, Japan, Korea, Tibet |
That is, the scriptures familiar to us Japanese (the Heart Sutra, Lotus Sutra, Amitabha Sutra, etc.) are mainly the original texts of “Mahayana Buddhism.” In this series, I explain in order, in 7 articles, from the root of the Buddha’s teaching, to the Tripitaka, the Mahayana sutras, and the various sects.
Now let me introduce what each article explains.
A Complete History of Philosophy and ReligionView on Amazon →
The Origins of Religion: Why We Needed a ‘God’View on Amazon →
Article 1: The Buddha’s Life and Root Teaching
In the first installment, I explain the life of Buddhism’s founder, the “Buddha,” and the root teaching common to all Buddhism.
I trace the birth of Prince Siddhartha, the “four encounters at the gates” by which he knew the suffering of life, his renunciation and austerities, his enlightenment beneath the bodhi tree, and his life until his passing, and clearly introduce the core of Buddhism — the “Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path,” “dependent origination,” and the “three marks of existence.”
Article 2: The Making and Composition of the Buddhist Canon (Tripitaka)
In the second installment, I explain Buddhism’s original texts, the “Tripitaka” itself.
After the Buddha’s death, the disciples gathered the teaching in the “councils,” the contents of the three baskets of sutra, discipline, and treatise, the oldest Pali Canon, and on to the enormous Chinese Buddhist canon. Further, I cover how Buddhism came to divide into Theravada and Mahayana.
Article 3: Mahayana Buddhist Thought
In the third installment, I explain the thought of “Mahayana Buddhism,” the mainstream of Japanese Buddhism.
I clearly introduce the philosophy supporting Mahayana Buddhism — the path of the “bodhisattva” who aims at the buddhahood of all, and the six perfections, the “emptiness (Madhyamaka)” completed by Nagarjuna, and the “consciousness-only” and storehouse consciousness of Asanga and Vasubandhu.
Article 4: The Major Mahayana Sutras
In the fourth installment, I explain, one by one, the major Mahayana sutras in which Mahayana thought came to fruition.
I clearly introduce the Heart Sutra of “form is emptiness,” the “Lotus Sutra,” which preaches the one vehicle (the parable of the burning house), the “three Pure Land sutras” of rebirth in paradise, the “Avatamsaka Sutra” of one-is-all, and the “Vimalakirti Sutra,” known for Vimalakirti’s silence.
Article 5: Buddhism’s Worldview and the Buddhas
In the fifth installment, I explain the worldview Buddhism depicts, and the many buddhas and bodhisattvas.
In addition to the worldview of the “six realms of rebirth,” in which living beings repeat birth and death, the law of deeds “karma,” and the release from suffering “nirvana,” I clearly introduce tathagatas such as Shakyamuni, Amitabha, Bhaisajyaguru, and Mahavairocana, and bodhisattvas such as Kannon, Jizo, Manjushri, and Maitreya.
Article 6: Buddhism’s Spread and Sects
In the sixth installment (the final one), I explain the history of how Buddhism spread from India to the world and branched into many sects.
I clearly introduce the three great currents of Theravada Buddhism (Southeast Asia), Mahayana Buddhism (East Asia), and esoteric Buddhism (Tibet), and the sects transmitted to Japan — Tendai, Shingon, Pure Land, Zen (Rinzai, Soto), and Nichiren.
To Learn More
Here are some related books. Reading them alongside this series lets you savor this world even more deeply.
An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Buddhist StatuesView on Amazon →
Living Buddha, Living Christ (new edition)View on Amazon →
Conclusion
In this article, I introduced the whole picture of Buddhism’s original texts and the content the 7 articles in the series cover. How was it?
Buddhism’s original texts were an enormous body of scriptures, spreading from the foundation of the “Tripitaka,” a gathering of the Buddha’s teaching, to the Theravada Pali Canon and the Mahayana Prajnaparamita, Lotus Sutra, and three Pure Land sutras. Buddhism’s individuality, not found in other religions, lies in the point of setting up no god and aiming at the “enlightenment” of all people.
I also explain the original texts of other mythologies and religions. For the full list, please see the Summary of the World’s Mythology and Religion Original Texts.
For the strength of the gods and heroes, please also refer to this ranking article.
I hope you’ll read the next article too.
📚 Series: The Original Texts of Buddhism (1/7)
