Buddhist texts

Book open to the Shorter Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra

Mahayana Sutras

Mahayana Sutras The Mahayana sutras are a broad genre of Buddhist scriptures that various traditions of Mahayana Buddhism accept as canonical. They are largely preserved in the Chinese Buddhist canon, the Tibetan Buddhist canon, and in extant Sanskrit manuscripts. Around one hundred Mahayana sutras survive in Sanskrit, or in Chinese...

Illustrated Korean manuscript of the Lotus Sutra, Goryeo Dynasty, c. 1340. Notice the three carts at the top which are symbolic of the 'three vehicles', i.e. the Śrāvakayāna, Pratyekabuddhayāna and the Bodhisattvayāna.

Mahayana

Mahayana Mahayana or Mahāyāna (“Great Vehicle”) is one of two main existing branches of Buddhism (the other being Theravada) and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice. This movement added a further set of discourses, and although it was initially small in India, it had long-term historical significance....

Illustrated Sinhalese covers and palm-leaf pages, depicting the events between the Bodhisattva's renunciation and the request by Brahmā Sahampati that he teach the Dharma after the Buddha's awakening.

Buddhist Texts

Buddhist Texts Buddhist Texts are those religious texts which are part of the Buddhist tradition. The first Buddhist texts were initially passed on orally by Buddhist monastics, but were later written down and composed as manuscripts in various Indo-Aryan languages and collected into various Buddhist canons. These were then translated into other...

Folios of old Kangyur manuscripts.

Kangyur

Kangyur The Tibetan Buddhist canon is a loosely defined list of sacred texts recognized by various schools of Tibetan Buddhism, comprising the Kangyur or Kanjur (‘The Translation of the Word’) and the Tengyur or Tanjur (Tengyur) (‘Translation of Treatises’). The Tibetan Buddhist Canon Main article: Tibetan Buddhist canon In addition to earlier foundational...

Avatamsaka Sutra

Avatamsaka Sutra

Avatamsaka Sutra The Avatamsaka Sutra or Avataṃsaka Sūtra (the Mahāvaipulya Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra) is one of the most influential Mahayana sutras of East Asian Buddhism. The title is rendered in English as Flower Garland Sutra, Flower Adornment Sutra, or Flower Ornament Scripture. It has been called by the translator Thomas Cleary “the most grandiose, the most comprehensive, and the...