The Buddhist canon of scripture is known in Sanskrit as the Tripi?aka and in Pali as the Tipi?aka. These terms literally mean "three baskets" and refers to the three main divisions of the canon, which are:
The Vinaya Pi?aka, containing disciplinary rules for the Sa?gha of Buddhist monks and nuns, as well as a range of other texts which explain why and how rules were instituted, supporting material, and doctrinal clarification.
The Sutta Pi?aka (Pali; Sanskrit: Sutra Pi?aka), containing discourses of the Buddha.
The Abhidhamma or commentary Pi?aka (Pali; Sanskrit: Abhidharma Pi?aka), containing a philosophical systematization of the Buddha's teaching, including a detailed analysis of Buddhist psychology.
During the first few centuries after Gautama Buddha, his teachings were transmitted orally, but around the 1st Century CE they began to be written down. A given school of Buddhism will generally have its own distinctive canon of texts, which will partially overlap with those of other schools. The most notable set of texts from the early period is the Pali Canon, which was preserved in Sri Lanka by the Theravada school. The sutras it contains are also part of the canon of every other Buddhist sect. Full versions of the original text[1] and partial English translations[2] are now readily available on the internet.
The appearance of the Mahayana tradition brought with it a collection of new texts, composed in Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit, many of which were also described as actual sermons of the Buddha. These include the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras, the Avata?saka, the Lotus Sutra, the Vimalakirti Sutra, and the ?irvana Sutra. Many of the Mahayana sutras were translated into Tibetan and classical Chinese and are also now read in the West.
The Mahayana canon further expanded after Buddhism was transmitted to China, where the existing texts were translated, and new texts were composed for the purpose of adapting the Indian tradition to the East Asian philosophical mindset. Many of these works are considered by modern scholars to be spurious. Other new texts, such as the Platform Sutra and the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment did not pretend to be of Indian origin, but were widely accepted as valid scriptures on their own merits. Later writings include the Linji Lu of Chan master Linji. In the course of the development of Korean Buddhism and Japanese Buddhism, further important texts were composed. These included, for example, in Korea, some of the writings of Jinul, and in Japan, works such as Dogen's Shobogenzo.
Arguably the most thorough compilation of Mahayana sutras is found in the Tibetan canon. This is split into those texts attributed to be authored by the Buddha (Kanjur), and those texts which are understood to be commentaries by Indian practitioners (Tenjur). Vajrayana practitioners also study distinctive texts such as the Buddhist tantras.
1 -[Buddhism]
2 -[Buddhism : Buddha's life]
3 -[Buddhism : Principles of Buddhism]
4 -[Buddhism : The three vehicles]
5 -[Buddhism : Tripi?aka]
Source : Wikipedia, All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
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