Welcome to Buddhism in a Minute, I'm Alan Peto.
This episode we are talking about the Buddhist Scriptures.
There are two types of texts in Buddhism.
The first is known as Canonical Texts, and are widely accepted as the actual sayings
of the historical Buddha.
They are either called Sutras or Suttas.
These canonical texts are often grouped into a collection called the Pali Canon or Tripitaka,
which literally means three baskets, and this was how the Buddha's teachings were first
written and organized.
The second type is called non-Canonical Texts.
These are not sayings of the Buddha, but observations on the canonical texts, or other types of
writings.
Often books by your favorite Buddhism teachers like the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, and
Hsing Yun, would be considered non-canonical.
Mahayana Buddhism has hundreds of other texts that go beyond the Pali Canon.
Most famously, these include the Platform Sutra, the Heart Sutra, and the Diamond Sutra.
The Diamond Sutra is perhaps the most well-known, and recited, among Mahayana Buddhists.
You can always verify a Buddhist scripture meets the 'true' definition by applying the
Three Dharma Seals to it.
They are: 1) All conditioned phenomena are impermanent, 2) All phenomena are without
an independent self, and 3) Nirvana is perfect tranquility.
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