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Is there a full English version of the Buddhist canon?

snGussnGus Veteran
edited March 2012 in Arts & Writings
If there is, where/how can I obtain it? Is there a digital version?

If not, is there any institution working on it?

Comments

  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    What 'Buddhist Cannon' do you mean?


    i can point you to this website which is about as comprehensive a collection of suttas, teachings and translations as you ate ever likely to find...

    http://www.accesstoinsight.org/index.html
  • snGussnGus Veteran
    I mean the main Cannon: the Tripiṭaka.

    This site you kindly posted is great but does not have the complete Tripiṭaka, although it's being fed from time to time.
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    In that case, I don't think so.
    Why not email them and ask them?
    If anyone would know, they'd probably be more informed than most....
  • snGussnGus Veteran
    Well, this is a simple idea and also a great idea. I will contact them, but I know it's very unlikely I will ever find what I'm looking for.
  • personperson Don't believe everything you think The liminal space Veteran
    The entire canon is thousands of pages long. Once you've read everything over at access to insight then start to worry about getting the rest.
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    That should keep you busy for a while, i grant you.....
  • BonsaiDougBonsaiDoug Simply, on the path. Veteran
    You might want to ask over at dhammawheel.com as it's a Theravada based forum.

    Also, send a private message here on newbuddhist to member "samahita" as he is a Theravadan Monk. Perhaps he can point you in the right direction. Much of the TiPiţaka is on his website: http://what-buddha-said.net/index.htm
  • jlljll Veteran
    the answer is YES.
    its called pali text society.
    www.palitext.com/
    If there is, where/how can I obtain it? Is there a digital version?

    If not, is there any institution working on it?
  • pineblossompineblossom Veteran
    If there is, where/how can I obtain it? Is there a digital version?

    If not, is there any institution working on it?
    There is no Buddhist 'canon'.

    The word 'canon' within Christianity means 'authority'. It is only from the Christian 'canon' that doctrine may be extracted.

    I know of no such generalized 'authority' within Buddhism.

    Having said that there are any number of texts which carry greater weight than others - but much depends on the tradition, the sect and the school.
  • jlljll Veteran
    have you heard of the pali canon???
    If there is, where/how can I obtain it? Is there a digital version?

    If not, is there any institution working on it?
    There is no Buddhist 'canon'.

    The word 'canon' within Christianity means 'authority'. It is only from the Christian 'canon' that doctrine may be extracted.

    I know of no such generalized 'authority' within Buddhism.

    Having said that there are any number of texts which carry greater weight than others - but much depends on the tradition, the sect and the school.
  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran


    have you heard of the pali canon???

    Seems like it's called that in an awfully lot of places.

  • BonsaiDougBonsaiDoug Simply, on the path. Veteran
    edited March 2012
    Absolutely, there is a Buddhist Canon; the Pali Canon. "Canon" is simply a set of religious writings regarded as authentic and definitive and forming a religion's body of scripture. It's called the "Pali Canon" because it is preserved in a language called Pali, which is a variation of Sanskrit.

    The Tripitaka is the doctrinal foundation of Theravada Buddhism, and the sutras preserved in the Tripitaka are pretty much acknowledged by all schools of Buddhism to be those of the historical Buddha.
  • CinorjerCinorjer Veteran
    edited March 2012
    Yes, we generally call the Tripitaka the Buddhist Canon in the West, but it's not really, not the way people generally define the term. That is the Christian background influencing the western scholars, where we have a closed and authorized version of the Bible and we all accept the strange assumption that someone in the distant past had the God given authority to banish anything not on the official list.

    A canon is an authorized set of scriptures for a particular religion. The key word missing from the history of Buddhist writings is "authority". Buddhism had its councils, but we never had an authority with the power and aim to define proper and heretical Buddhism and enforce one set of sutras and doctrine. So canon is actually a poor word choice to define what sutras are "authentic".

  • BonsaiDougBonsaiDoug Simply, on the path. Veteran
    Cinorger - while wou're correct, right or wrong, general usage is how words get their meaning. I doubt the Pali Canon will ever be called anything else. "Canon" in this case has simply come to be accepted.
  • snGussnGus Veteran
    edited March 2012
    There is absolutelly a Buddhist canon, which is the Tripitaka, whose full version is a long set of books written in Pali.

    There is no doubt about that.

    And the Tripitaka is not regarded as a canon due to athority of who wrote it dow, differing it from the Christian Canon. On the contrary the Tripitaka is regarded as the Buddhist canon because it was historicaly writen by people who had the oportunity to hear the Buddha teachings by close, in most of the cases.
  • HookahCaterpillarHookahCaterpillar
    maybe this? and its not online :)

    http://www.wisdompubs.org/Pages/c_teachings.lasso
  • samahitasamahita Veteran
    The Tipitaka Translation into English is not yet complete:

    Some Online sources:
    http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/index.html
    http://metta.lk/tipitaka/index.html

    Some book sources:
    http://www.palitext.com/
    http://www.pariyatti.org/Bookstore/catalog.cfm?step=1&CatPos=155
  • samahitasamahita Veteran
    Tipitaka hit-&-run excerpts as Dhamma Drops:
    http://what-buddha-said.net/drops/Index.Dhamma.Drops1.htm
    Enjoy your study and the Increasing Distinction of Discrimination!
  • samahitasamahita Veteran
    Friendship is the Greatest!
    If glad-2-get Early Buddhism by e-mail, then
    click 'Subscribe to this Google group' here:
    http://What-Buddha-Said.net/index.htm
    Have a Nice, Noble and Easy day!
    Bhikkhu Samahita :-) _/\_
  • snGussnGus Veteran
    edited March 2012
    It's a lot of material for me to check out so I guess this will keep me busy for a while before I bother you again by asking for more :) Not that I will read all these texts, but I will surely analyse them and filter those that are helpful for the context of my life at the moment.

    Thanks for all these contributions.


    You are amazing, all you from Newbuddhist.com.
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    Thank you.
    We're a mixed bunch, but we try our best..... ;)
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