After the Buddha entered nirvana, in order to preserve the Dharma, his disciples held several councils to compile records of his teachings. They categorized the teachings into the Sutra-pitaka (teachings of the Buddha), the Vinaya-pitaka (rules for monastics), and the Abhidharma-pitaka (Com-mentaries on Buddhist Doctrines). Together, these are known as the Tripitaka or Buddhist Canons which originated from Indian Buddhism.

1.Sutra-pitaka 經藏

Sutra is a Sanskrit term which literally means “to conform to” and suggests that the Buddha's teaching conforms to the truth and is suitable for all people. Its metaphoric description is that of a thread which strings flowers together, as the Buddha's teachings are said to penetrate and link all truths.

Sutra contains Dharma teachings at are suitable to all levels of aptitudes ranging from that of buddhas to that of sentient beings. The teachings expounded by the Buddha over the period of forty-nine years can be summarized into the following:

The Avatamsaka Sutra was spoken in the first 21 one days;

The Agama Sutras and Vaipulya sutras were dis-coursed over 12 and 8 years respectively;

The Prajnaparamita Sutra was taught for 22 years, and

The Sadharmapundarika Sutra and Madha-parinirvana Sutra were taught over a total period of 8 years

The Vaipulya sutras refer to the Mahayana sutras such as Vimalakirti-nirdesa Sutra

chieh-jing), Drimaka-devi-simhanada Sutra (Sheng-man-jing),

raja Sutra (Jing-guang-ming-jing) other than those mentioned in the verse above.


【Keywords： 關鍵字】

1.Tripitaka 三藏

2.Sutra-pitaka 經藏

3.Vinaya-pitaka 律藏

4.Abhidharma-pitaka 論藏

5.Avatamsaka Sutra 華嚴經

6.Agama Sutras 阿含經

7.Vaipulya sutras 方等經

8.Prajnaparamita Sutra 般若經

9.Sadharmapundarika Sutra 法華經

10.Madhaparinirvana Sutra 涅槃經

11.Vimalakirti-nirdesa Sutra 維摩詰經

12.Drimaka-devi-simhanada Sutra 勝鬘經

13.Suvarnaprabhasotta-ma-raja Sutra 金光明經