Pali Canon

The Pali Canon is the standard scripture collection of the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pali language. The Canon was written down from oral tradition at the occasion of the Fourth Buddhist Council, 1st century BCE, in Sri Lanka using an archaic form of the Sinhalese script on ola leaves. Passed down in writing and to other Theravadin countries, this Ceylonese Canon is the most complete surviving early Buddhist canon and one of the first to be written down.

The Canon was not printed until the nineteenth century, but is now available in electronic form. (The English translation by the Pali Text Society is not yet complete; however, the majority of the Canon has been translated).

The Pali Canon falls into three general categories, called pitaka (piáš­aka, basket) in Pali. Because of this, the canon is traditionally known as the Tipitaka (Tipiáš­aka; three baskets). The three pitakas are as follows.