Editing Theravada (section)

==Texts==

=== Pāli Tipiṭaka ===
{{Main|Pali Canon}}
{{PaliCanon}}
[[File:Illustrated Sinhalese covers (inside) showing the events Wellcome L0031774.jpg|thumb|240px|Pre-modern copies of the Tipiṭaka were preserved in [[palm-leaf manuscript]]s, most of which have not survived the humid climate of South Asia and Southeast Asia.]]
[[File:Tipitaka1.jpg|thumb|240px|A full modern set of the Tipiṭaka can fill many volumes (from 40 to over 50 volumes depending on the edition).]]
According to Kate Crosby, for Theravāda, the Pāli [[Tripiṭaka|Tipiṭaka]], also known as the Pāli Canon is "the highest authority on what constitutes the Dhamma (the truth or teaching of the Buddha) and the organization of the Sangha (the community of monks and nuns)."<ref>Crosby, 2013, p. 1.</ref>

The language of the Tipiṭaka, [[Pali|Pāli]], is a [[Middle Indo-Aryan languages|middle-Indic language]] which is the main religious and scholarly language in Theravāda. This language may have evolved out of various Indian dialects, and is related to, but not the same as, the ancient language of [[Magadha (Mahajanapada)|Magadha]].<ref>Norman, Kenneth Roy (1983). ''Pali Literature.'' Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. pp. 2–3. {{ISBN|3-447-02285-X}}.</ref>

An early form of the Tipiṭaka may have been transmitted to [[Sri Lanka]] during the reign of [[Ashoka]], which saw a period of Buddhist missionary activity. After being orally transmitted (as was the custom for religious texts in those days) for some centuries, the texts were finally committed to writing in the 1st century BCE. Theravāda is one of the first Buddhist schools to commit its Tipiṭaka to writing.<ref>Harvey, ''Introduction to Buddhism'', Cambridge University Press, 1990, p. 3.</ref> The [[recension]] of the Tipiṭaka which survives today is that of the Sri Lankan Mahavihara sect.<ref>Collins, Steven. ''"What Is Literature in Pali?"'' Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia, edited by Sheldon Pollock, University of California Press, 2003, pp. 649–688. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1ppqxk.19. Accessed 6 May 2020.</ref>

The oldest manuscripts of the Tipiṭaka from Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia date to the 15th Century, and they are incomplete.<ref name="skilling">Skilling, Peter. "Reflections on the Pali Literature of Siam". From Birch Bark to Digital Data: Recent Advances in Buddhist Manuscript Research: Papers Presented at the Conference Indic Buddhist Manuscripts: The State of the Field. Stanford, 15–19 June 2009, edited by Paul Harrison and Jens-Uwe Hartmann, 1st ed., Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, Wien, 2014, pp. 347–366. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1vw0q4q.25. Accessed 7 May 2020.</ref> Complete manuscripts of the four [[Nikaya]]s are only available from the 17th Century onwards.<ref name="analayo">Anālayo. "The Historical Value of the Pāli Discourses". Indo-Iranian Journal, vol. 55, no. 3, 2012, pp. 223–253. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/24665100. Accessed 7 May 2020.</ref> However, fragments of the Tipiṭaka have been found in inscriptions from Southeast Asia, the earliest of which have been dated to the 3rd or 4th century.<ref name="skilling" /><ref name=":0h">Wynne, Alexander. ''Did the Buddha exist?'' JOCBS. 2019(16): 98–148.</ref> According to Alexander Wynne, "they agree almost exactly with extant Pāli manuscripts. This means that the Pāli Tipiṭaka has been transmitted with a high degree of accuracy for well over 1,500 years."<ref name=":0h" />

There are numerous editions of the Tipiṭaka, some of the major modern editions include the [[Pali Text Society]] edition (published in Roman script), the Burmese [[Buddhist Councils|Sixth Council]] edition (in [[Burmese alphabet|Burmese script]], 1954–56) and the Thai Tipiṭaka edited and published in [[Thai script]] after the council held during the reign of [[Prajadhipok|Rama VII]] (1925–35). There is also a [[Khmer script|Khmer]] edition, published in [[Phnom Penh]] (1931–69).<ref>Warder, A. K. (2001), ''Introduction to Pali'' (Third Edition), p. 382. Pali Text Society.</ref><ref>Jermsawatdi, Promsak (1979). ''Thai Art with Indian Influences,'' p. 40. Abhinav Publications.</ref><ref>Marston, John (2004). ''History, Buddhism, and New Religious Movements in Cambodia'', p. 77. University of Hawaii Press.</ref>
[[File:Pali_Canon_Structure.png|alt=|thumb|330x330px|The structure of the books considered canonical within the Pali Tripitaka. The Theravāda school generally only recognizes the Pali Tripitaka and rejects the authenticity of other [[Tripiṭaka|Tripitaka]] versions.]]
The Pāli Tipitaka consists of three parts: the [[Vinaya Pitaka]], [[Sutta Pitaka]] and [[Abhidhamma Pitaka]]. Of these, the Abhidhamma Pitaka is believed to be a later addition to the collection, its composition dating from around the 3rd century BCE onwards.<ref>Damien Keown (2004). ''A Dictionary of Buddhism.'' Oxford University Press. p. 2. {{ISBN|978-0-19-157917-2}}.</ref> The Pāli Abhidhamma was not recognized outside the Theravāda school. There are also some texts which were late additions that are included in the fifth Nikaya, the ''[[Khuddaka Nikāya]]'' ('Minor Collection'), such as the ''[[Paṭisambhidāmagga]]'' (possibly c. 3rd to 1st century BCE) and the ''[[Buddhavaṃsa]]'' (c. 1st and 2nd century BCE).<ref>Ronkin, Noa (2005). ''Early Buddhist Metaphysics.'' New York: Routledge. pp. 91-2. {{ISBN|0-415-34519-7}}.</ref><ref>Abeynayake, Oliver (1984). ''A textual and Historical Analysis of the Khuddaka Nikaya'', Colombo, p. 113.</ref>

The main parts of the [[Sūtra|Sutta Pitaka]] and some portions of the [[Vinaya]] show considerable overlap in content with the [[Āgama (Buddhism)|Agamas]], the parallel collections used by non-Theravāda schools in India which are preserved in Chinese and partially in [[Sanskrit]], [[Prakrit]], and [[Classical Tibetan|Tibetan]], as well as the various non-Theravāda Vinayas. On this basis, these [[Early Buddhist texts]] (i.e. the Nikayas and parts of the Vinaya) are generally believed to be some of the oldest and most authoritative sources on the doctrines of [[pre-sectarian Buddhism]] by modern scholars.<ref>Tse-Fu Kuan. Mindfulness in similes in Early Buddhist literature in ''Edo Shonin, William Van Gordon, [[Nirbhay N. Singh]]. Buddhist Foundations of Mindfulness, page 267''.</ref><ref>Rupert Gethin (1998), ''The Foundations of Buddhism,'' OUP Oxford, pp. 42-43.</ref>

Much of the material in the earlier portions is not specifically "Theravādan", but the collection of teachings that this school's adherents preserved from the early, non-sectarian body of teachings. According to [[Peter Harvey (Buddhism)|Peter Harvey]], while the Theravādans may have added texts to their Tipiṭaka (such as the Abhidhamma texts and so on), they generally did not tamper with the earlier material.<ref>Peter Harvey, ''The Selfless Mind.'' Curzon Press, 1995, p. 9.</ref>

The historically later parts of the canon, mainly the Abhidhamma and some parts of the Vinaya, contain some distinctive elements and teachings which are unique to the Theravāda school and often differ from the Abhidharmas or Vinayas of other [[early Buddhist schools]].<ref>Crosby, 2013, p. 175.</ref> For example, while the Theravāda Vinaya contains a total of 227 monastic rules for [[bhikkhu]]s, the [[Dharmaguptaka]] Vinaya (used in [[East Asian Buddhism]]) has a total of 253 rules for bhikkhus (though the overall structure is the same).<ref>Buswell Jr., Robert E.; Lopez Jr., Donald S. (2013). ''The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism.'' p. 667''.'' Princeton University Press.</ref> These differences arose from the systematization and historical development of doctrines and monasticism in the centuries after the death of the Buddha.{{sfn|Warder|2000|p=217}}

The Abhidhamma-pitaka contains "a restatement of the doctrine of the Buddha in strictly formalized language." Its texts present a new method, the Abhidhamma method, which attempts to build a single consistent philosophical system (in contrast with the suttas, which present numerous teachings given by the Buddha to particular individuals according to their needs).{{sfn|Warder|2000|p=288}} Because the Abhidhamma focuses on analyzing the internal lived experience of beings and the intentional structure of consciousness, it has often been compared to a kind of [[Phenomenology (philosophy)|phenomenological]] [[psychology]] by numerous modern scholars such as [[Nyanaponika Thera|Nyanaponika]], [[Bhikkhu Bodhi]] and [[Alexander Piatigorsky]].<ref>Ronkin, Noa, Early Buddhist Metaphysics: The Making of a Philosophical Tradition (Routledge curzon Critical Studies in Buddhism) 2011, p. 5.</ref>

The Theravāda school has traditionally held the doctrinal position that the canonical Abhidhamma Pitaka was actually taught by the Buddha himself.<ref>James P. McDermott, Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, Volume VII: Abhidharma Buddhism to 150 A.D. p. 80.</ref> Modern scholarship in contrast, has generally held that the Abhidhamma texts date from the 3rd century BCE onwards.<ref>"Abhidhamma Pitaka." Encyclopædia Britannica. Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2008.</ref> However some scholars, such as [[Erich Frauwallner|Frauwallner]], also hold that the early Abhidhamma texts developed out of [[Exegesis|exegetical]] and [[Catechesis|catechetical]] work which made use of doctrinal lists which can be seen in the suttas, called ''matikas.''<ref>Ronkin, Noa, Early Buddhist Metaphysics: The Making of a Philosophical Tradition (Routledge curzon Critical Studies in Buddhism) 2011, pp. 27–30.</ref><ref>Frauwallner, Erich. Kidd, Sophie Francis (translator). Steinkellner, Ernst (editor). Studies in Abhidharma Literature and the Origins of Buddhist Philosophical Systems. SUNY Press. pp. 18, 100.</ref>

===Non-canonical literature===
{{Main|Pali literature}}
[[File:Buddhaghosa_with_three_copies_of_Visuddhimagga.jpg|thumb|240px|[[Buddhaghosa]] (right) (c. 5th century), shown here presenting three copies of his influential doctrinal [[compendium]], the ''[[Visuddhimagga]]'', to the elders of the Sri Lankan Mahavihara school.]]
There are numerous Theravāda works which are important for the tradition even though they are not part of the Tipiṭaka. Perhaps the most important texts apart from the Tipiṭaka are the works of the influential scholar [[Buddhaghosa]] (4th–5th century CE), known for his [[Atthakatha|Pāli commentaries]] (which were based on older Sri Lankan commentaries of the Mahavihara tradition). He is also the author of a very important compendium of Theravāda doctrine, the ''[[Visuddhimagga]]''.<ref name="Crosby, 2013, p. 86">Crosby, 2013, p. 86.</ref> Other figures like [[Dhammapala]] and [[Buddhadatta]] also wrote Theravāda commentaries and other works in Pali during the time of Buddhaghosa.<ref>Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism, a social history from Ancient Benares to Modern Colombo'', Routledge; 2 edition (2006), p. 154.</ref> While these texts do not have the same scriptural authority in Theravāda as the Tipiṭaka, they remain influential works for the [[exegesis]] of the Tipiṭaka.

An important genre of Theravādin literature is shorter handbooks and summaries, which serve as introductions and study guides for the larger commentaries. Two of the more influential summaries are Sariputta Thera's ''Pālimuttakavinayavinicchayasaṅgaha,'' a summary of Buddhaghosa's Vinaya commentary and Anuruddha's ''[[Abhidhammattha-sangaha|Abhidhammaṭṭhasaṅgaha]]'' (a "Manual of Abhidhamma").<ref name="Crosby, 2013, 86">Crosby, 2013, 86.</ref>

Throughout the history of Theravāda, Theravāda monks also produced other works of Pāli literature such as historical chronicles (like the ''[[Dipavamsa]]'' and the ''[[Mahavamsa]]''), [[Hagiography|hagiographies]], poetry, Pāli grammars, and "[[Sub-commentaries (Theravāda)|sub-commentaries]]" (that is, commentaries on the commentaries).

While Pāli texts are symbolically and ritually important for many Theravādins, most people are likely to access Buddhist teachings through vernacular literature, oral teachings, sermons, art and performance as well as films and Internet media.<ref>Crosby, 2013, p. 71.</ref> According to Kate Crosby, "there is a far greater volume of Theravāda literature in vernacular languages than in Pāli."<ref>Crosby, 2013, p. 91.</ref>

An important genre of Theravādin literature, in both Pāli and vernacular languages, are the [[Jataka tales]], stories of the Buddha's past lives. They are very popular among all classes and are rendered in a wide variety of media formats, from cartoons to high literature. The [[Vessantara Jataka|Vessantara Jātaka]] is one of the most popular of these.<ref>Crosby, 2013, p. 109.</ref>

=== Other Buddhist texts ===
Most Theravāda Buddhists generally consider [[Mahayana|Mahāyāna]] Buddhist scriptures to be [[apocrypha]]l, meaning that they are not authentic words of the Buddha.<ref>Macmillan ''Encyclopedia of Buddhism'', 2004 (Volume Two), p. 756.</ref> Consequently, Theravādin generally does not recognize the existence of many Buddhas and [[bodhisattva]]s believed by the ''Mahāyāna'' school, such as [[Amitābha]] and [[Vairocana]], because they are not found in the canonical scriptures.<ref name="Williams-2008f" />