Tibetan Buddhist canon
The Tibetan Buddhist canon underwent a final compilation in 14th Century by Bu-ston (1290-1364). The Tibetans did not have a formally arranged Mahayana canon and so devised their own scheme which divided texts into two broad categories: the Kangyur or Kanjur (Tib. bKa-gyur) and the Tengyur (Tib. bstan-gyur).[1]
Kangyur
The Kangyur or Kanjur (bka-gyur or "Translated Words") consists of works supposed to have been said by the Buddha himself. All texts presumably have a Sanskrit original, although in many cases the Tibetan text was translated from Chinese or other language. This collection is divided into two categories: the sutras and the tantras.
Sutras
The collection of sutras or "Sets of Discourses" is known as mDo-sde in Tibetan.
Tantras
The tantra section (rGyud-sde in Tibetan) corresponds with what Helena Petrovna Blavatsky called Books of Kiu-te, which includes public and secret volumes. The Book of Dzyan is said to belong to the secret volumes.
Tengyur
The Tengyur or Tanjur (bstan-gyur, "Translated Treatises") is the section to which were assigned commentaries, treatises and abhidharma works (both Mahayana and non-Mahayana). The Tanjur contains 3626 texts in 224 Volumes.[2]
See also
Additional resources
- Abhidharma in Theosophy World
Notes
- ↑ Tibetan Buddhist Canonat The Dharma Dictionary
- ↑ Tibetan Buddhist Canon at The Dharma Dictionary