Tibetan Buddhist canon

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The Tibetan 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 and the Tengyur.[1]

Kangyur

The Kangyur or Kanjur (bka-gyur, "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 languags.

Collection of sutras

The collection of sutras or "Sets of Discourses" is known as mDo-sde in Tibetan.

Tantra section

The tantra section, known as rGyud-sde in Tibetan, corresponds with Helena Petrovna Blavatsky's Books of Kui-te.

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.

Notes

  1. Tibetan Buddhist Canonat The Dharma Dictionary