In Buddhist traditions, sacred scripture is not confined to a single “holy book,” but unfolds as a layered canon centered on what is commonly called the Tripiṭaka, or “Three Baskets.” This threefold collection comprises the Vinaya Piṭaka, which sets out the rules and discipline for monastic life; the Sutta (or Sūtra) Piṭaka, which preserves discourses attributed to the Buddha and his close disciples; and the Abhidhamma (Abhidharma) Piṭaka, which offers systematic and philosophical analyses of mind and phenomena. In the Theravāda tradition this is preserved as the Pāli Canon, often regarded as the most complete early collection, while other Buddhist traditions transmit their own Tripiṭakas in Sanskrit, Chinese, or Tibetan, maintaining the same basic threefold structure even as the specific contents differ.

Beyond this early core, later Buddhist developments venerate additional bodies of scripture that are seen as unfolding the implications of the Buddha’s teaching in new ways. Mahāyāna Buddhism treasures a vast array of sūtras, such as the Lotus Sūtra, the Heart and Diamond Sūtras from the Prajñāpāramitā corpus, the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, the Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa, and the Pure Land sūtras; these texts are treated as profound expressions of wisdom and compassion, shaping the spiritual imagination of East Asian and other Mahāyāna communities. In Tibetan Buddhism, the sacred canon is organized as the Kangyur, understood as the translated words of the Buddha, and the Tengyur, a collection of treatises and commentaries by great masters, together encompassing both sūtra and tantra.

Within these canons, certain texts have acquired a special devotional and practical prominence. Collections such as the Dhammapada, gathering concise sayings attributed to the Buddha, and the Jātaka tales, recounting stories of the Buddha’s previous lives, are cherished as accessible gateways into the Dharma. In Tibetan contexts, works like the Bardo Thödol, often known in translation as the “Tibetan Book of the Dead,” are revered for their guidance on the processes of death and rebirth, even though they stand within the broader framework of the Kangyur and Tengyur. Alongside these, extensive commentarial and scholastic literature—by figures such as Nāgārjuna, Asaṅga, Vasubandhu, Śāntideva, and, in the Theravāda tradition, Buddhaghosa—functions as a living interpretive tradition, illuminating and organizing the canonical word.

Taken together, these diverse collections show that what is “sacred” in Buddhism is less a single volume than a vast, interwoven body of teaching. Each school emphasizes particular texts—the Pāli Canon for Theravāda, Mahāyāna sūtras for East Asian traditions, tantric and canonical collections for Tibetan lineages—yet all look back to the Tripiṭaka as a shared foundation. The scriptures serve not merely as objects of belief, but as practical guides for ethical conduct, meditation, and insight, inviting practitioners to move from hearing and study toward direct realization of the path that ends suffering.