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Tripitaka [Pali Tipitaka ] or the Canon of the Buddhists, both Theravada and Mahayana. Thus it is possible to speak of several Canons such as the Sthaviravada, Sarvastivada and Mahayana as well as in term of languages like Pali, Chinese and Tibetan. The word is used basically to refer to the literature, the authorship of which is directly or indirectly ascribed to the Buddha himself.

The collection of texts concerning the rules of conduct governing the daily affairs within the Sangha -- the community of bhikkhus (ordained monks) and bhikkhunis (ordained nuns). Far more than merely a list of rules, the Vinaya Pitaka also includes the stories behind the origin of each rule, providing a detailed account of the Buddha's solution to the question of how to maintain communal harmony within a large and diverse spiritual community.

The collection of discourses, attributed to the Buddha and a few of his closest disciples, containing all the central teachings of Theravada Buddhism. (Over six hundred sutta translations are available here.)

The collection of texts in which the underlying doctrinal principles presented in the Sutta Pitaka are reworked and reorganized into a systematic framework that can be applied to an investigation into the nature of mind and matter.

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Vinaya Pitaka, Disciplinary and Procedural Rules for the Sangha

The Vinaya Pitaka , the first division of the Tipitaka , is the textual framework upon which the monastic community (Sangha) is built. The Vinaya contains the code of rules by which monks and nuns are to conduct themselves individually (the Patimokkha ), as well as the rules and procedures that support the harmonious functioning of the community as a whole.

The four divisions of the Vinaya Pitaka

This section includes the complete set of rules for the Sangha, along with the "origin story" for each one. The rules are summarized in the Patimokkha, and amount to 227 rules for the bhikkhus, 311 for the bhikkhunis. The Patimokkkha rules are grouped as follows:

This includes several sutta-like texts, including the Buddha's account of the period immediately following his Awakening, his first sermons to the group of five monks, and stories about how some of the Buddha's great disciples joined the Sangha and themselves attained Awakening. Also included are the rules for ordination, for reciting the Patimokkha during uposatha days, and various procedures that monks are to perform during formal gatherings of the community.

A recapitulation of the previous sections, with summaries of the rules classified and re-classified in various ways for instructional purposes.

Vanaya Pitaka - Presented by Access to Insight (John Bullitt)

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The Sutta Pitaka is divided into five separate collections known as Nikayas. They are Diha Nikaya, Majjhima Nikaya, Samutta Nikaya, Ankuttara Nikaya and Khuddaka Nikaya.

Digha Nikaya : The Long Discourses of the Buddha

The "Long" Discourses (Pali digha = "long"), which consists of 34 suttas, including the well-known Maha-Satipatthana Sutta (The Greater Discourse on the Foundations of Mindfulness), the Samaññaphala Sutta (The Fruits of the Contemplative Life), the Maha-Parinibbana Sutta (The Buddha's Last Days), and many others.

Digha Nikaya of the Agama Sutta -Presented by Access to Insight (John Bullitt)

Majjhima Nikaya : The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha

The "Middle-length" Discourses (Pali majjhima = "middle"), which consists of 152 suttas of varying length, including the Sabbasava Sutta (All the Taints), Culakammavibhanga Sutta (Shorter Exposition of Kamma), the Anapanasati Sutta (Mindfulness of Breathing), Kayagatasati Sutta (Mindfulness of the Body), the Angulimala Sutta (The Story of Angulimala), and many more.

Majjhima Nikaya of the agama Sutta -Presented by Access to Insight (John Bullitt)

Samyutta Nikaya : The Short Length Discourses of the Buddha

The "Grouped" Discourses (Pali samyutta = "group" or "collection"), which consists of 2,889 shorter suttas grouped together by theme into 56 samyuttas.

Samyutta Nikaya of the Agama Sutta - Presented by Access to Insight (John Bullitt)

Anguttara Nikaya : The "Further-factored" Discourses of the Buddha

The "Further-factored" Discourses (Pali anga = "factor" + uttara = "beyond," "further"), which consists of 8,777 short suttas, grouped together into eleven nipatas according to the number of items of Dhamma covered in each sutta. For example, the Eka-nipata ("Book of the Ones") contains suttas about a single item of Dhamma; the Duka-nipata ("Book of the Twos") contains suttas dealing with two items of Dhamma, and so on.

Anguttara Nikaya of the Agama Sutta - Presented by Access to Insight (John Bullitt)

Khuddaka Nikaya : The "Division of Short Books"

The "Division of Short Books" (Pali khudda = "smaller," "lesser"), consisting of 15 "books" (17 in the Thai edition; 18 in the Burmese), including the Dhammapada , Therigatha (Verses of the Elder Nuns), Theragatha (Verses of the Elder Monks), Sutta Nipata , Jataka stories, etc.

Khuddaka Nikaya of the Agama Sutta - Presented by Access to Insight (John Bullitt)

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The seven books of the Abhidhamma Pitaka , the third division of the Tipitaka , offer an extraordinarily detailed analysis of the basic principles governing the behavior of mental and physical processes. Whereas the Sutta and Vinaya Pitakas are characterized by their practical teachings regarding the Buddhist path to Awakening , the Abhidhamma Pitaka presents an almost scientific analysis of the underpinnings of that very path. In Abhidhamma philosophy the familiar psycho-physical universe (our world of "trees" and "rocks," "I" and "you") is reduced to a complex -- but comprehensible -- web of impersonal phenomena arising and passing at an inconceivably rapid pace from moment to moment, according to clearly-defined natural laws.

The Abhidhamma Pitaka is divided into seven books, although it is the first ( Dhammasangani ) and last (Patthana) that together form the essence of the Abhidhamma teachings.

The seven books are:

This book enumerates all the paramattha dhamma (ultimate realities) to be found in the world. According to one such enumeration these amount to:

This book continues the analysis of the Dhammasangani, here in the form of a catechism.

A reiteration of the foregoing, in the form of questions and answers.

Puggalapaññatti ("Description of Individuals").

Somewhat out of place in the Abhidhamma Pitaka , this book contains descriptions of a number of personality-types.

Kathavatthu ("Points of Controversy")

Another odd inclusion in the Abhidhamma , this book contains questions and answers that were compiled by Moggaliputta Tissa in the 3rd century BCE, in order to help clarify points of controversy that existed between the various " Hinayana " schools of Buddhism at the time.

Yamaka ("The Book of Pairs")

This book is a logical analysis of many concepts presented in the earlier books. In the words of Mrs. Rhys Davids, an eminent 20th century Pali scholar, the ten chapters of the Yamaka amount to little more than "ten valleys of dry bones."

Patthana ("The Book of Relations")

This book, by far the longest single volume in the Tipitaka (over 6,000 pages long in the Siamese edition), describes the 24 paccayas, or laws of conditionality, through which the dhammas interact. These laws, when applied in every possible permutation with the dhammas described in the Dhammasangani , give rise to all knowable experience.