BOOKS/WRITINGS

Tripitaka Writings

Mahayana Sutras

Tibetan Book of the Dead

The standard collection of scriptures in Buddhism and the earliest collection of Buddhist teachings. Tripitaka means "three baskets," referring to the receptacles containing the scrolls on which the Buddhist scriptures were originally preserved.

Mahayana Buddhism reveres Tripitaka writings as sacred texts, but supplement them with the Sutras, which reflect distinctively Mahayana concepts. Most of the Mahayana Sutras were written between the 2nd centuries B.C.E. and C.E., the time at which Mahayana Buddhism developed.

Outlines the general characteristics of Tibetan Buddhism. Written by a Tibetan monk, it detailedly outlines the stages of death from their perspective. It also accounts the experiences and religious opportunities a person encounters at various stages: while dying, at the moment of death, during the 49-day interval between death and rebirth, and at rebirth.

Pali Canon

Sutras

Tibet