Hi, just question, name of Buddhists “Holy Scripture/Book”??

Well, basically, I know Christians use “The Holy Bible” and Muslims use “The Holy Quran”, and Judaism uses I believe it’s the “Talmud”? And I even know perhaps Hindus book is called “The Holy Vedas”? But for the life of me, I would have no clue or idea off the top of my head what “The Holy Book” is named for or called for “Buddhism”? Would you know anything about what Holy Scripture or book that Buddhists refer to in their religion? Thank you, just trying to educate more on “Religions with sacred/holy writings”??

 

Every day, priests minutely examine the Dharma and endlessly chant complicated sutras.
Before doing that though, they should learn to read the love letters sent by the wind and rain, the snow and moon.
Ikkyu

 

For many of a Nicheren bent, that'd be the Lotus Sutra. Theravadans revere the Dhammapada. Bodhidharma preached enlightenment beyond the sutras...but taught from the Flower Garland Sutra. For Zen folk, it's the Heart Sutra.
Different strokes...

 

Nobody I know thinks very highly of the "Buddhist Bible", based upon the quality of scholarship and translation.
But as I said; different strokes.

 

the original canon of works is known as the pali canon and it is divided into three sectrions of discourses long medium and short. they are known as the long nikaya, medium nikaya and short nikaya... some of buddhas most famous speeches are from each of the three length nikaya. for instance the most famous of the dighanikaya or long discourses is the mahaparinibbanasutta which talks of the last days of and death of buddha. also the potthapodasutta which discusses shamatha or calm abiding meditation.

it should be understood that the pali canon is not the language of the buddha. it is not known what language buddha spoke. he was speaking some dialect of something from among the thousands of indic languages. and nepal is now and has always been one of the most sacred and amazing places for students of spiritual arts and sciences (yogi,yoginis, mystic, mysitquinis (i made that up). at any rate the nikaya were written down some couple hundred years after the death of buddha. his words were repeated in formal training and come to us now as if having come straight from his own mouth, or so we must believe. buddha spoke for some 50 years. this page here is one of the best things about buddha that i have ever read. please do yourself a great blessing and read it

The Jhanas in Theravada Buddhist Meditation

i enjoy the chance to talk about buddha. but nobody should think that i known much of anything. (not that i am blessed with that trouble) the dhammapada is a sort of summary of subjects included in the three nikaya. maybe it might be thought of as a short index or summary. different versions of the dhammapada exist and some are heavily rhymed. i don't like the rhymed versions. there's no need for such a thing. i wish i had a version to recommend. but i don't so sorry. but others that i have read say the -=gil fronsdal=- dhammapada is the best english translation. i'm going to get it and check it out.

best of luck. yes, there's no 'the bible' buddha style. also there's not supposed to be. one thing which sets buddhism apart from theistic religions is that lack of definition. and while it's impossible to say what buddhism is it is not impossible to say what buddhism isn't. it is not what you think, nor what anyone else thinks. and the easier the definition the worse it is.

buddha wanted to teach people something of the sacredness and importance of everything. life itself. the importance of basic life. not some sidha special full of mystic symbols and various castes of the holy. he wanted everyone to be upheld as sacred and holy. he had the whole world against him. and sadly he still has the whole world against him. his formost detractors are the hindu priestly caste. and also all thiests. the greatest ancient universities were developed under buddhist rulers in ancient india. and those institutions served all - male, female, poor, rich. and there was no caste system in ancient india. the great universities existed from late 700 ads to about 1400 ads. they were destroyed by the brahmins and fanatics hindus and also by muslims.

thanks for reading - read on... Ancient institutions of learning in the Indian subcontinent - Wikipedia

 

I took an extensive correspondence course on Buddhism and it gave me a really good understanding of what Buddhism is about.

Right now I am reading The Magic of Vajrayana by Ken McLeod and Vajrayana an essential guide to practice by Traleg Kyabgon. I have been always attracted to Tibetan Buddhism/Tantra, and Tantra itself.

What frustrates many beginners is that a Creator or supreme being is not exactly emphasized, and many wonder if Buddhist really believe in a higher power. They do. But the emphasis is on the Three Jewels-Buddha as emptiness, Dharma as clarity, and Sangha as immediate experience.

The hardest thing to understand is impermanence. It's actually quite simple.

 

MeAgain, a higher power is our Creator. In the Inipi (Sweat Lodge) of the Lakota, there is a 7th rock in the Sacred Fire which is called the Great Mysterious. It is everything man cannot comprehend about the Creator. If the Creator sat across from you at a cafe table your brain would not be able to process what it was seeing. If you observe nature and all creation including mathematics and all sciences, it is undeniable that there is a higher power which we cannot comprehend.

 

Kathy thanks for reminding me that was a discussion that was in my correspondence course. Been a long time. Buddhism does have some solid values regarding who we are and how we deal with the world. And, one can learn a lot. I think that was the one thing that made me drift away after that correspondence course was completed.

 

Siddhartha by Herman Hesse

 

from Merriam-Webster

scripture noun
-insert phonetic pronunciation-


1
a (1)
capitalized : the books of the Bible
—often used in plural
(2)
often capitalized : a passage from the Bible
b
: a body of writings considered sacred or authoritative


2 : something written

 

It's exactly on topic & it's no game
I was correcting your incorrent assertion that fictional works / novels are not scripture in any sense of the word.

 

Yeah; you're being overly pedantic. I've never heard anyone refer to a novel as Scriptural with a capitol 'S'; Merriam-Webster's first definition, and what any reasonable person would conclude was the original intent of the thread's author.

 

yea Now we're getting somewhere. Couldn't have asked for more clear response. I'm also being arrogant.