The sacred book of Buddhism is called the Tipitaka.

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

The sacred book of Buddhism is called the Tipitaka. It is written in an ancient Indian language called Pali, the religious language Theravada which is very close to the language that the Buddha spoke himself, having a simpler structure than the Sanskrit of the Hindu texts. The Tipitaka is a very large book. The English translation of it takes up nearly forty volumes.

The word Tipitaka is made up of two words, ti means ‘three’ and pitaka means ‘baskets’.

The first part of the name refers to the fact that the Buddhist scriptures consist of three baskets. The first basket, called the Sutta Pitaka, contains all the Buddha’s discourses as well as some by his enlightened disciples. The type of material in the Sutta Pitaka is very diverse which allows it to communicate the truths that the Buddha taught to all different types of people. Many of the Buddha’s discourses are in the style of sermons while others are in the style of dialogues. Other parts like the Dhammapada present the Buddha’s teachings through poetry. The Dhammapada is one of the smallest works in the first sections of the Tipitaka. The name could be translated as ‘The Way of Truth’ or ‘Verses of Truth’. It has of 423 verses, some pithy, some profound, some containing appealing similes, all spoken by the Buddha. Dhammapada is the most popular piece of Buddhist literature. It has been translated into most major languages and is recognised as one of the masterpieces of world religious literature. The Jataka’s have delightful stories in which the main characters are sometimes animals. The second basket of the Tipitaka is called the Vinaya Pitaka. This contains the rules for monks and nuns, advice on monastic establishment and procedure and the early history of the monastic order. The last basket is called the Abhidhamma Pitaka. This is a complicated attempt to analyze and classify all that make up the individual. It is based on educational expansion of lists called matikas, which are summaries of the teachings found at different places in the Sutta Pitaka.

Now for the meaning pitaka. In ancient India construction workers used to move building materials from one place to another by a relay of baskets. They used to put the basket on their heads, work some distance to the next worker, pass it to him and he would repeat the process. Writing was known in the Buddha’s time, but as a medium it was considered less reliable than human memory. A book could rot in the monsoon damp or be eaten by white ants but a person’s memory could last as long as lived. Monks and nuns committed all the Buddha’s teachings to memory and passed it on to each other just as construction workers passed earth and bricks to each other in baskets. This is why the three sections of the Buddhist scriptures are called baskets. After being preserved in this manner for several hundred years the Tipitaka was finally written in about 100 B.C in Sri Lanka.

The Places Buddhists might go on Pilgrimage:

1. Buddha's Birth Place - Garden of Lumbini (Nepal)

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The Places Buddhists might go on Pilgrimage:

1. Buddha's Birth Place - Garden of Lumbini (Nepal)

The Garden of Lumbini. One of the four sacred sites of Buddhism (Sarnath, Bodh-gaya, Kushinagara), which is believed to be the place of birth of the Shakyamuni Buddha. Lumbini was near the capital of the Shakya kingdom, Kapilavastu, and is in the territory of present-day Nepal. In Lumbini there is a stone column that king Ashoka had destroyed there on the occasion of a pilgrimage in the year 249 BC. The engraving reads, "Twenty years after his coronation King Devanapiya Piyadasi came here and commemorated his veneration, because the Buddha, the sage of the Shakya clan, was born here. He had a stone relief and stone column set up to show that here a venerable one was born. He exempts the village of Lumbini from taxes and (reduces) its tribute in kind (from the usual quarter) to an eighth."

2. Nairanjana River, Uruvela Village (India)

3. Deer Park (Mrigadawa), Sarnath, India

Deer Park at Sarnath, India is the place of Buddha Shakyamuni's reunion with his five disciples and where he first turned the Wheel of Dharma. Buddha gave his first teachings to five human students, 80,000 holy beings and many animals. His message of love, compassion, equality and nonviolence was for all aware beings without exception. Many receivers of the teachings achieved Arhathood. Deer Park, is believed to be the birthplace of Buddhism, it is one of the most important pilgrimage sites, the place where the light of the Buddha's teaching first began to shrine for the entire world. Around 260 BC, Ashoka, India's greatest king, erected a 54-foot stone pillar topped with lions facing the four directions. The lions symbolize the Buddha's first teaching -the Four Noble Truths. Until the 12th century, Sarnath continued to be a major site for Buddhist pilgrimages. Many great masters, members of royal families, and devoted men and women came to this area to worship and pay their respects, benefiting from their efforts.

4. Bamboo Vihara

Where the Buddha often resided; it was called Kalantaka or Kalanta veluvana. According to Hiouen-Thsang's account, Kalanta was a rich merchant, who had at first given his garden to the Brahmans, but after hearing the sublime Law regretted his gift, and took it away from them. He caused a massive house to be built there, and offered it to the Buddha. It was there that the Buddha converted several of his most distinguished disciples - Sariputra, Moggallana and katyayana; it was also at this house that the first Council was held after his death.

5. Vultures' Peak Mountain (Gridharakuta Parvata)

Rajgir, Vulture's Peak Mountain, where Buddha turned the second Wheel of Dharma, bringing forth the Prajnaparamita teachings. The Buddha found pleasure in wandering about this mountain, so rich in grand and beautiful scenery shade by magnificent trees, and fresh with sparkling springs. It was there that, surrounded by his disciples, he taught the Lotus of the good Law, the Mahapradjna-Paramita Sutra, and many other Sutras.

7. Bodh-gaya

One of the four sacred Buddhists sites, ninety kilometers (55 miles) south of Patna. Here the Buddha reached complete enlightenment after having meditated for forty days under the Bodhi Tree. In Bodh-gaya the Mahabodhi Temple, built by a Singhalese king, still exists today, although in an altered form. In Bodh-gaya is there still today, located on the left side of the Mahabodhi Temple, a "grandchild" of the tree under which Siddhartha meditated for forty days. The original tree was destroyed in the 7th century by the Bengali king Shashanka; its offshoot fell victim to a storm in 1876. The trunk of the tree was of a whitish-yellow color, its leaves glossy green; and the travelers was told they did not fall either in autumn or in winter. Only, it was added, on the anniversary of the Buddha's Nirvana they all suddenly fall off, and the year the kings, ministers, and magistrates assembled on that day beneath the tree, watered it with milk, lighted lamps, scattered flowers, and withdrew, bearing away the leaves that had fallen.

8. Kushinagara

This is where the Shakyamuni Buddha entered parinirvana. After his death, his remains were burned outside Kushinagara. According to tradition, parts of the relics were preserved in a stupa in Kushinagara. The city became one of the most important Buddhist places of pilgrimage. By the time of the Chinese pilgrim Hsuan-tsang visited Kushinagara in the 7th century, it had already been destroyed.

Why Buddhists might want to go on Pilgrimages:

Pilgrimage is mentioned in the Pali Tipitaka where the Buddha says that ‘one should try to visit at least once in, Lumbini, Bodhgaya, Isipatana and Kusinara.’ He said that if the journey is undertaken with a 'devout heart' it would be very beneficial to one's spiritual growth. Pilgrimage, is like worshipping Buddha Statues or performing puja’s is a behavior growing out of and able to reinforce positive emotions like, faith determination and humility which in turn strengthens one's practice.

Buddhists will want to go on pilgrimage because they’ll want to go to all the places the Buddha went to and want to go the old place of the Buddha tree, where Sidartha Gautama got enlightened. In the Tipitaka it says that the Buddha said you should go on pilgrimage and they want to follow his teachings and also follow in his footsteps.

Uposatha days:

Uposatha days are related on the kind of moon there is. The most important day is when there’s a full moon. The other two-quarter days are called Uposatha, but are less important. On these days lay people may adopt the eight precepts. Some wear a white robe and stay at the monastery for a large part of the day.

The ‘rain’ retreat:

In northern India, where the Buddha preached, the monsoon begins about the end of June or the beginning of July and the rain lasts about three months. During these months monks and nuns are expected to stay in one place and they should not leave except in an emergency. When they stay in they use the time to study and meditate. At the end they have a ceremony when they ask for forgiveness of their fellows if they have offended them.

Wesak:

The most important Buddhist festival is on the full moon of the second month (May-July). Wesak is also the name of the month. The festival commemorates the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and death. All of these are believed to have happened on the same day of the year.

Temples are decorated, lanterns are made, and the Bodhi tree is often decorated with oil lamps. People also send Wesak cards to each other. The Burmese believe that this is the day all Buddha’s attain enlightenment.

In Japan, birth, enlightenment and death are all celebrated on three separate days.

Asala:

Asala is usually in July and it marks the preaching of the Buddha’s first sermon in the deer-park, “The Turning of the Wheel Law.”

It also the beginning of the ‘rains’ retreat. It’s when monks preach sermons recalling the first preaching.

Buddhism is the only religion that does not believe in a God. It started in India about 2500 years ago. A man named Siddartha Gautama lived in a palace and had all the things he wanted. A wise man predicted that he will be a grate ruler either a religious leader or a king. He got married. One day some girls who had been provided for Siddartha began telling him things about the outside world. Siddartha wanted to go out because he hadn’t ever gone outside the palace. His father tried his best to clean up the streets. But when Siddartha did go out for the first time he saw a holy man, a ill man and a old man. After seeing this he wanted to know the true meaning of life and became religious and left the palace to seek answers. He sat under a Bodhi tree when he was enlightened.