Humanity has always sought to capture and pass on to the descendants the accumulated experience and knowledge. Today we know many sources of ancient creativity. One of them is Tripitaka - it is rightly believed to be the largest book in the world. It contains legends, myths, as well as more practical information. Let us take a closer look at this prehistoric work.
Title: clarify an important issue
Sometimes people get confused about how to pronounce correctly: Tipitaka or Tripitaka. In fact, it’s easy to figure out if you get to the bottom of this title. It translates as "three baskets." That is at the root of the word is a number. Therefore, it is correct to pronounce Tripitaka. This is a collection that has been created for several millennia. According to legend, it got its name due to the fact that in ancient times books were written on palm leaves. Scrolls were sorted by content and placed in baskets. There were three of them. Hence the figurative name of labor, which is one of the oldest libraries of wisdom.
Scientists are also concerned about the explanation of the name of the book. An idea was put forward that did not receive a worthy refutation. "Three baskets" do not mean quite a container. The authors had in mind the division of labor into topics. We can say that Tripitaka is a kind of three-volume, the material in which is strictly sorted and structured. The idea of the creators is understandable, since the work includes legends, tales, philosophical treatises, rules of behavior, and the like. It’s not good to drop everything in one pile. In addition, you must consider the length of time the book was created. Different people have been working for more than five millennia.
The Holy Book of Tripitaka: History
Experts say that the book acquired its current form in 80 BC. It has been polished before that for five millennia. The texts were originally transmitted orally. They were collected and memorized by the monks. Naturally, they were modified, refined, supplemented with new details and lexical formulas. That is, Tripitaka is the result of collective creativity.
At some point, enthusiasts began to record parts of the collected wisdom so that they were not lost. It is believed that the first of the baskets was filled with a kind of set of rules for monks. You need to understand that these people lived in very difficult conditions of lack of food, water and everything necessary. The spiritual mentors of the monks were concerned about how to create an ideal community. The developed rules are aimed at making people's lives comfortable and harmonious. That is, the Tripitaka book was at first an unofficial Buddhist charter. Texts contain rules of conduct. This is probably the first collection of etiquette in the world for a certain group of the population.
Book structure
The Buddhist canon Tripitaka became the basis for the development of different schools. The creators of the six directions of this religion rely on his texts. The first basket (part) contains the rules for community members. They describe the process of admission to monks, confession. In addition, part of the texts describes how to act in certain cases. For example, the rules of life during the rainy season, restrictions on clothing and the like.
The second part, the basket of teachings, consists of the statements of teachers. Most of it is occupied by the words of the Buddha and his disciples. This section of the Sutt Pitaka is called. It contains valuable information about the traditions of ancient India, describes the life of the Buddha, his last days.
Abhidhama-pitaka - the third part of the teaching is philosophical. It describes the meaning of the Buddhist doctrine of the world as a product of human consciousness. It is believed that these texts were written much later than the first two parts. Some branches of Buddhism do not recognize them as divine.
Why was this book created?
Buddhists for a long time limited themselves to oral creativity. Exactly no one will now explain why they decided to write down their laws. Most likely, the point is population growth. The number of believers increased, and this started the process of changing texts attributed to the deity. The holy books of the world's religions (Vedas, Avesta, Tripitaka) were created in order to preserve, not lose the wisdom inherited by people in ancient times.
It is no secret that each person perceives information in his own way. A feature of oral creativity is variability, teamwork to improve legends. One will add a word, the other will replace with a more suitable one and so on. And the adherents of the Buddha considered it important to preserve the integrity of his statements. Perhaps this was when writing arose. Legends and legends were laid on palm leaves, so that the descendants would touch the truth, words that once came from the holy mouth.
Or is it all out of date?
The modern reader has every right to be indignant: “Why study such junk?” The main thing here is to get rid of pride and look into the described literature. Sources of knowledge such as the Bible, Quran, Tripitaka, are very different from modern books. It's all about the content. The thoughts expressed in the holy texts relate to all possible aspects of human life. They remain relevant in our difficult age.
For thousands of years, people have been interested in the same topics about the essence of the concepts of good and evil, about the ability to recognize fraud, choose the path, and resist the temptation. Nothing changes. But in order to realize this truth, it is necessary to study several chapters.
The most important task was to ensure the safety of the source. And if the Bible and the Qur'an did not undergo strong changes, then Buddhism demonstrated other processes. Tripitaka is now known in various forms. Each school considers its own true.
"Reconciliation of hours"
It came to the point that Buddhist figures came to the conclusion that it was necessary to rethink the ancient texts. A successful attempt was made in 1871. A special Buddhist cathedral was held in Mandalay (now Burma), in which about two and a half thousand monks took part. Each brought his own version of the holy book. The texts were checked literally by letter. The aim of the work was to develop a unified version of the book. They did not stop there.
In order not to repeat the confusion and discrepancies of books, which at that time were still corresponded and translated by various authors, they decided to turn wisdom into stone. Unified texts were carved on marble slabs. There were 729 of them in total. Each slab was placed in a small separate temple. The place where the buildings are concentrated is called Cutodo. This is a kind of stone Buddhist library. Pilgrims flock here to touch the shrines.
Sutt Pitaka
Let's reveal the essence of the sections of Buddhist teachings. If the first part consists of rules of conduct, then the second has a slightly different focus. As already indicated, this section contains many quotes from the Buddha himself. In his speeches, the teacher paid attention to stories about the superiority of teaching, its difference from Brahmanism and popular superstitions. Apparently, before our era, people were more interested in spirituality than in obtaining food. The discussion about the correctness of the chosen path has come down to us in the holy books of various religions. In the Sutta Pitaka, much space is devoted to discussions about compassion, love for one's neighbor, and the importance of maintaining inner calm. But asceticism is criticized as a method of salvation. This section reveals the creation myths. Still describes the earthly path of Buddha, the circumstances of his death.
Abhidhama pitaka
The third, most controversial, basket is of great interest to the researcher. It contains philosophical reflections on the knowledge of the world. We perceive everything through our own feelings. According to the texts, this is the process of creating everything. That is, perceiving external information, a person affects it. Everything in this universe is interconnected. You cannot remain an outside observer. For example, paying attention to a plant or the flow of water, you already begin to interact with the process, to influence it. In this part of the book, the religious-philosophical and ethical issues of Buddhism are examined. All quotes contained in the section are attributed to the Buddha. However, some schools do not recognize this and attribute the third basket to non-canonical literature. Hence a long debate arises between the branches of Buddhism. For example, Tripitaka Tibet is different from the text of a book adopted in China.
Conclusion
The study of ancient texts is important for modern man. The bustle of everyday life does not leave him time to think about things that are important for the soul. Surprisingly, before our era, people understood the meaning of such reasoning. Probably, at some point, the direction of development of civilization shifted slightly towards the material. That is why ancient texts remain relevant. For more than two millennia, mankind has not been able to come up with anything fundamentally new in the field of spiritual research. We simply analyze the truths received by the ancients, try to explain them deeper, reveal more. It is like a catastrophe of civilization. We have created electronics, constantly improving weapons, and why we came to this world, we learn from books written in ancient times. What do you think, what can be said about humanity as a whole and its creative potential?