Is the buddhists holy book called the holy scriptures?

Answer 1

Buddhism does not have a formal unity in terms of doctrine or historic revelation as Abrahamic Faiths do. As a result there is no a complete unity between Buddhists as to what the Buddhist Holy Book(s) are and some even say that there are no Buddhist Holy Books. There are the various views and opinions on the matter.

This question is a bit complicated because there are four main types of Buddhism, which are Mahayana, Theravada, Vajrayana, and Zen, and each of these has a variety of books which may be considered sacred to some extent. The oldest and most definitive such book, which is basic to Theravada Buddhism, is called the Pali Manuscript (after the ancient Pali language in which it was originally written).

Some books considered holy by Buddhists include the Triptaka which is composed of the Sutra Pitaka, Vinaya Pitaka, and the Abhidhamma Pitaka. The Lotus Sutra and the Gosho are less important and may only be holy in certain Buddhist sects like Nichiren. There are then commentaries by many great Buddhist teachers based on the teachings of the Buddha or inspired by him. Then a third category of scripture come from more esoteric sources like Bodhisattva's and Buddhas residing in different realms and the pure land.

There are views holding that there are no holy books in Buddhism, either because Buddhism does not assert Divine Revelation, so all of the books are known to be man-made, or because Buddhism does not have a strong theology and can accept the holy books of other religions.

Answer 2

The Buddhist holy scriptures are known as the Tripitaka, which means "Three Baskets." It is a collection of teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism. This collection is divided into three sections: the Vinaya Pitaka (rules for monks), the Sutta Pitaka (discourses), and the Abhidhamma Pitaka (philosophical and psychological texts).

Answer 3

The Buddha, himself, used no Holy book to attain enlightenment. Once he attain enlightenment he himself wrote no books but lectured to those who would listen. Others wrote down what The Buddha spoke. These books are called the Tipitaka.

Answer 4

Answer: Kitab-I-Aqdas (Aqdas for short) is considered the primary Baha'i holy book but there are others as well.

Answer: Members of this religion tend to call it "The Bahá'í Faith", not "Bahaism". Anything written by either of the founders, known as the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh, is considered, by believers, to be Holy Scripture - and each of them wrote the equivalent of ca. 100 volumes. Books by Bahá'u'lláh that have been translated into English include the Most Holy Book (Kitab-i-Aqdas), the Book of Certitude (Kitab-i-Iqan), The Hidden Words, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh (this is really an extract of several other scriptures), Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, and many others.

Answer 5

Books in general are treated the same:

* Valuable books (antiques, rare, unique) are treated in a way that preserves their value * Books of continuing worth (well bound, full of information, useful, reference works) are treated in way that preserves their long life so you don't have to repurchase them. They may however accumulate marginal notes and similar "improvements" * Books of cultural significance (Bibles, Qur'ans. etc.) can be treated as either of the above but with the added burden is that you or others may feel insulted by their mis-use or casual disposal.

* "One use" books (cheap magazines, paperbacks) may be read and discarded unless they fall into the "cultural signiifcance" category (In that case the must be treated with some deference) Books on Buddhism fall into all of these categories with one proviso. As Buddhism has no god(s) there is no "holy" book. Some texts and writings are however revered and are teated as being culturally significant.