Yes. It’s the Tripitaka. In Pali (ancient Indian language, where Buddhism was born), Tripitaka means “three baskets”, in reference to the three parts of the book: the “Vinaya”, with the rules of conduct, the “Sutta”, which brings together the speeches of Buddha, and the «Abhidhamma», which is more philosophical. The history of this sacred book and of Buddhism goes back to the trajectory of the Indian Siddhartha Gautama (560-480 BC), who abandoned a life of luxury to seek wisdom. After meditating for a while, he concluded that suffering was caused by the desires that plagued men’s minds, such as corruption, hatred and delusion. For Siddhartha, if man annihilated these desires, he would reach nirvana, a state of peace far from all suffering. Because of this discovery, he became Buddha, which in Sanskrit means «enlightened one». For over 40 years, he toured India alongside disciples spreading his doctrines. “Throughout his life, Buddha’s 84,000 teachings were transformed into sutras, sort of rules for everyday life. They are what make up the Tripitaka”, says the lama (Buddhist priest) Padma Norbu, from the Odsal Ling temple, in São Paulo.
blessed literature
We explain the origin of five fundamental religious works
BOOK – Bible
SACRED TO – Christianity
WRITING BETWEEN – 1300 BC and 100 AD
WHO WROTE – Various prophets, including the apostles of Jesus
In Greek, Bible means “collection of books”. Christians believe that God wrote the Bible using men as instruments. It is divided into 46 books of the Old Testament, written before the birth of Jesus, and 27 of the New Testament, written between the 1st and 2nd centuries.
BOOK – Quran
SACRED TO – Islam
WRITTEN IN – 7th Century
WHO WROTE – Muhammad dictated the texts to his scribes
The content of the Koran brings together the divine revelations made by the angel Gabriel to Mohammed over the course of 20 years. But the Islamic holy book was only organized after the prophet’s death, in 632. Its 114 chapters compile the basic teachings of Islam: faith, prayer, charity, fasting and pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime
BOOK – Tripitaka
SACRED TO – Buddhism
WRITTEN BETWEEN – 500 BC and the beginning of the Christian era
WHO WROTE – Disciples of the Buddha
The «three baskets» (Tripitaka, in Pali) that the book contains are the «Vinaya Pitaka», with rules to guide the daily conduct of followers, «Sutta Pitaka», a collection of speeches attributed to Buddha and his disciples, and the “Abhidhamma Pitaka”, a philosophical inquiry into the nature of human mind and matter
BOOK – Tenakh
SACRED TO – Judaism
WRITTEN IN – 1300 BC (approximately)
WHO WROTE – Moses and Israeli prophets
The Tenakh brings together 24 books in three groups: Neviim («The Prophets»), Ketuvim («The Writings») and Torah («The Law»), which brings the first five books of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is attributed to the prophet Moses, who would have written the work based on a revelation from God
BOOK – The Book of Vedas
SACRED TO – Hinduism
WRITTEN BETWEEN – 1500 BC and 1200 BC
WHO WROTE – The authorship is unknown
In Sanskrit, Vedas means «knowledge». For Hindus, the book is the fruit of a divine revelation. For many centuries it has been preserved by the teachings passed down from father to son. The texts bring together hymns, incantations and magical recipes that form the basis of the Hindu religious tradition.