The

Tibetan Buddhist canon The Tibetan Buddhist canon is a loosely defined list of sacred texts recognized by various sects of Tibetan Buddhism. In addition to sutrayana texts from Early Buddhist schools (mostly Sarvastivada) and Mahayana sources, the Tibetan canon incl ...

is a loosely defined collection of sacred texts recognized by various schools of

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

, comprising the Kangyur or Kanjur ('Translation of the Word') and the Tengyur or Tanjur (

Tengyur The Tengyur or Tanjur or Bstan-’gyur (Tibetan: "Translation of Teachings") is the Tibetan collection of commentaries to the Buddhist teachings, or "Translated Treatises". The Buddhist Canon To the Tengyur were assigned commentaries to b ...

) ('Translation of Treatises'). Calligrapher writing Gold Kangyur

Tibetan Buddhist Canon

In addition to earlier foundational Buddhist texts from early Buddhist schools, mostly the

Sarvastivada The ''Sarvāstivāda'' (Sanskrit and Pali: 𑀲𑀩𑁆𑀩𑀢𑁆𑀣𑀺𑀯𑀸𑀤, ) was one of the early Buddhist schools established around the reign of Ashoka (3rd century BCE).Westerhoff, The Golden Age of Indian Buddhist Philosop ...

and

Mahayana ''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing br ...

texts, the Tibetan canon includes Tantric texts. The last category is not always sharply distinguished from the others: the Tantra division sometimes includes material usually not thought of as Tantric in other traditions, such as the Heart Sutra and even versions of material found in the

Pali Canon The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from the Tamrashatiya school. During ...

. The Tibetans did not have a formally arranged

canon, and so devised their own scheme with two broad categories: the "Words of the Buddha" and later the commentaries; the Kangyur and

respectively. The Tengyur underwent a final compilation in the 14th century by

Bu-ston Butön Rinchen Drup (), (1290–1364), 11th Abbot of Shalu Monastery, was a 14th-century Sakya master and Tibetan Buddhist leader. Shalu was the first of the major monasteries to be built by noble families of the Tsang dynasty during Tibet's g ...

(1290–1364). There is no proof that Bu-ston also took part in the collection and edition of the Tsal pa Kangyur, although he consecrated a copy of this Kangyur 1351 when he visited (Eimer 1992:178). According to '' sakya mchog ldan'' (1428-1507), Bu-soon edited a Kanjur; however, it is not known which one. "The Kangyur usually takes up a hundred or a hundred and eight volumes, the Tengyur two hundred and twenty-five, and the two together contain 4,569 works." *Kangyur or "Translated Words" consists of works in about 108 volumes supposed to have been spoken by the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

himself. All texts presumably once had a

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

original, although in many cases the Tibetan text was translated from Chinese or some other language. *Tengyur or "Translated Treatises" contains commentaries, treatises and

abhidharma The Abhidharma are ancient (third century BCE and later) Buddhist texts which contain detailed scholastic presentations of doctrinal material appearing in the Buddhist ''sutras''. It also refers to the scholastic method itself as well as the f ...

works (both Mahayana and non-Mahayana), in all, around 3,626 texts in 224 volumes. The Kangyur is divided into sections on

Vinaya The Vinaya (Pali & Sanskrit: विनय) is the division of the Buddhist canon ('' Tripitaka'') containing the rules and procedures that govern the Buddhist Sangha (community of like-minded ''sramanas''). Three parallel Vinaya traditions rema ...

Perfection of Wisdom A Tibetan painting with a Prajñāpāramitā sūtra at the center of the mandala Prajñāpāramitā ( sa, प्रज्ञापारमिता) means "the Perfection of Wisdom" or "Transcendental Knowledge" in Mahāyāna and Theravāda B ...

sutras, other

sutra ''Sutra'' ( sa, सूत्र, translit=sūtra, translit-std=IAST, translation=string, thread)Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an ap ...

s (75% Mahayana, 25%

Hinayana Hīnayāna (, ) is a Sanskrit term literally meaning the "small/deficient vehicle". Classical Chinese and Tibetan teachers translate it as "smaller vehicle". The term is applied collectively to the ''Śrāvakayāna'' and ''Pratyekabuddhayāna'' p ...

), and

tantra Tantra (; sa, तन्त्र, lit=loom, weave, warp) are the esoteric traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism that developed on the Indian subcontinent from the middle of the 1st millennium CE onwards. The term ''tantra'', in the India ...

s. It includes texts on the

, monastic discipline, metaphysics, and the

s. Some describe the

prajñāpāramitā A Tibetan painting with a Prajñāpāramitā sūtra at the center of the mandala Prajñāpāramitā ( sa, प्रज्ञापारमिता) means "the Perfection of Wisdom" or "Transcendental Knowledge" in Mahāyāna and Theravāda ...

philosophy, others extol the virtues of the various

bodhisattva In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schools ...

s, while others expound the Trikāya and the Ālaya-Vijñāna doctrines. When the term Kangyur was first used is unknown. Collections of canonical Buddhist texts existed already in the time of

Trisong Detsen Tri Songdetsen () was the son of Me Agtsom, the 38th emperor of Tibet. He ruled from AD 755 until 797 or 804. Tri Songdetsen was the second of the Three Dharma Kings of Tibet, playing a pivotal role in the introduction of Buddhism to Tibet and th ...

, the sixth king of

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

, who ruled from 755 until 797 CE, in

Spiti Spiti (pronounced as Piti in Bhoti language) is a high-altitude region of the Himalayas, located in the north-eastern part of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The name "Spiti" means "The middle land", i.e. the land between Tib ...

. The exact number of texts in the Kangyur is not fixed. Each editor takes responsibility for removing texts they consider spurious, and adding new translations. Currently there are about 12 available versions of the Kangyur. These include the

Derge Derge (; ) is a town in Dêgê County in Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan, China. It was once the center of the Kingdom of Derge in Kham. History Historically, Derge, which means "land of mercy", was an important centre of Tibe ...

Lhasa Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Region in Southwest China. The inner urban area of Lhasa ...

, Narthang Monastery, Narthang, Cuona County, Cone, Peking, Ulan Bator, Urga, Phudrak, and Stog Palace versions, each named for the physical location where it was printed. In addition, some canonical texts have been found in Tabo Monastery and Dunhuang which provide earlier exemplars of texts found in the Kangyur. All extant Kangyur appear to stem from the Old Narthang Monastery Kangyur. The stemma of the Kangyur have been well researched, by Helmut Eimer in particular.

Bön Kangyur

The Tibetan Bön religion also has its canon literature divided into two sections called the Kangyur and Tengyur, said to have been translated from foreign languages, but the number and contents of the collection are not yet fully known. Apparently, Bön began to take on a literary form about the time Buddhism entered Tibet. The Bön Kangyur contains the revelations of Tonpa Shenrab (Wylie: ''gShen rab''), the traditional founder of Bön. A version was published in 1993-1997.苯教《大藏经》的形成及其发展
/ref>

Footnotes

External links

Resources for Kanjur & Tanjur Studies
~ Universität Wien
The Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center

Kangyur
@Rigpawiki

84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha

An Account of the Various Editions of Kangyur and the Results of Their Collation
* Sándor Kőrösi Csoma, Csoma, ''Analysis of the Dulva'', part of the Kangyur, Asiatic Researches, Calcutta, 1836, vol. 20-1, pp. 41-93
en ligne
. {{Buddhism topics Tripiṭaka Tibetan Buddhist texts

Tibetan Buddhist Canon

Bön Kangyur

Footnotes

Further reading

External links