Who wrote the Buddhist scriptures?

The Buddhist scriptures, also known as the Tripitaka, were originally written by Sakyamuni

The formation of the Tripitaka of Theravada Buddhism

According to the records of Theravada Buddhist classics, the history of Indian Buddhism ***

The life-size statue of Sakyamuni in the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodhgaya

has held four famous gatherings. The so-called gathering refers to a meeting held by Buddhists after the death of Sakyamuni[8] to recall, discuss and verify the remarks made by Sakyamuni when he was still alive. After these four gatherings, the Tipitaka of Hinayana Buddhism gradually formed a complete system.

1. The first gathering of Hinayana Buddhism:

90 days after Sakyamuni passed away, in order to prevent more monks from breaking the precepts in the Sangha, the Venerable Kassapa [9] Called 500 Arhats to hold the first gathering of Buddhist scriptures at Qiye Cave.

In the collection, Venerable Upali first recited the Buddhist precepts to form the Vinaya Collection. The full name is the Eighty-Reciting Vinaya Mahabini Collection. Since each precept in the book is a It is determined by the public's inquiries and answers, so it is regarded as the precepts established by the Buddha himself and is the foundation of all precepts. Later, Ananda recalled the Buddha's teachings and formed the Agama Sutra, which was the first teaching taught by Sakyamuni to the five bhikkhus after he became enlightened. It includes the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, the Twelve Causes and Conditions, etc. The most fundamental teachings are considered to be the Buddhist scriptures closest to original Buddhism.

2. The second gathering of Hinayana Buddhism:

110 years after the death of Sakyamuni, 700 monks headed by Elder Yasa held the second gathering in Vaishali Second assembly. This gathering held a discussion on the ten precepts (i.e., the ten things) proposed by Vaisali Bhikkhu. A few influential elders at the gathering decided that the ten things were illegal. The monks in Vaishali were not convinced by the decision of this gathering, so they held another meeting attended by about ten thousand people and judged the above ten things to be legal, thus forming the Public Department and Theravada Department.

3. The third gathering of Hinayana Buddhism:

226 years after the death of Sakyamuni, during the reign of King Ashoka, because King Ashoka respected Buddhism, every day

The Nirvana Statue of Sakyamuni Buddha

Tianzai supports tens of thousands of monks in Jiyuan Temple, including many heretics, which often causes disputes. Therefore, Emperor Moggallāna had to summon 1,000 monks for the third gathering in Huashi City (i.e., Potolli City) to reorganize the Agama Sutra. After the meeting, Emperor Moggallāna had to sort out the different arguments of various schools and form "On Matter", which was the first treatise in the history of Buddhism and played an important role in enriching Buddhist literature.

4. The fourth gathering of Hinayana Buddhism:

674 years after Sakyamuni passed away, during the reign of King Kanisaka, 500 monks came to the world as the Venerable World Friend. For His Majesty, the fourth gathering was held in Kashimila (now Kashmir). At the meeting, all the previous sutras, vinayas, and commentaries on the Tripitaka were summarized, and the Tripitaka was commented on. The first two annotations have been lost, and only the latter annotation has been preserved, forming the "Davipassa Treatise". At this point, the Tripitaka of Hinayana Buddhism has basically taken shape.

The formation of the Tripitaka of Mahayana Buddhism

In the history of Indian Buddhism, it is said that the emergence of Mahayana Buddhist scriptures is related to Nagarjuna Bodhisattva. According to Nagarjuna's biography, Nagarjuna had read all Theravada Buddhist scriptures in less than three months after becoming a monk. Later, when he passed by a snow-capped mountain, he met an old bhikkhu in a pagoda on the snow-capped mountain and received the Mahayan Sutra from the bhikkhu. Although he read the Lotus Sutra carefully

the Mahayana Sutra, he still did not understand the profound meaning of Buddhism, so he sat quietly in the crystal room and meditated on Buddhism. of mystery. At this time, the Great Dragon Bodhisattva took pity on his situation and took him to the Dragon Palace in the sea and taught him various profound Buddhist scriptures. Later, Nagarjuna Bodhisattva founded the Madhyamika school after studying the Mahayana Sutra and other Buddhist scriptures, and the theory of Mahayana Buddhism was completely established.

We divide the Mahayana Buddhist scriptures according to time into the early Mahayana sutras and the continued Mahayana sutras. The early Mahayana sutras are mainly the "Prajna Sutra", "Huayan Sutra" and "Huayan Sutra" developed from Fang and other sutras. Buddhist classics such as the Lotus Sutra, and the subsequent Mahayana sutras are mainly Buddhist classics such as the Nirvana Sutra, the Shenghuo Sutra, the Interpretation of the Deep Tantric Sutra, and the Lankavatara Sutra that appeared around the 4th to 5th centuries AD. .....

The formation of the Tripitaka of Tantric Buddhism

Tantraya is the final form of Buddhism

Maharaja Sutra

The Mahavairocana Sutra and the Vajra Sutra are the main sutra collections.

The Mahavairocana was formed in Central India in the 7th century AD. According to legend, it was a Buddhist sutra secretly preached by the Tathagata Mahavairocana for Vajrapani in the Vajra Dharmakaya Palace. This sutra mainly reveals the original enlightenment mandala for all living beings, that is, the inherent pure bodhicitta of all living beings. It also preaches the basic tantric teachings of the three secret methods of body, speech, and mind. It also introduces mandala, initiation, Tantric practice methods such as Huma, Seal Deed, and Mantra.

The "Vajra Crown Sutra" is the fundamental sutra of the Tantric Vajra Realm. According to legend, it has 100,000 verses. This sutra expounds the concept of the ultimate good nature of the great sage Sakyamuni Buddha, shows the true tantra of the universe and the gross, fine, subtle, fine and wonderful channels of tantric practitioners. It also illustrates the attainment of the body and the eternity of life. The essentials of Tantra.