Early Buddhist texts

Early Buddhist texts (EBTs), early Buddhist literature or early Buddhist discourses are parallel texts shared by the early Buddhist schools. The most widely studied EBT material are the first four Pali Nikayas, as well as the corresponding Chinese Āgamas.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] However, some scholars have also pointed out that some Vinaya material, like the Patimokkhas of the different Buddhist schools, as well as some material from the earliest Abhidharma texts could also be quite early.^[5]^[6]

Besides the large collections in Pali and Chinese, there are also fragmentary collections of EBT materials in Sanskrit, Khotanese, Tibetan and Gāndhārī. The modern study of early pre-sectarian Buddhism often relies on comparative scholarship using these various early Buddhist sources.^[7]

Various scholars of Buddhist studies such as Richard Gombrich, Akira Hirakawa, Alexander Wynne and A. K. Warder hold that Early Buddhist texts contain material that could possibly be traced to the historical Buddha himself or at least to the early years of pre-sectarian Buddhism.^[8]^[9]^[10] According to the Japanese scholar Akira Hirakawa, "any attempt to ascertain the original teachings of the historical Buddha must be based on this literature."^[11]

In Mahayana Buddhism, these texts are sometimes referred to as "Hinayana" or "Śrāvakayāna" texts and are not considered Mahayana works.

^ Tse-Fu Kuan. Mindfulness in similes in Early Buddhist literature in Edo Shonin, William Van Gordon, Nirbhay N. Singh. Buddhist Foundations of Mindfulness, page 267.
^ Mun-Keat Choong (1999). The Notion of Emptiness in Early Buddhism, Motilal Banarsidass, p. 3.
^ Rupert Gethin (1998), The Foundations of Buddhism, OUP Oxford, pp. 42-43.
^ Shulman, Eviatar. Mindful Wisdom: The Sati-paṭṭhāna-sutta on Mindfulness, Memory, and Liberation. Vol. 49, No. 4 (May 2010), pp. 393-420
^ * Sujato, Bhante; Brahmali, Bhikkhu (2015), The Authenticity of the Early Buddhist Texts (PDF), Chroniker Press, pp. 9–10, ISBN 978-1-312-91150-5
^ Frauwallner, Erich. Kidd, Sophie Francis (translator). Steinkellner, Ernst (editor). Studies in Abhidharma Literature and the Origins of Buddhist Philosophical Systems. SUNY Press. pp. 18, 100.
^ e.g. "Mun-keat, Choong (2000), The Fundamental Teachings of Early Buddhism" and "Analayo. Early Buddhist Meditation Studies (Volume 1)"
^ Warder, A. K. (2004). Indian Buddhism, 3rd Revised edition. Motilal Banarsidass.
^ Gombrich, Richard F. (1997). How Buddhism Began. Munshiram Manoharlal.
^ Wynne, Alexander. Did the Buddha exist? JOCBS. 2019(16): 98–148.
^ Hirakawa, Akira (1993) A History of Indian Buddhism: From Śākyamuni to Early Mahāyāna, Motilal Banarsidass Publ. p. 38.

[1] Tse-Fu Kuan. Mindfulness in similes in Early Buddhist literature in Edo Shonin, William Van Gordon, Nirbhay N. Singh. Buddhist Foundations of Mindfulness, page 267.

[:3-2] Mun-Keat Choong (1999). The Notion of Emptiness in Early Buddhism, Motilal Banarsidass, p. 3.

[3] Rupert Gethin (1998), The Foundations of Buddhism, OUP Oxford, pp. 42-43.

[4] Shulman, Eviatar. Mindful Wisdom: The Sati-paṭṭhāna-sutta on Mindfulness, Memory, and Liberation. Vol. 49, No. 4 (May 2010), pp. 393-420

[5] * Sujato, Bhante; Brahmali, Bhikkhu (2015), The Authenticity of the Early Buddhist Texts (PDF), Chroniker Press, pp. 9–10, ISBN 978-1-312-91150-5

[:4-6] Frauwallner, Erich. Kidd, Sophie Francis (translator). Steinkellner, Ernst (editor). Studies in Abhidharma Literature and the Origins of Buddhist Philosophical Systems. SUNY Press. pp. 18, 100.

[7] .g. "Mun-keat, Choong (2000), The Fundamental Teachings of Early Buddhism" and "Analayo. Early Buddhist Meditation Studies (Volume 1)"

[8] Warder, A. K. (2004). Indian Buddhism, 3rd Revised edition. Motilal Banarsidass.

[9] Gombrich, Richard F. (1997). How Buddhism Began. Munshiram Manoharlal.

[:1-10] Wynne, Alexander. Did the Buddha exist? JOCBS. 2019(16): 98–148.

[11] Hirakawa, Akira (1993) A History of Indian Buddhism: From Śākyamuni to Early Mahāyāna, Motilal Banarsidass Publ. p. 38.

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