Sutta Pitaka - Your Art History Reference Guide!

ArtHistoryClub Information Site on Sutta Pitaka Art History Art History Search        Art History Browse        Classroom welcome to our free resource site for all art history lovers!
Art History Search        Art History Browse             News        Gallery        Forums        Articles        Weblinks        welcome to our free resource site for all art history lovers!

Sutta Pitaka


The Sutta Pitaka (or Sutra Pitaka) is the second of three divisions of the Tipitaka, the great Pali collection of Buddhist writings. The Sutta Pitaka contains more than 10,000 suttas (teachings) attributed to the Buddha or his close companions.

There are five nikayas (collections) of suttas:

  1. Digha Nikaya , the "long" discourses. These include The Greater Discourse on the Foundations of Mindfulness, The Fruits of the Contemplative Life, and The Buddha's Last Days. There are 34 long suttas in this nikaya.
  2. Majjhima Nikaya , the "medium-length" discourses. These include Shorter Exposition of Kamma, Mindfulness of Breathing, and Mindfulness of the Body. There are 152 medium-length suttas in this nikaya.
  3. Samyutta Nikaya , the "clustered" discourses. There are 2,889 shorter suttas clustered together by subject.
  4. Anguttara Nikaya , the "gradual collection". These teachings are arranged for mnemonic purposes. It includes 9,557 very short sutras grouped by number.
  5. Khuddaka Nikaya , the "minor collection". This is a heterogeneous mix of sermons, doctrines, and poetry attributed to the Buddha and his disciples. The well-known Dhammapada is in this section.

See also

Last updated: 08-05-2005 02:50:31
Last updated: 01-04-2007 01:18:57
The contents of this article are licensed from Wikipedia.org under the
GNU Free Documentation License. See original document.
Art History Search | Art History Browse | Contact | Legal info