After Siddhartha Gautama passed away,1.11 his disciples,headed by Mahakasyapa, a
senior disciple, held a convention in a cave called Seven Leaf
Tree Cliff (Seven Leaf Cave) to record his teachings in writing.
Different committees wereformed to record the various
aspects of the teachings. One group (headed byAnanda, a cousin of the Buddha) recorded the philosophy preached by
Buddha, which are the"Sutras".
Another group (headed by Upali) recorded the disciplines or
rules of conduct, which are
the "Vinaya" (Moral Canons).
Another group (headed by
Purna) debated on the philosophyand recorded the outcome of
the debate as "Abhidharma"(Treatise). So, the main
scriptures of Buddhism are theSutras, the Moral Canons,
and the Treatises.
During the convention of Seven Leaf
Cave, many scholars that did not
have the chance to
participate in the convention, gathered outside the cave, and headed
by Vaspa, recorded another five groups of scriptures:
1. Sutras, 2. Moral Canons(Vinaya), 3. Treatises (Abhidharma),
4. Miscellanous, 5. Chants (Mantras).
中藥詞典 