The History of Buddhist Thought c27.4

c27.4

The Buddhism of Tibet and the Far East is important in the first place through the fact that most of the Mahāyāna literature and a good number of Sarvāstivāda works were translated first into Chinese and later into Tibetan. From the Tibetan followed Mongolian translations. Since much of the literature in the original Sanskrit has disappeared, these translations come to be of the highest importance. The Tibetan translations, owing to the structure of the language, have been done in such a faithful manner that it is often possible to reconstruct the original Sanskrit. The translation of the Scriptures known as the Kanjur (bkah-hgyur) in 100 or 108 volumes was completed between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries. There is also a collection of commentaries and secular works known as the Tanjur (bstan-hgyur).² Tibetan Buddhism, except for some historical and grammatical works, has been little but a development of the less worthy elements introduced from India along with superstitions of its own.