The Pali Canon is a vast body of literature: in English translation the texts add up to several thousand printed pages. Most -- but not all -- of the Canon has already been published in English over the years. Although only a small fraction of these texts are available here at Access to Insight, this collection can nonetheless be a very good place to start.

The three divisions of the Tipitaka are:

• Vinaya Pitaka
  The collection of texts concerning the rules of conduct governing the daily affairs within the Sangha -- the community of bhikkhus (ordained monks) and bhikkhunis (ordained nuns). Far more than merely a list of rules, the Vinaya Pitaka also includes the stories behind the origin of each rule, providing a detailed account of the Buddha's solution to the question of how to maintain communal harmony within a large and diverse spiritual community.

• Sutta Pitaka
  The collection of discourses, attributed to the Buddha and a few of his closest disciples, containing all the central teachings of Theravada Buddhism. (Over six hundred sutta translations are available here.)

• Abhidhamma Pitaka
  The collection of texts in which the underlying doctrinal principles presented in the Sutta Pitaka are reworked and reorganized into a systematic framework that can be applied to an investigation into the nature of mind and matter.

A Map Showing the
Major Divisions of the Tipitaka

                          Tipitaka
                             |
                             |
     +-----------------------+--------------------------+
     |                       |                          |
Vinaya Pitaka           Abhidhamma Pitaka          Sutta Pitaka
     |                       |                          |
  Suttavibhanga           Dhammasangani                 |
  Mahavagga               Vibhanga                      |
  Cullavagga              Dhatukatha                    |
  Parivara                Puggalapaññatti               |
                          Kathavatthu                   |
                          Yamaka                        |
                          Patthana                      |
                                                        |
     +-------------+--------------+---------------+-----+-----+
     |             |              |               |           |
Digha Nikaya       |      Samyutta Nikaya         |           |
           Majjhima Nikaya               Anguttara Nikaya     |
                                                              |
                                                      Khuddaka Nikaya
                                                              |
                                 +----------------------------+
                                 |
     +---------+----+----+-------+----+------+--+-----+------+
     |         |    |    |       |    |      |  |     |      |
Khuddakapatha  |    |    |       |    |      |  |     |      |
        Dhammapada  |    |       |    |      |  |     |      |
                  Udana  |       |    |      |  |     |      |
                     Itivuttaka  |    |      |  |     |      |
                         Sutta Nipata |      |  |     |      |
                                Vimanavatthu |  |     |      |
                                    Petavatthu  |     |      |
                                         Theragatha   |      |
                                               Therigatha    |
                                                        Jataka
                                                        Niddesa
                                                        Patisambhidamagga
                                                        Apadana
                                                        Buddhavamsa
                                                        Cariyapitaka
                                                        Nettippakarana
                                                        Petakopadesa
                                                        Milindapañha

• A Guide to Learning the Pali Language offers some suggestions for people interested in learning the Pali language.
• Handbook of Pali Literature, by Somapala Jayawardhana (Colombo: Karunaratne & Sons, Ltd., 1994). A guide, in dictionary form, through the Pali Canon, with detailed descriptions of the major landmarks in the Canon.
• An Analysis of the Pali Canon, Russell Webb, ed. (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1975). An indispensable "roadmap" and outline of the Pali Canon. Contains an excellent index listing suttas by name.
• Guide to Tipitaka, U Ko Lay, ed. (Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1990). Another excellent outline of the Tipitaka, containing summaries of many important suttas.
• Buddhist Dictionary, by Nyanatiloka Mahathera (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1980). A classic handbook of important terms and concepts in Theravada Buddhism.