After 6 years of strenuous striving in His last life, the Buddha finally realized the Truth when He attained Supreme Enlightenment under the Bodhi tree in Bodhgaya, India. This monumental event happened on the full-moon day of Wesak in 588 BC. This topic of the “Four Noble Truths” is the very heart and core of Buddhism: These Truths, made known by the Buddha after His

5 Nikayas of Theravada Buddhism - structure and complete Review: Dīgha Nikāya - Collection of Long Discourses of the Buddha, Majjhima Nikāya - Collection of Medium Length Discourses of the Buddha. Saṁyutta Nikāya - 7762 suttas of varied length. Aṅguttara Nikāya - containing 9557 short suttas. Khuddaka Nikāya - Suttas not included in the first four Nikāyas

The Dhammasaṅgaṇī gives an enumeration of these dhammas classifying them under the Tika and Duka groups. Vibhaṅga analyses them to show what dhammas are contained in the major categories. Dhātukathā studies the relationship of dhammas listed in the Mātikā with each component of these major categories of khandhas, āyatanas and dhātus. Yamaka resolves ambiguity in the internal and external relationship of each dhamma.

The Suttanta Pitaka is a collection of all the discourses in their entirety delivered by the Buddha on various occasions. The discourses of the Buddha compiled together in the Suttanta Pitaka were expounded to suit different occasions, for various persons with different temperaments. The Suttanta Pitaka is divided into five separate collections known as Nikāyas: Dīgha, Majjhima, Samyutta, Aṅguttara and Khuddaka Nikāyas.

Abhidhamma is the third great division of the Piṭaka. It is a huge collection of systematically arranged, tabulated and classified doctrines of the Buddha, representing the quintessence of his Teaching. Abhidhamma means Higher Teaching or Special Teaching; it is unique in its abstruseness, analytical approach, immensity of scope and conduciveness to ones liberation. Abhidhamma Piṭaka is made up of seven massive treatises.

The Vinaya Piṭaka is made up of rules of discipline laid down for regulating the conduct of the Buddha's disciples who have been admitted as bhikkhus and bhikkhunnīs into the Order. These rules embody authoritative injunctions of the Buddha on modes of conduct and restraints on both physical and verbal actions. They deal with transgressions of discipline and admonitions in accordance with the nature of

Between two opposite viewpoints of eternalism (whether absolutistic or dualistic) and annihilation-ism lies the creed of the Buddha that though there is no unchanging self (ātman), still it is not a function of matter and is not completely denuded of all causal efficacy when particular bodily embodiment ceases to exist. Negation of the soul (anātma-vāda) amounts only to this, that its entitative persistence is denied.

The general structure of Buddha’s teachings, as it was described at First Turn of Dharma Wheel, consists of 37 aspects of the path to enlightenment (sometimes called also thirty-seven steps to Enlightenment). These aspects are divided into seven categories. They are : Mindfulness, Supreme Efforts, Necessary conditions, Skills and Strengths, branches of Attainment and the Noble Eightfold Path to Enlightenment.

Accordingly to three ways of practice (ethics, concentration and wisdom), Buddhist texts are divided depending on their subject to discipline, Buddha’s dialogs and metaphysics. If practitioner is truly able to start mastering these three ways of practice and study those texts and convey the same to others, we can say he is really a follower of Buddha Teachings. The need to practice and study these