Tibetan Buddhist Canon

Inside of a storehouse for woodblocks that are used to print Tibetan texts in the traditional style.

The Tibetan Buddhist Canon refers to the core texts of Tibetan Buddhism. There are two main collections of texts that are accepted by all Tibetan Buddhists as "canonical". These are:

• Kangyur (Wylie: bka'-'gyur) or "translated words", contains sutras and tantras, which are considered "the word of the Buddha" in the Tibetan tradition.
• Tengyur (Wylie: bstan-'gyur) or "translated treatises", contains works written by Indian Buddhist masters that explain and elaborate on the words of the Buddha.

The Kangyur and Tengyur consist primarily of texts that were translated from Indian languages (mainly Sanksrit) into Tibetan between the 7th and 14th centuries (during the later stages of Indian Buddhism). They also includes a small number of texts that were translated from Chinese and Central Asian languages.

In addition to the Kangyur and Tengyur, some Tibetan Buddhists (mainly from the Nyingma school) also consider collections of Nyingma tantras as "canonical" texts.

The Tibetan canon is one of the three extant Buddhist canonical collections, the other two being the Chinese Buddhist Canon, and the Pali Canon.

Collections

Kangyur

Error creating thumbnail:

Tibetan texts in traditional "pecha" format

Main article: Kangyur

The Kangyur contains sutras and tantras, which are considered "the word of the Buddha" in the Tibetan tradition.

Generally, the main categories of the Kangyur are:

• Vinaya (dealing with monastic discipline, etc.)
• Sutras
  • Prajñaparamita (the "Perfection of Wisdom”)
  • Avatamsaka (the “Flower-Ornament”)
  • Ratnakuta (the “Heap of Jewels”)
  • General Sutra Section (a collection of 266 sūtras, containing both Mahayana and Sravakayana sutras)
  • Thirteen late translated sutras (a group of Theravada sutras)
• Tantras
  • Tantra (a collection of 468 tantras, mainly from the "later translation period")
  • Nyingma Tantra (seventeen tantras from the "early translation period")
  • Kalachakra (the “Wheel of Time”)

  (see Classes of Tantra in Tibetan Buddhism)

• Dharani (collection of dharanis)

Tengyur

Error creating thumbnail:

Young monks printing scriptures. Sera Monastery, Tibet. 1993

Main article: Tengyur

The Tengyur contains works written by Indian Buddhist masters that explain and elaborate on the words of the Buddha.

Generally, the main categories of the Tengyur are:

• Praises
• Tantra (Vajrayana treatises)
• Prajñaparamita (treatises on the “transcendent perfection of wisdom”)
• Madhyamaka (treatises based on Nagarjuna’s “middle way” philosophy)
• Sutra-commentary (general treatises on sutra topics)
• Cittamatra (treatises related to the “mind-only” views or to some of Asanga’s works)
• Abhidharma (summaries and systematic compilations of doctrine)
• Vinaya (treatises dealing mainly with monastic discipline)
• Jataka (the stories of the Buddha’s previous lives as a bodhisattva)
• Epistles
• Logic
• Language
• Medicine
• Crafts
• Mundane Treatises

Nyingma tantras

In addition to the Kangyur and Tengyur, some Tibetan Buddhists (mainly from the Nyingma school) also consider "two additional types of collections as having a canonical status equal to that of the Kangyurs, if not higher." They are:

• the Nyingma Gyubum (a collection of Nyingma tantras)
• collections of individual groups of terma (treasure texts), such as the Rinchen Terdzö (a famous collection of treasure texts).

Tibetan texts

The following online libraries contain the Tibetan texts of the Kangyur and Tengyur:

• Resources for Kanjur and Tanjur Studies, University of Vienna
• Home page, The Buddhist Digital Archives (BUDA)
• The Buddhist Canons Research Database, AIBS

English-language translations

84000 translation project

A large-scale effort is currenlty underway by the 84000 Translation Group to systematically translate all of the texts from the Kangyur and Tengyur. As of May 2026, about 50% of the texts from the Kangyur have been translated, and only a few texts from the Tengyur. The 84000 website contains an English-language catalog of the texts, their current translation status, and the translated texts where available.

• 84000 - Reading Room, 84000 Collection

Lotsawa House

The Lotsawa House website contains translations of (mostly shorter) texts into English and other languages:

• Lotsawa House, Lotsawa House

Translation groups

There are many small translation groups and individual translators currently active in translating texts from the Tibetan language into English. A list of translation groups can be found at these pages:

• Translation Grants, 84000 Collection
• Translators, Tsadra Foundation
• Translation_Groups, Rangjung Yeshe Wiki

Other significant collections

Other important collections of texts that are not mentioned previously include:

• Sangbum - a collection of about 5000 commentaries by Tibetan scholars
• Other commentaries by Tibetan scholars (not included in the Sangbum)
• Tibetan texts included within Dunhuang manuscripts

Sources

• Dalai Lama; Thubten Chodron (2014), Buddhism: One Teacher, Many Traditions, Wisdom Publications 
• Stanley, Phillip (2014), "The Tibetan Buddhist Canon", The Wiley Blackwell Companion to East and Inner Asian Buddhism, John Wiley & Sons, pp. 383–407 . PDF version

Further reading

Print publications:

• The Many Canons of Tibetan Buddhism, edited by Helmut Eimer and David Germano, Brill’s Tibetan Studies Library, 2002

Web publications:

• Facts and Figures about Kangyur and Tengyur, 84000 Collection
• Tibetan Buddhist canon, Wikipedia
• The Tibetan Canon - Overview, Buddhanet.org