Tipiṭaka or Tripiṭaka meaning " Triple Basket ", is the traditional term for ancient collections of Buddhist sacred scriptures . The Tripiṭaka is composed of three main categories of texts that collectively constitute the Buddhist canon: the Sutra Piṭaka , the Vinaya Piṭaka , and the Abhidhamma Piṭaka . The Pāli Canon maintained by the Theravāda tradition in Southeast Asia, the Chinese Buddhist Canon maintained by the East Asian Buddhist tradition, and the Tibetan Buddhist Canon maintained by the Tibetan Buddhist tradition are some of the most important Tripiṭaka in contemporary Buddhist world. Tripiṭaka has become a term used for many schools' collections, although their general divisions do not match a strict division into three piṭakas. Edward Joseph Thomas (30 July 1869 – 11 February 1958) was an English classicist, librarian and author of several books on the history of Buddhism .