Buddhism

===Early Buddhist texts===
{{Main|Early Buddhist Texts}}
[[File:Fragmentary Buddhist text - Gandhara birchbark scrolls (1st C), part 31 - BL Or. 14915.jpg|thumb|left|Gandhara birchbark scroll fragments ({{Circa|1st century}}) from British Library Collection]]
The Early Buddhist Texts refers to the literature which is considered by modern scholars to be the earliest Buddhist material. The first four [[Pali]] [[Nikayas]], and the corresponding Chinese [[Āgama (Buddhism)|Āgamas]] are generally considered to be among the earliest material.{{sfnp|Gethin|1998|pp=42–43}}{{sfnp|Sujato|Brahmali|2015|pp=9–10}}<ref>Mun-Keat Choong (1999). ''The Notion of Emptiness in Early Buddhism,'' Motilal Banarsidass, p. 3. {{ISBN|978-81-208-1649-7}}.</ref> Apart from these, there are also fragmentary collections of EBT materials in other languages such as [[Sanskrit]], [[Saka language|Khotanese]], [[Classical Tibetan|Tibetan]] and [[Gāndhārī language|Gāndhārī]]. The modern study of [[pre-sectarian Buddhism|early Buddhism]] often relies on comparative scholarship using these various early Buddhist sources to identify parallel texts and common doctrinal content.<ref>e.g. "''Mun-keat, Choong (2000), The Fundamental Teachings of Early Buddhism''" and "''Analayo. Early Buddhist Meditation Studies (Volume 1)''"</ref> One feature of these early texts are literary structures which reflect oral transmission, such as widespread repetition.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Anālayo|author-link=Bhikkhu Analayo|year=2008|title=Reflections on Comparative Āgama Studies|url=https://www.buddhismuskunde.uni-hamburg.de/pdf/5-personen/analayo/reflect-comp-agama.pdf|journal=Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal|publisher=Taipei: Chung-Hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies|volume=21|pages=3–21|issn=1017-7132|access-date=6 September 2019|archive-date=12 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212122454/https://www.buddhismuskunde.uni-hamburg.de/pdf/5-personen/analayo/reflect-comp-agama.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>