There are more than a hundred volumes of Buddhist teachings today that have been compiled and commented on. But there is widespread disagreement as to what constitutes the Buddhist canon.

The Buddha became realized at the age of 35 and he taught for 45 years. He died at the age of 80, having delivered 84,000 talks during that time. Nothing was written during his time, but his advanced disciples were memorizing all his talks. It is said that three months after the Buddha left his body, five hundred of his closest disciples met together for three months, putting together their recollections of all the sayings and deeds of the Buddha. What these five hundred disciples finally agreed upon became the Pali canon, also known as the Tripitaka, or "three baskets", for the Theravada school.

The basic texts recognized by the Mahayana schools are derived from the Sutta Pitaka, but are often considered to have been revealed by the Buddha after he had passed into parinirvana (final exit from the body).

The Tripitaka comprises:

Vinaya Pitaka ("Basket of Discipline"): a collection of texts dealing with monastic rules.

Sutta Pitaka ("Basket of Discourse"): they are subdivided in 5 nikayas ("collections") and deal mainly with the incidents that occurred during the lifetime of the Buddha and sermons and doctrinal and ethical discourses attributed to the Buddha or, in a few cases, to his disciples.

Abhidhamma Pitaka ("Basket of Special [or Further] Doctrine") further elucidate obscure philosophical points, and are only recognized by the Theravadins.

The Dhammapada ("Way of Truth"), is an anthology of basic Buddhist teachings (primarily ethical teachings) found in the second text in the Khuddaka Nikaya ("Short Collection") of the Sutta Pitaka, and is accepted by all Buddhist schools of thought.

Christianity, the religion founded after Jesus Christ, recognizes only one canonical collection, although the texts it comprises vary between the different Christian branches (Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox).

The Holy Bible

Confucianism reveres the Si Shu or "Four Books",  and the Wu Jing, or "Five Classics" as canonical texts. They were assembled by Chu Hsi (1130-1200 CE) during the Sung dynasty.

I) The Si Shu or "Four Books":

Lun Yu or "the Analects of Confucius"

Chung Yung or "the Doctrine of the Mean"

Ta Hsueh or "the Great Learning"

Meng Tzu the writings of Mencius (371-289 BCE) a philosopher who elaborated on Confucius' teachings.

II) The Wu Jing or "Five Classics":

Shu Ching or "Classic of History": writings and speeches from ancient Chinese rulers

Shih Ching or "Classic of Odes": 300 poems and songs

I Ching or "Classic of Changes": the description of a divination system involving 64 hexagrams, symbols composed of broken and continuous lines.

Ch'un Ch'iu or "Spring and Autumn Annals": a history of the state of Lu from 722 to 484 BCE.

Li Ching or "Classic of Rites": a group of three books dealing with the rites of propriety.

Sanatana Dharma ("The eternal religion"), known erroneously in the West as "Hinduism" accept a vast number of scriptures. In a general sense, the sum total of sanatana dharma contains 32 primary vidyas or fields of knowledge: four vedas (divinely revealed scriptures), six vedangas, four upangas, four upavedas, two ithihasas, tantra, smriti (composed scriptures), nastikamata (agnosticism), three shastras (codes of conduct regarding: arthashastra—wealth and finances, kamashastra—erotics and pleasure of the senses, and shilpashastra—aesthetics of stone-carving), alankriti (asthetics), kavya (poetry), desabhasha (linguistics), avasarokti, yavanamata, and desadhidharma (duty).

Vedas

The four Vedas have no human authorship, and are beginningless and endless. They are:

1. Rig veda: hymns of praise to the gods. Every verse is a mantra.

2. Yajur veda: ritualistic procedures to perform the yajñas (sacrifices). The Yajur veda has two major branches:

a) Krishna (“Black”) Yajur Veda: originally taught by Sage Vyasa to his disciple Vaisampayana, who then taught it to Yajñavalkya but, due to a disagreement between the two, Yajñavalkya was made to give back his knowledge to his teacher Vaisampayana.

b) Shukla (“White”) Yajur Veda: Yajñavalkya then asked the Sun god Surya to teach him the Yajur Veda.

3. Sama veda: hymns from the Rig veda set to music to bring peace (sama) to people’s mind.

4. Atharva veda: revealed by Sage Atharvan, they are mostly magic incantations to ward off evil and destroy enemies, but also include beautiful hymns on creation. 

Vedangas - the six branches of complimentary knowledge in order to study the Vedas:

1. shiksha: pronunciation of mantras
2. vyakarana: grammar
3. chandas: metric composition
4. niruktam: etymology
5. jyotisha, which has three “parts” or skandhas: 1) siddhanta: mathematics, 2) hora: astrology, and 3) samhita: omens
6. kalpa: performance of rituals

Upangas - the four auxiliary branches of the Vedas:

1. mimamsa has two divisions: 1) purva mimamsa which deals with sacrifices and rituals and 2) uttara mimamsa (a.k.a. Vedanta), which expounds the science of God-realization through the Upanishads and Brahma Sutras.

2. nyaya—the scientific study of reality—has three divisions: 1) nyaya, the science of logic to critically study reality; 2) vaisheshika, the analysis of the aspects of reality; and 3) samkhya, the dualistic theory of reality.

3. the puranas—ancient mythological tales, told by sutas (bards) from court to court —have three divisions:  1) the eighteen Mahapuranas or “major” tales; 2) the eighteen Upapuranas or “minor” tales; and 3) the itihasapuranas or historical epics such as the Mahabharata (which includes the Bhagavad Gita), the Ramayana, and the Harivamsha

4. dharma shastra: injunctions for human conduct.

Upavedas - the four subsidiary sciences of the Vedas:

1. ayurveda: science of health
2. arthashastra: economics
3. dhanurveda: archery
4. gandharvaveda: arts

Yoga and Tantra

Yoga and Tantra, the art of Self-realization, are the practical application of all the fields of knowledge coming from the Vedas. They are founded on several specific scriptures, in addition to the ones mentioned previously, such as:

• The Yoga Vasishtha by Sage Vasishtha.Also known as the Maharamayana. A dialogue between a human guru (Vasishtha) and his divine disciple (Rama), this book explores the farthest reaches of consciousness in the form of stories within stories.

• The Hatha Yoga Pradipika by Swatmarama.

• The Yoga Sutras by Sage Patañjali.

• The Gherandha Samhita by Gheranda.

• The Siva Samhita attributed to Lord Shiva.

• The Yoga Vishaya attributed to Matsyendranath.

• The Tirumantiram attributed to Tirumular

• The Yoga Chudamani Upanishad

Additional Scriptures

The Bhakti Sutras. Authorship attributed to Sage Narada.

The Devi Mahatmyam, a.k.a. The Chandi

The Tripura Rahasya

The Shani Mahatmya. Taken from the East Indian Vedic tradition, it honors the planet Saturn, who personifies time, limitations, loss, and all forms of adversity.

The Kural. Authorship attributed to Tiru Valluvar.

Ancient native religions have their own sacred texts:

The Gilgamesh Epic

The Egyptian Book of the Dead

Islam, introduced by the prophet Mohammed, reveres the Quran (also spelled Koran) as its sole canonical text, although it does recognize the Old and New Testament as well.

The Quran

Jainism, whose last Tirthankara (saint) was Lord Mahavir,  reveres:

The Jain Agamas

Judaism considers the Tanakh (a.k.a. the Old Testament among Christians) as its sole revealed source. The first five book, attributed to Moses, form the Torah, or "Law" portion of the scripture.

The Tanakh

Mystical undercurrent exist in virtually all mainstream religions. Besides the canonical texts, they often center their faith around a mystical text as well.

The Sefer ha-Zohar ("Book of Splendor"). The central text for followers of the  Kabbalah.

The Bijak by Kabir.

The Mathnawi by Jalal al-Din.Rumi. Considered to be the Persian Koran.

Besides the Holy Bible, the Christian Orthodox Church also reveres a collection of texts from the Early Fathers of the Church:

The Philokalia

Shinto does not have a revealed scriptures. It does however worship various ancestral accounts, most of which date from the 8th century CE or before..

The Kokiji or "Record of Ancient Matters"

The Shoku Nikongi or "Continuing Chronicles of Japan"

The Rokkokushi or "Six National Histories"

Some traditions also include:

The Jinno Shotoki: a study of Shinto and Japanese politics and history  written in the 14th century.

Sikhism revere their scripture as their last and final (11th) guru. It was compiled by the last guru, Gobind Singh, and comprises hymns and writings from all 10 gurus (starting with Guru Nanak), as well as from several other Hindu and Muslim saints such as Kabir, Baba Sheik Farid Ji, Namdev, Surdas, etc.

The Guru Granth Sahib

The Japji is a small portion of the Guru Granth Sahib.

There are two branches of Taoism:

I) Philosophical Taoism whose main scriptures are:
          The Tao Te Ching. Authorship attributed to the mysterious master Lao-tzu. A small book of 81 chapters, often divided in two parts:
1. Book of Tao (Chap 1-37)
2. Book of Te (Chap 38-81)
          Chuang Tzu. Authorship attributed to Chuang Tzu and other masters. A book divided in three parts:
1. Inner chapters
2. Outer chapters
3. Miscellaneous chapters
          Hua Hu Ching. Unknown author. A small book of 81 chapters.
          Lieh Tzu. Authorship attributed to Lieh Tzu. A book of 111 chapters.
          Wen Tzu. Unknown author.

 II) Religious Taoism and other branches, which use the Taozang ("Taoist canon") comprised of the Sandong ("Three Grottoes") and the Sifu ("Four Supplements")

          A) The Three Grottoes (400 C.E.):
1. Authenticity Grotto (Dongzhen): Texts of Supreme Purity (Shangqing) tradition
2.  Mystery Grotto (Dongxuan): Texts of Sacred Treasure (Lingbao) tradition
3.  Spirit Grotto (Dongshen): Texts of Three Sovereigns (Sanhuang) tradition.

          B) The Four Supplements: (500 C.E.)
1.  Great Mystery (Taixuan): Based on the Tao Te Ching
2.  Great Peace (Taiping): Based on the Taiping Ching
3.  Great Purity (Taiqing): Based on the Taiqing Ching and other alchemical texts
4.  Orthodox One (Zhengyi): Based on texts from Way of the Heavenly Masters (Tianshi tao) tradition

Zoroastrianism
 

Zoroastrianism, named after its founder Zarathustra (or Zoroaster in Greek), reveres the Zend Avestha. It comprises five hymns or Gathas.

The Zend Avesta