The Buddhist holy book is called the Tipitaka, also known as the Pali Canon or the Tripitaka. It is written in an ancient Indian language called Pali, which is very close to the language that the Buddha himself spoke. The Tipitaka is a very large book, consisting of more than 10,000 discourses. It is divided into three main sections: the Vinaya Pitaka (monastic rules), the Sutta Pitaka (discourses), and the Abhidhamma Pitaka (philosophical texts). The Sutta Pitaka is the section most relevant to a lay person and contains the teachings of the Buddha. The English translation of the Tipitaka takes up nearly forty volumes. The Tipitaka is considered sacred scripture and is generally seen as in accord with the teachings of the historical Buddha, which is termed "the Dharma". The Pali Canon is used by all branches of Buddhism, while the Mahayana Sutras are used only by the Mahayana and Vajrayana branches.