The Pali Canon and the Threefold Training

On a more profound level, it is possible to develop Buddhism into part and parcel of oneself, or incorporate it into the life of each person.
Essentially, Buddhism can be seen as the resultant virtue, progress or growth, or the development of the Threefold Training in one’s life.
The sort of Buddhism that constitutes one’s life also has to rely on the Pali Canon, for Buddhism in this sense means the ability to get rid of greed, hatred and delusion, and to be able to get rid of greed, hatred and delusion, one has to train oneself in morality, concentration and wisdom .

In organizing the teachings into the Tipitaka, tradition has established a relationship between each of the three major divisions of the Pali Canon with each component of the Threefold Training as follows:
1. The Vinayapitaka as the collection of monastic rules for monks, including both the 227 training rules of the Patimokkha and those outside of the Patimokkha, constitutes the Discipline or sila ‘morality’-the training and development of bodily and verbal behaviour.
2. As a matter of tact, the Suttantapitaka encompasses all of the Threefold Training, but it has been pointed out that its main focus is on the second component of the Threefold Training, i.e. Samadhi ‘concentration’, or emotional development.
3. Finally, the focus of the Abhidhammapitaka is on panna ‘wisdom’. In contemporary parlance, the content of this pitaka are purely scholarly or academic, bringing up for scrutiny phenomena that are subtle and profound. It thus belongs to the domain of wisdom, requiring profound penetrative knowledge.

If we observe the principles of morality, concentration and wisdom as expounded in the Pali Canon, our lives will become like the Teaching itself, thereby as if preserving Buddhism survive. Wherever we are, there will be Buddhism. Whichever place we visit, Buddhism will reach there as well.
This is called Buddhism existing at the consummate level of preservation. Once the Pali Canon has been incorporated into a person’s life, it does not merely exist in letter.
However, before Buddhism can be incorporated into individuals. the Pali Canon must first be there to contain and maintain the Teaching, Even when our practice progresses, we need to consult the monks who have learnt from the Tipitaka, or from the ones who have learnt from their predecessors who in turn have learnt from the Tipikata. The teachings may have been passed down dozens of generations like this to us. If we can read Pali, we can consult the Pali Canon ourselves. If we cannot, we have to ask the learned monks for help. After we have obtained the required knowledge about the teachings, we can then practise properly to cultivate ourselves in morality, concentration, and wisdom.
In short, we Buddhists rely directly upon the Pali Canon by applying the teachings therein so that our practice will bear fruit in real life.