Toh 479The Compendium of Realities

The Sūtra of the Compendium of Realities (Tattvasaṃgraha)

Background

The Compendium of Realities (Tattvasaṃgraha) is one of the most important Buddhist philosophical works of the Northern Tibetan Mahāyāna tradition, composed by Bhavya, or Bhāvaviveka, in sixth-century India. This work is regarded in the Northern Tibetan transmission as a foundation for Madhyamaka thought in conjunction with Yogācāra, two pillars of Mahāyāna philosophy.

The sūtra was included in the Tibetan Kangyur (Collection of Sūtras), under the number Toh 479, showing the formal recognition of Tibetan Buddhist masters regarding this content. The context of its composition was a time when Indian Buddhism was confronting other schools of thought, from materialist theories to other Indian religions. The author sought to gather the core truths of the Buddha Dharma in order to defend and clarify the subtle points of the teaching.

Main Contents

The Compendium of Realities is not a legendary scripture but a systematic collection of the truths (tattva) of Mahāyāna Buddhism. This sūtra focuses on proving that all phenomena lack intrinsic nature (svabhāva-śūnyatā), while also deeply examining the relationship between cognition (vijñapti) and reality.

The main contents include: (1) a critique of mistaken positions concerning the intrinsic nature of phenomena, including both non-Buddhist positions and misunderstandings within Buddhism itself; (2) a clear establishment of the doctrine of the absence of essence (śūnyatā), especially the absence of essence of the knowing subject and the known object; (3) an explanation of the relationship between the cognitive process divided into subject and object (grāhaka-grāhya) and ultimate reality (paramārtha), which transcends this duality.

The sūtra also discusses the stages of practice, from theoretical understanding to the direct realization of the nature of Buddhahood.