Toh 827Untitled

Exposition of Toh 827 - Kangyur (Northern Transmission Canon)

Context

Toh 827 belongs to the Kangyur of the Northern Transmission, that is, the Sutra Collection of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Kangyur (དཀན་གྱུར།) means “The Translated Words of the Buddha,” and is the collection of sutras taught by Buddha Shakyamuni and other buddhas and bodhisattvas, later translated from Sanskrit into Tibetan during the translation period from the eighth to the thirteenth century.

The Mahayana — Northern Transmission tradition (known as Tibetan Buddhism or Lamaism) inherits the profound teachings of the Mahayana, with a distinctive emphasis on the role of the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, Mahasthamaprapta, Amitabha Buddha, and especially the system of the Four Schools of Thought of Tibetan Buddhism. Although the title of Toh 827 is not clear in the source, its being recorded in the canon shows that it has a role in transmitting fundamental teachings or special aspects of Buddhism.

Main Content

Although the descriptive information does not provide the specific name of the sutra, sutras in the Kangyur range Toh 800-850 often relate to teachings on the bodhisattva realm, buddha realms, or attestations of the presence of buddhas and bodhisattvas in other worlds. According to the Northern Tibetan tradition, sutras of this kind often reveal that all sentient beings possess buddha-nature, and that the path to attaining buddhahood is the bodhisattva path — that is, the path of learning and practice in order to liberate oneself while also saving countless sentient beings.