Toh 1121Untitled

Explanation of Toh 1121 — The Tengyur Treatise Collection

Background

The scripture Toh 1121 belongs to the Treatise Collection (Abhidharma-piṭaka) in the Tengyur of the Northern transmission, a work of advanced Buddhist philosophy compiled within the Mahayana tradition. In the system of Tibetan Buddhism, the Treatise Collection plays the role of analyzing the dharmas in detail, helping practitioners deeply understand the actual nature of mental and material phenomena.

The Tengyur is the “Translated Section,” or section of treatises, of the Tibetan Buddhist Canon, containing hundreds of treatises by venerable patriarchs. These works are not scriptures directly proclaimed by the Buddha, but commentaries and arguments by beings of right knowledge, used to clarify the Dharma and guide practitioners on the path of realization.

Main Content

Although the title has not yet been fully announced, with Toh 1121’s position in the Treatise Collection, this work addresses core issues of Abhidharma doctrine. Usually, treatises in this section of the Tengyur focus on analyzing the skandhas, the five aggregates: form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness; dependent arising (pratītyasamutpāda); or the nature of self (ātman) from the Mahayana perspective.

In the Northern tradition, especially according to the Gelug and Nyingma schools, Abhidharma is taught in order to build a rigorous logical foundation for understanding emptiness (śūnyatā). Instead of merely chanting or meditating in a vague way, Mahayana practitioners are encouraged to use reason to analyze all dharmas, thereby recognizing that no independent, unchanging entity truly exists.

Treatises such as Toh 1121 often explain how dharmas arise and perish according to the law of cause and effect, how to transcend the mental afflictions (kleśa) of desire, anger, and ignorance, and the method of training in order to attain bodhi, supreme wisdom.