Toh 1141Praise of All Things Stemming from the One

An Exposition of the Ekottarikastotra Scripture (I Revere All Things from the One)

Background

The scripture Ekottarikastotra (I Revere All Things from the One) is one of the profound philosophical treatises belonging to the Tengyur, the commentarial canon in the Northern Tibetan tradition. This work was compiled in the context of the development of Mahayana thought, especially the Madhyamaka and Yogācāra schools within Tibetan Buddhist thought.

The term "Ekottarika" means "from the one" or "beyond the one," alluding to the concept of the single nature of reality (Tathatā), the actual nature of all phenomena. In the Mahayana tradition, especially the Northern Tibetan tradition, all theories, principles, and conditioned things originate from this one absolute nature of reality. Stotra (reverence, hymn of praise) is a literary form of offering filled with transcendence, expressing understanding and devotion toward the highest truths.

Main Content

This scripture teaches that all that exists, from the macroscopic phenomena of the universe to the subtlest spiritual phenomena, arises from one single principle: the nature of reality that cannot be made into one (eka, one; ottara, beyond). This is not a god or a creative agent in a theological sense, but the fundamental philosophical basis of phenomena.

According to the Madhyamaka view prominent in the Northern Tibetan tradition, the scripture teaches the two truths (Dvi-satya): conventional truth (Samvṛti-satya) and ultimate truth (Paramārtha-satya). Although worldly phenomena such as form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness (the five skandhas) appear in diversity, when observed deeply they all lack independent nature (śūnyatā, emptiness) and share a common basis in the single nature of reality.

This hymn of praise is not only abstract theory but also a spiritual offering.