Toh 1270Untitled

Exposition of Toh 1270 — Tengyur, the Treatise Collection

Context

Toh 1270 belongs to the Tengyur (Northern Transmitted Tibetan Canon), the richest collection of treatises explaining the Buddhadharma in the Mahayana tradition. The Tengyur includes more than 200 volumes, containing profound commentaries by Buddhist noble sages on the Sutra Collection — reflecting the distinctive feature of the Northern Tibetan tradition: the union of scriptural doctrine and Tantric practice.

This work arose from the Tibetan scholastic environment during the vigorous development of Tantric Buddhism, roughly from the eighth to the fifteenth centuries, when eminent masters such as Nagarjuna, Asanga, Vasubandhu, and later great masters composed treatises to explain and develop Mahayana methods.

Although the title has not been specifically identified in the available material, this work certainly addresses one of the central themes of the Mahayana: perhaps the Four Noble Truths, selflessness, or methods of practice leading to awakening.

Main Contents

In the Northern Tibetan tradition, the Tengyur serves as a guiding light for deeply understanding the teachings of the Buddha recorded in the Kangyur. The treatise Toh 1270 likely develops one of the core mental qualities of the Mahayana: that all sentient beings possess buddha-nature and the capacity to attain buddhahood.

According to this tradition, the work may discuss the nature of mind (chitta), the selflessness of persons and dharmas (pudgala-nairatmya and dharma-nairatmya), or the stages of practice on the bodhisattva path. The distinctive point of the Northern Tibetan tradition is its twofold integration: Nagarjuna’s Madhyamaka doctrine of emptiness (Shunyata) is combined with profound Tantric practice, in order to transform the six faculties (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind) and the six objects into the Sambhogakaya body of a buddha.