Toh 1720Untitled

Exposition of Toh 1720 — The Northern Tibetan Mahayana Tradition

Context

This scripture is recorded in the Tengyur (Northern Transmission) — a collection of treatises, instructions, and commentaries by Mahayana masters of the Buddha Dharma from the period when Buddhism developed in India, later translated into Tibetan during the eighth to thirteenth centuries. Toh 1720 belongs to the Treatise Collection (Bstangyur), the section containing instructional works by great bodhisattvas and monastic masters. In the Mahayana tradition, especially the Northern Tibetan tradition (corresponding to Tibetan Buddhism/Vajrayāna), these works serve as guides to practice on the bodhisattva path — the path directed toward enlightenment for the benefit of all beings.

Main Content

Although the scripture's title has not been fully translated into Vietnamese, according to the context of the Tengyur and the Northern Tibetan Mahayana tradition, treatises such as Toh 1720 often focus on core practical instructions: generating bodhicitta, profoundly in both aspiration (Aspiration Bodhichitta) and practice (Action Bodhichitta); the six pāramitās: generosity, ethical discipline, patience, diligence, meditative concentration, and wisdom; together with profound yogic meditation methods (Tantra).

In the Northern Tibetan tradition, these works are not only theoretical but are also “direct practical instructions” (pith instruction/gdams ngag). They emphasize that the Buddha Dharma must be practiced step by step, from nurturing the mind of compassion (bodhicitta), to seeing the absence of self-nature (śūnyatā), and then accumulating merit through every action. The ultimate goal is not only enlightenment for oneself, but attaining the state of Buddhahood in order to liberate countless beings from the cycle of saṃsāra.

Practical Meaning

For modern followers of the Buddha Dharma, this scripture (or similar treatises in the Tengyur) reminds us that the Mahayana is not a collection of abstract theories, but a clear guide for the life of practice.