Toh 1755Untitled

Exposition of Toh 1755 — Tengyur Treatise Canon

Context

This treatise is recorded in the Tengyur (Bstan 'gyur), an anthology containing commentaries and annotations on the Buddhadharma by great Indian masters, especially flourishing within the Northern Canon Mahayana tradition. Toh 1755 is a specialized work belonging to the Treatise Canon (Sastra-pitaka), the section that teaches the philosophy and methods of Mahayana practice.

In the context of Northern Canon Buddhism, these commentaries are regarded as precious expositions, inheriting the transmission from ancestral bodhisattvas and awakened masters. They not only explain the profound meaning of the scriptures, but also provide practical methods of cultivation appropriate to the circumstances of the practitioner.

Although the title of this scripture has not yet been fully translated in the available materials, according to its position in the Tengyur, this is a philosophical work or methodological treatise of foundational character, especially possibly related to questions of self-nature (atman), emptiness (sunyata), or the stages of practice in the Mahayana path.

Main Contents

According to the Northern Canon Mahayana tradition, the commentaries in the Tengyur often focus on three core contents: demonstrating a philosophical position, explaining difficulties in practice, and guiding direct experience of the truths of the Buddhadharma.

Treatise Toh 1755, although its specific contents have not been fully made public, based on the general structure of Tengyur commentaries, may address such matters as the distinction between karmic self-nature (vijnapti-matra, consciousness-only) and the world of non-Buddhist views; or the stages of bodhisattva practice (bhumi-bhavana) on the path toward Buddhahood.

A distinctive point of Northern Canon Mahayana is its emphasis that all sentient beings possess Buddha-nature (buddhadhatu), and that the path of liberation is not only for arhats, but extends to all beings.