Toh 1796Untitled

Explanation of Scripture Toh 1796 — Tengyur (Tibetan Treatise Collection)

Context

This work appears in the Tengyur (Tenzur), the Tibetan Treatise Collection, an indispensable part of the Tibetan Buddhist canon compiled during the reign of Emperor Kangxi. The Tengyur includes treatises, essential instructions, and teachings from Indian masters of the Buddha Dharma, translated into Tibetan in order to preserve and disseminate the doctrines of the Mahayana school.

In the context of the Northern Tibetan tradition (Vajrayana Tibetan Buddhism), the Treatise Collection serves as the connecting thread between the Dharma voice of the Buddha and the practice of cultivation. Indian commentators such as Nāgārjuna, Asaṅga, and others left profound Dharma teachings that help practitioners clearly understand the nature of the Buddha Dharma and the way to practice in order to realize it.

Main Content

Although the title has not been clearly identified, Toh 1796 in the Tengyur generally belongs to the category of instructional treatises, guiding Mahayana practitioners to engage in practice with bodhicitta — the mind directed toward awakening for the benefit of beings. Such works often focus on:

The fundamental theory of the Mahayana: An explanation of Buddha-nature as present in all beings, thereby forming the basis for faith in the capacity of all sentient beings to become Buddhas. Practitioners are taught that liberation is not the privilege of a few, but the natural right of all.

Skillful means (Upāya): An explanation of how the Buddha teaches the Dharma according to the capacities, wisdom, and causes and conditions of each kind of being. In the Northern Tibetan tradition, this is connected with practice on the three levels of tantra (Kriyā, Charyā, Yoga, Anuttara-yoga), each suited to the level of the practitioner.

Cultivating an upright mind: Often discussing meditation and the mastery of the mind through training. This is the foundation for all accomplishments in Tibetan Mahayana practice.