Toh 1814Untitled

Explanation of Toh 1814 (Tengyur)

Context

This scripture is recorded in the Tengyur, the Treatise Collection of the Northern Transmission, which gathers the excellent treatises of the most virtuous bodhisattvas and scholars of the Buddha Dharma in the history of Mahayana Buddhism. The Tengyur, together with the Kangyur (the main scriptures), forms the canonical foundation of Tibetan Buddhism from the tenth century onward.

Toh 1814 belongs to the class of treatises explaining profound Mahayana teachings. In the Northern Tibetan tradition, these treatises are regarded as a link between the Buddha’s teaching (buddhavacana) and the practical spirituality of bodhisattva practitioners. Northern Tibetan masters especially respect these scholars because they trained body and mind according to the Dharma, not merely studied theory.

Although the title is not fully transmitted, according to its position in the Tengyur, this scripture is related to central issues of the Mahayana: the nature of mind, the attainability of awakening, and the bodhisattva path.

Main Content

This treatise examines fundamental elements of Mahayana practice. According to the Northern Tibetan tradition, especially the Gelug, Kagyu, Nyingma, and Sakya schools, every scripture and treatise contains the “five Buddha Dharmas,” five elements of practice: faith, constancy, diligence, concentration, and wisdom.

This scripture likely discusses the relationship between the natureless mind (tathatā, suchness) and sentient beings’ capacity to become Buddhas. In the Northern Tibetan Mahayana, it is taught that all sentient beings possess Buddha-nature, that is, an inherently luminous and undefiled nature. The difference between ordinary beings and Buddhas is only a matter of time and diligent practice, not of essence.

Treatises in the Tengyur also often explain the bodhisattva path, the long and ardent path of helping sentient beings escape suffering. The bodhisattva precepts and the eight qualities of practice (śīla, samādhi, prajñā, upāya, praṇidhāna, vīrya, kṣānti, dhyāna) are pillars that all treatises emphasize.