Toh 1960Untitled

Commentary on the Tengyur Treatise Collection, Toh 1960

Context

This scripture belongs to the Tengyur, a collection of expositions and commentaries on the Buddha Dharma in the Northern Canon Mahayana tradition. The Tengyur is the second part of the Tibetan Buddhist Canon and contains more than three hundred profound treatises on Buddhist doctrine by traditional masters.

Scripture number Toh 1960 is an important part of the development of Buddhist philosophy in the Northern Canon tradition. These commentaries were composed by great masters such as Nagarjuna, Aryadeva, Vasubandhu, and other Tibetan scholars, in order to help monks and practitioners better understand the foundational scriptures. The context of their composition was the period when Tibetan Buddhism was developing strongly, when different schools debated together over how to interpret the principles of the Dharma in order to discover ultimate truth.

Main Content

The specific content of this scripture has not yet been fully translated in the available material. However, according to the general context of the Tengyur treatises, this scripture may be related to one of the central themes of the Northern Canon Mahayana:

It may be a commentary on the Four Noble Truths (Catvāri Āryasatyāni), the foundation of the whole Buddhist teaching, with a profound expansion of layers of meaning from the Lesser Vehicle to the Mahayana. Or it may be a commentary on the bodhisattva path, focusing on the eighty-four thousand bodhisattva practices (bodhisattva-caryā) for attaining buddhahood.

Treatises of this kind are usually presented systematically and logically, comparing different schools (the Lesser Vehicle and the Mahayana, or different schools within the Mahayana). They use reasoned proof and bold but well-founded debate to defend the view of their school.

Practical Meaning

The commentaries in the Tengyur are not merely dry theory. They are lights guiding practitioners in practice.