Toh 1977Untitled

Exposition of the Tengyur Scripture Toh 1977 — Northern Tibetan Mahayana Tradition

Background

This scripture belongs to the Tengyur (བསྟན་འགྱུར་), that is, the Tibetan Treatise Collection, the section of commentaries and treatises on the teachings of the Buddha composed by holy beings and Buddhist lineages. In the Northern Tibetan Mahayana tradition, the Tengyur together with the Kangyur (བཀའ་འགྱུར་, the Scriptural Collection) constitute the whole body of Buddha Dharma transmitted in Tibet from the seventh century onward.

Toh 1977 is a treatise intended to clarify important principles of Mahayana Buddha Dharma, especially those related to the path of wisdom (prajnaparamita) and the way of practice leading to bodhisattva awakening. According to this tradition, the entire Dharma of the Buddha is guided through four levels of the path (bhumika), from which saintly masters composed treatises to help disciples understand more deeply.

Main Content

Although the title of the scripture has not yet been fully translated, based on the position of Toh 1977 in the Tengyur, this is a commentary connected with teachings on the Bodhisattvayana or aspects of Tantrayana. However, the specific content of this scripture has not been fully translated for detailed presentation.

In general, treatises in the Tengyur around Toh 1900-2000 often discuss the relationship between the wisdom of emptiness (shunyata), dependent arising (pratityasamutpada), and mind (chitta). They emphasize that awakening is not a state outside the mind attained instantaneously, but the result of the process of purifying the mind through ignorance (avidya), karma, and seeds (bija) accumulated since beginningless time.

The Northern Tibetan tradition values the role of means (upaya) in teaching.