Toh 2066Untitled

Exposition of Toh 2066 — Tengyur Treatise Collection (Northern Tibetan Tradition)

Context

Toh 2066 is a text belonging to the Tengyur (བསྟན་འགྱུར་), a collection of treatises and explanations of scriptures in the Tibetan Mahayana Buddhist tradition. This Treatise Collection was compiled by great masters, those thoroughly versed in scripture and treatise, in order to disseminate and clarify the teachings of Buddha Shakyamuni. In the context of Mahayana and the Northern Tibetan tradition, preserving these treatises is central to the practice tradition, for they provide a clear path to understanding the intent of the Dharma.

This text was first preserved in the Northern Tibetan canons compiled in China and Tibet from the thirteenth century onward, when Tibetan Dharma masters, figures such as Changchup Ö, Ba-ri, and their disciples, carried out the great work of translation in order to preserve the entire body of Buddhist scriptures and treatises. The text Toh 2066 represents one among many profound treatises on Mahayana Dharma approaches, helping practitioners understand the bodhisattva path and the fundamental theories of Tathagatagarbha (Thus-Gone One Matrix — 如來藏).

Main Content

Although the title of the scripture has not been fully identified, based on the position of Toh 2066 in the Tengyur, this text belongs to the field of commentary on the Dharmakāya and aspects of the Buddha-mind. Treatises in this period of the Tengyur often focus on the doctrine of the three bodies of the Buddha (Trikāya): Dharmakāya, Saṃbhogakāya, and Nirmāṇakāya.

According to the Tibetan tradition, especially the Kagyu and Gelug schools, the Dharmakāya is not a static phenomenon but the dynamic expression of all phenomena. The treatise in Toh 2066 may elaborate the way in which luminous mind (buddha-nature) is inherent in all beings, and how profound understanding of emptiness (śūnyatā) is the key to beholding this Buddha-nature.