Toh 2368Untitled

Explanation of Tengyur Toh 2368

The Mahayana Tradition of the Northern Transmission

Context

Toh 2368 is a treatise in the Tengyur, the treatise collection of the Tibetan Mahayana tradition. The Tengyur contains commentaries, explanations, and treatises by Buddhist masters on the foundational scriptures. With its title not yet clearly identified, this work belongs to the extensive body of knowledge of the Northern Transmission school, especially reflecting the philosophical foundations of Madhyamaka or Yogācāra, the two principal Mahayana schools.

The period of the Tengyur’s compilation was around the seventh and eighth centuries, when Indian scholars such as Candrakīrti, Dignāga, and Dharmakīrti created treatises explaining the Buddha’s teachings. The translation into Tibetan took place over many centuries, forming an immense collection of 213 volumes containing more than 3,600 works.

Main Content

This document, although its title has not been fully identified, belongs to the stream of treatises (śāstra) that explain the fundamental principles of Mahayana. In the Northern Transmission tradition, such treatises often address four objects of Buddhist learning: sūtra, śāstra, vinaya, and Abhidharma.

The content of Toh 2368 may be related to the following themes, common in the Tengyur: the theory of emptiness (śūnyatā), the doctrine of the two truths (ultimate truth and dependent truth), or methods of practice leading to bodhicitta. With the characteristic approach of the Mahayana Northern Transmission, this work is highly likely to explain how all sentient beings can give rise to the bodhisattva resolve, aiming at liberation rather than merely saving themselves.

This treatise may also be related to Buddhist methodology, especially the use of logic and reasoning to explain the teachings. In the Northern Transmission tradition, the balance between reason (prajna) and direct knowledge (jñāna) is central to the practice path.