Toh 2819Untitled

Exposition of Toh 2819 — The Northern Tibetan Tradition

Background

Toh 2819 belongs to the Tengyur (the Treatise Piṭaka), the section of commentaries and treatises on scriptures within the Northern Tibetan Mahayana tradition. The Tengyur was compiled and preserved in Tibet, containing profound explanatory works by eminent Buddhist masters, especially in the Madhyamaka and Yogācāra lineages.

Although the title of this scripture has not yet been fully translated, from its position in the Tengyur we may assess that this is a treatise or commentary on one of the core subjects of Mahayana Buddhism. The compositional context of the Tengyur was the eighth to thirteenth centuries, when Indian and Tibetan authors collaborated to preserve the Buddhist Dharma during a period of great historical change.

This scripture reflects the spirit of the Mahayana tradition, in which one seeks not only personal liberation but also the bodhisattva path — the path of awakening for the benefit of immeasurable sentient beings.

Main Content

In the Tengyur, the treatises numbered Toh 2800-2900 are often related to issues concerning the nature of mind, the phenomenal world, and the modes of practice. Toh 2819 is predicted to be a commentary or teaching on one of the key points of the Mahayana: non-self or emptiness (śūnyatā), bodhisattva conduct, or the nature of the Buddha-mind.

The Northern Tibetan tradition emphasizes that correct understanding of emptiness is not a cold negation, but a clear direct seeing of the relative character of all phenomena. This is the foundation for developing boundless compassion (mahākaruṇā), for when we realize the relative nature of all things, attachment, aversion, and delusion — the sufferings of selfhood — are naturally penetrated.

The content of this treatise may include issues such as the manner in which the Buddha taught different recipients, or modes of practice aimed at attaining nonconceptual wisdom (jñāna-advaita).