Toh 2990Untitled

Exposition of Treatise Collection Toh 2990 — Northern Tibetan Tradition

Context

This work is contained in the Tengyur, that is, the "Translated Treatises," the collection of treatises (sastra) explaining the Buddhadharma from the Northern Tibetan tradition. These are works of great Buddhist masters, translated from Tibetan and Sanskrit during the golden age of Tibetan Buddhism from the eighth century onward.

The scripture number Toh 2990 is recorded in the global Kangyur-Tengyur collection, reflecting the Mahayana tradition with the distinctive features of the Northern Tibetan Mahayana. Although the original title has not been fully translated into Vietnamese, this work represents a distinct current of Tibetan Buddhist thought, the period when schools such as Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya, and Gelug all practiced and translated scriptures with refinement.

Main Content

Treatises in the Tengyur often focus on three core fields: Pramana (the theory of knowledge), Madhyamaka (the Middle Way school), and Yogacara (the mind-only school). Toh 2990, from the context of its classification, is likely to belong to specialized essays on one of these matters.

According to the Northern Tibetan tradition, especially in light of masters such as Nagarjuna, Asanga, Vasubandhu, and later commentators, all works in the Tengyur are directed toward the aim of realization. They are not purely philosophical writings, but instructions for the cultivating mind to be freed from fundamental error (avidya, ignorance).

If Toh 2990 is related to the theory of knowledge, it will examine how we know truth, that is, whether we can rely on direct perception, logical inference, or both. If it is related to Madhyamaka, it will explore the emptiness (sunyata) of all phenomena, namely, that they do not possess independent nature (svabhava). If it concerns Yogacara, it will indicate how mind and phenomena cannot be separated.