Toh 3004Untitled

Exposition of Sutra Toh 3004 — Treatise Collection (Tengyur)

Context

This sutra belongs to the Tengyur — the Treatise Collection of the Tibetan tradition, one of the most important collections of Mahayana Buddhist scriptures. The Tengyur consists of treatises and commentaries by bodhisattvas and noble beings on the Buddha’s teachings, translated chiefly from Sanskrit into Tibetan from the 8th century onward.

Toh 3004 is included in the Treatise Collection, reflecting the Northern Tibetan Mahayana tradition with important features: emphasis on the theory of Buddha-nature, the bodhisattva path, and the union of empty wisdom (śūnyatā) with immeasurable compassion. This is a highly developed stage of Buddhist thought, when Indian and Tibetan masters had perfected systems of Dharma practice.

Although the sutra title has not been fully translated, since it is included in the Treatise Collection, it belongs to one of the core themes: the teaching on mind, selflessness, or the path of enlightenment for bodhisattvas.

Main Contents

Treatises in the Tengyur usually revolve around detailed expositions of the Mahayana sutras, especially the Lotusflower Sutra (Lotus Sutra) and treatises on mind-only (cittamātra). Toh 3004 may address one of the central issues of Northern Tibetan Mahayana:

First, the nature of Buddha-mind. According to this tradition, mind is naturally luminous (bodhicitta), naturally free from fundamental obscuration. All sentient beings have Buddha-nature and have the capacity to attain Buddhahood.

Second, the bodhisattva path (Bodhisattva-yāna). Instead of aiming only for individual nirvana, the Mahayana practitioner gives rise to the mind for the benefit of immeasurable sentient beings and cultivates the Six Pāramitās: generosity, discipline, patience, diligence, meditative concentration, and wisdom.

Third, the theory of emptiness (śūnyatā) and mind-only (Yogācāra).