Toh 3147Untitled

Exposition of the Tengyur Scripture (Toh 3147)

Context

This work belongs to the Tengyur—the collection of treatises in the Northern Mahayana canonical tradition, an extensive compilation of expositions, commentaries, and ancillary works on the Buddha’s teachings assembled in Tibet beginning in the tenth century. The identifier Toh 3147 refers to one work among the thousands of treatises translated from Sanskrit into Tibetan and Chinese.

The Northern Mahayana canonical tradition developed from the works of such great Indian masters as Nagarjuna, Asanga, Vasubandhu, and later commentators. The Northern Canon is not merely a collection of scriptures but a comprehensive system of study encompassing sutras, shastras, and practices (sadhana). The Tengyur is especially important because it preserves exegetical works whose Sanskrit originals have often been lost over the course of history.

The work Toh 3147 forms part of a series of other works intended to elucidate Mahayana sutras and provide instructions for practice based on the profound insights of the great masters. It reflects the spirit of the Mahayana—the aspiration to liberate all sentient beings through the bodhisattva path.

Principal Content

Although its specific title has not been fully provided, this work is certainly an exposition of a core aspect of the Mahayana Dharma. Within the context of the Tengyur, works of this kind often focus on such subjects as the nature of the bodhisattva mind, the theory of emptiness (Sunyata), skillful means (Upaya), or the stages of practice along the bodhisattva path.

According to the Northern canonical tradition, these expositions are founded upon principles of rigorous logic and reasoned debate inherited from the Indian masters of treatises. They do not merely explain the literal meaning, but also explore profound meanings, distinguish among differing views, and guide practitioners in the proper manner of practice.

This work most likely belongs to one of the principal fields: (1) the theory of consciousness and causality (Abhidharma), (2) the Middle Way (Madhyamaka) doctrine of emptiness, (3)