Toh 3167Untitled

Exposition of Scripture Toh 3167 - Tengyur Treatise Collection

Context

This scripture belongs to the Tengyur, the Treatise Collection of the Northern Transmission Tibetan canon (Mahāyāna), a collection of treatises, explanations, and instructions by bodhisattvas, noble ones, and masters of the Buddha Dharma concerning the Buddha’s teachings. The Tengyur was compiled from Tibetan translations of original Sanskrit works, carried out by renowned translators such as Therikünquo, Chogro Yuldzin, and many others during the Great Translation period (approximately the eighth to twelfth centuries).

This scripture (Toh 3167) is situated within one of the vast classes of treatises in the Tengyur, intended to clarify the meaning of Mahāyāna Buddhist doctrinal instructions, especially teachings on the bodhisattva path, emptiness, and the mind’s Buddha-nature. Although the title of the scripture has not been specifically identified in the available materials, based on its position in the Tengyur it is a treatise explaining profound aspects of the Dharma taught by the Buddha.

Main Content

Treatises in the Tengyur such as Toh 3167 commonly present central issues of Mahāyāna, including the nature of Wisdom (Prajñāpāramitā), the bodhisattva vehicle (Bodhisattvayāna), and the way of practice for attaining Buddhahood. One important topic often discussed by Mahāyāna masters is “emptiness” (Śūnyatā), that is, the absence of inherent self-nature in all dharmas.

According to the Mahāyāna tradition of the Northern Tibetan transmission, “emptiness” is not nothingness or nonexistence, but the clear understanding that phenomena, though they outwardly appear, have no independent, self-existing essence. This is the basis for the bodhisattva to arouse the unsurpassed mind (Anuttarayoga), the mind directed toward unconditional liberation for all beings.

Masters such as Nāgārjuna, Candrakīrti, and those who followed them also explored the relationship between “emptiness” and “wisdom”.