Toh 3279Untitled

Exposition of the Scripture Toh 3279 — The Northern Tibetan Mahayana Tradition

Context

This scripture is found in the Tengyur (Bstan 'gyur), the Treatise Basket of Tibetan Buddhism, a collection of commentaries, treatises, and teachings of great bodhisattvas and masters of the Buddha Dharma, gathered from the ancient Indian Buddhist tradition. This type of work (Toh 3279) belongs to the category of treatise (śāstra), directed toward profound theory concerning the Dharma and the path of practice of bodhisattvas.

In the Northern Tibetan Mahayana tradition, especially in the direction of Vajrayāna, such treatises not only teach the reasoning of the Buddha Dharma, but also instruct practitioners in how to establish the mind, develop the mind of compassion, and progress on the path of the nine grounds of the bodhisattvas (navadhūmikā). The content frequently combines Madhyamaka or Yogācāra philosophy with practical methods of cultivation.

Main Content

Although the title has not been fully translated, based on the context of the Tengyur, this scripture is likely to teach an important aspect of the Mahayana path: it may concern the nature of Buddha-mind, the development of bodhicitta, the aspiration for awakening, or the operations of mind (citta) and mental factors (caitta) in the process of practice.

Treatises of this kind often:

Present the union of the thought of emptiness (Śūnyatā) with luminous mind, the two pillars of the Mahayana Buddha Dharma. Emptiness is not nihilism, but the selfless nature, lacking intrinsic nature (anātman), from which the flexibility of mind arises.

Instruct practitioners in how to recognize the luminous nature of mind, and from that basis to nourish bodhicitta and practice according to the Middle Way (Madhyama-pratipad).

Explain the relationship between one’s own mind and Buddha-mind, and how afflictions (kleśa) are transformed into wisdom (prajñā).