Toh 3658Untitled

Exposition of Toh 3658 — The Northern Tibetan Mahayana Tradition

Context

This text belongs to the Tengyur, the Treatise Collection of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, the section that comments upon and expands the principles of the Buddha Dharma composed by great bodhisattvas and Dharma masters after the Buddha entered nirvana. It is called the “Treatise Collection” (an expanded Abhidharmapiṭaka) because these works not only refine and explain the Dharma, but also further develop profound understanding of the nature of mind, phenomena, and the path of liberation.

The Tengyur contains more than 3,600 works, each intended to provide practical guidance or clarify elements of the Dharma. In the context of the Northern Tibetan Mahayana, the Buddha Dharma does not stop at the goal of individual liberation, but expands into the bodhisattva path, the path of liberation for the benefit of all beings. Although Toh 3658 has no separate title preserved in the record, it is classified within the Tengyur and is closely connected with teachings on mind, non-self, and methods for cultivating wisdom.

Main Content

Texts in the Tengyur often focus on three principal points: (1) the analysis of intrinsic nature (svabhāva), the inherent nature of dharmas; (2) the operation of cause and effect (karma) and samsara; (3) the means of practice for realizing Buddha-nature (Buddhadhātu).

According to its place in the Treatise Collection, this text may discuss one of the central themes: the nature of non-self (anātma), or the nonexistence of an absolutely independent “self.” This is the root of all suffering. Or it may focus on Tathagatagarbha, the teaching on the “nature of the Tathagata” present in every being, the luminous aspect of mind which, when cultivated through bodhisattva practice, leads to complete Buddhahood.

Mahayana treatises in the Tengyur emphasize that all beings have the capacity to become Buddhas, not because of an external merit, but because of the profound nature of mind.