Toh 3740Untitled

Exposition of the Untitled Scripture (Toh 3740) — Northern Mahayana Tradition

Context

Toh 3740 in the Tengyur (Tibetan Treatise Collection) is a work belonging to the Northern Mahayana transmission, where the great Indian treatise masters developed and defended the Buddha-family Dharma of the bodhisattva. Although the title of the scripture has not yet been fully translated into Vietnamese in the present document, this work belongs to a sequence of commentaries on the dharmakaya (Dharmakāya), Buddha-nature, or issues related to emptiness and loving-kindness within the Mahayana framework.

The Tengyur was compiled during the era of Tibetan Buddhism in the 8th-12th centuries, as the result of one of the greatest translation projects in history, preserving the teachings from the final Indian masters before Buddhism declined in the western land. These treatise collections are the foundation for conduct and practice according to the bodhisattva path.

Main Content

In the Northern Mahayana tradition, a treatise in this position often focuses on developing profound understanding of four foundational points: (1) the empty nature of all dharmas (Śūnyatā); (2) boundless compassion (Mahākaruṇā) as the motive force of awakening; (3) Buddha-nature independent of both samsara and nirvana; (4) the bodhisattva’s path of practice independent of the result of the Hinayana arhat.

The approach of this treatise collection helps practitioners clearly understand that Buddha-nature is not something we need to seek outside ourselves, but is the inherent self-nature. Through this, confidence in one’s own capacity to attain Buddhahood is firmly cultivated, not based on a mind of supplication or fear.

Commentaries and explanations in the Tengyur such as this also emphasize the role of nonconceptual wisdom (Prajñāpāramitā) combined with skillful means (Upāya), so that the practitioner can directly realize, and not merely believe in theory.