Toh 3848Untitled

An Exposition of Toh 3848 — The Tengyur Collection of Treatises

Background

Toh 3848 is a work in the Tengyur—the Collection of Treatises of the Northern Canonical Tradition, which gathers profound treatises and commentaries on the Dharma composed by noble sages, especially Indian masters of the treatises, to clarify the essential teachings proclaimed by the Buddha. The Northern Canonical Tradition (Vajrayāna—the path of Highest Yoga Tantra) is a branch of the Mahayana that flourished in Tibet from the seventh century onward, when the preceptor Śāntarakṣita and the great master Padmasambhava transmitted the Dharma to that land.

The Collection of Treatises contains commentaries and compiled treatises (śāstra) on scripture, principles of practice, and profound aspects of Buddhist theory. As part of this collection, Toh 3848 serves to explain complex matters of the Dharma that Mahayana practitioners must thoroughly understand to enter the path of Highest Yoga Tantra (tantra).

Main Content

Although its title has not yet been fully identified, this work belongs to the field of substantiating the fundamental principles of the bodhisattva path (Bodhisattva-yāna) or methods of practice related to Highest Yoga Tantra (Anuttarayoga-tantra). In the Northern Canonical Tradition, such treatises commonly focus on:

First, elucidation of Buddha-nature, the concept of the absence of intrinsic nature (śūnyatā) from the Mahayana perspective, and the relationship between wisdom and skillful means (prajñāpāramitā and upāya). These concepts are not anonymous philosophy but living instruments of practice that help practitioners directly perceive the true nature of things.

Second, treatises in the Tengyur commonly address the system of the Dharmakāya, Saṃbhogakāya, and Nirmāṇakāya—the three bodies of a Buddha in the Mahayana. This is directly connected with the practice of Highest Yoga Tantra, in which practitioners take the existence of these three bodies as the basis for cultivating the yoga of mind.