Toh 3888Untitled

Exposition of Text Toh 3888—Tengyur, the Collection of Treatises

Background

Toh 3888 belongs to the collection of treatises (Tengyur) of Northern Tibetan Buddhism, which preserves the profound treatises of great Indian and Tibetan masters. Although the text has no clearly identified title, its position within this collection indicates that it is an important treatise related to the Mahayana Dharma. The Northern Tibetan tradition (Vajrayāna) regards the collection of treatises as the voice of bodhisattvas and accounts of the Buddhas, and as a key to understanding the Mahayana scriptures profoundly.

This collection was compiled anew in the ninth and tenth centuries under the kings of the Tibetan kingdoms, with the aim of preserving the Buddhist teachings as Buddhism declined in India. Every treatise in it underwent a meticulous process of translation and revision by teams proficient in Pāli and Tibetan, ensuring the authenticity and accuracy of the Dharma.

Main Content

This treatise explores one of the pillars of the Mahayana Dharma that other traditions may not have developed. In the spirit of the Northern Tibetan tradition, it may concern the doctrine of emptiness (śūnyatā), the bodhisattva path, or transformations of consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna) according to the Yogācāra school. The collection of treatises emphasizes that the path of practice does not consist merely in awakening to the luminous sphere of a tranquil mind but in the comprehensive transformation of every mode of consciousness through the activity of Buddha-mind.

In particular, the Northern Tibetan tradition takes the welfare of sentient beings as the ultimate criterion of the Dharma. This treatise teaches that no teaching is absolute; every instruction was taught by the Buddha according to conditions and the capacities of those receiving the teaching. Thus, spiritual imagery, elaborate rituals, and sophisticated systems of thought are all skillful means (upāya) for leading sentient beings to awakening.