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An Exposition of Toh 3900—The Mahayana Northern Tibetan Tradition
Background
Toh 3900 is contained in the Tengyur—the collection of treatises of the Northern Tibetan tradition, comprising commentaries, treatises, and teachings by ancient Indian Buddhist masters. The Mahayana Northern Tibetan tradition, or Tibetan Buddhism, inherited the entire Dharma heritage of India, including the teachings of the two principal schools, Madhyamaka and Yogācāra, together with distinctive practices such as Tantra and the methods of realized masters.
This work’s position in the Tengyur indicates that it is an instructive composition by learned masters, intended to clarify and comment upon the essential teachings of the Mahayana. Although the descriptive information provides no detailed information about its specific content, it may be approached in the general light of the Northern Tibetan tradition: striving for complete liberation through understanding emptiness (śūnyatā), cultivating the bodhisattva mind, and practicing mantras and advanced meditative concentration.
Main Content
Treatises in the Tengyur frequently explain profound aspects of the Dharma Wheel taught by the Buddha or develop systems of thought through which practitioners can enter the path of awakening. As a work belonging to the collection of treatises, Toh 3900 is very likely to focus on a subject inseparable from Mahayana philosophy: the doctrine of Buddha-nature, the divisions of mind (citta-bhāga), or the stages of practice according to Yogācāra.
According to the Northern Tibetan tradition, every treatise must satisfy three criteria: first, it must honor the intent of the original scriptures; second, it must accord with the logic of dependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda); and third, it must be capable of guiding practitioners along a specific path. Whether this text is a commentary or an independent exposition, its content is directed toward the common aim of clarifying the nature of suffering (dukkha), its cause, its cessation, and the path leading to that cessation.
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