Toh 4097Untitled

An Explanation of Toh 4097 — The Tengyur Treatise Collection

Context

This scripture belongs to the Abhidharma-piṭaka in the Tengyur—the Treatise Collection of the Tibetan Northern Buddhist tradition, compiled upon the foundation of the Mahayana Buddhadharma. The Tengyur is a collection of independent treatises and commentaries explaining the scriptures, reflecting the profound development of Buddhist thought over many centuries.

Toh 4097 belongs to the context of the Tibetan Northern tradition, in which Indian and Tibetan Buddhist scholar-masters constructed complex systems of theory and practice. This tradition emphasizes the importance of both profound doctrine and meditative practice. The Treatise Collection is regarded as a foundation for clearly understanding dharmatā—the nature of phenomena—and the path of liberation from suffering.

Although this scripture’s title has not been fully translated, its position within the Tengyur suggests that it forms part of the body of treatises focusing on the analysis of consciousness (vijñāna), the skandhas, or dependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda)—essential themes of the Mahayana Buddhadharma.

Main Content

Treatises in the Tengyur, including Toh 4097, commonly focus on explaining difficulties in theories concerning the self (ātman) and dharmatā. According to the Mahayana tradition, all dharmas are without self-nature—they possess no independent essence. This is called the twofold absence of self (dviśūnyatā): the absence of self in the person (pudgala-nairātmya) and the absence of self in dharmas (dharma-nairātmya).

Treatises such as this commonly analyze how dharmas arise and cease through causes and conditions. They examine more deeply the Four Noble Truths—suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path—from a transcendent perspective beyond coarse concepts. The Treatise Collection also explains the Three Bodies (Trikāya)—the Dharma Body, Enjoyment Body, and Emanation Body—so that practitioners may clearly understand the nature of the Buddha.

Within the Tibetan Northern tradition, these commentaries are not merely theoretical but also provide guidance in practice.