Toh 4190Untitled

Exposition of Scripture Toh 4190—Tengyur Abhidharma Piṭaka

Context

This scripture forms part of the Tengyur (Bstan ’gyur), the collection of treatises and commentaries on the Buddha’s Dharma in the tradition of the Northern Canon. The Tengyur comprises more than 300 volumes, containing works by eminent Indian monastics and Tibetan scholars that were translated from approximately the eighth through the twelfth centuries.

Bearing the catalog number Toh 4190, this scripture is classified within the Abhidharma, an important field of Mahayana focused on the profound analysis of dharmas and the mechanisms by which consciousness operates. The schools of the Northern Tibetan tradition—particularly Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya, and Gelug—all regard the works in the Tengyur as authoritative guides to the correct understanding of the meaning of the Mahayana scriptures.

Because this work has no clear title in the currently available data, we approach it through the general context of Abhidharma commentaries—as guidance on practicing the bodhisattva path and developing genuine wisdom (prajñāpāramitā).

Main Content

Works in the Tengyur’s Abhidharma section generally revolve around such core subjects as the nature of mind, the distinction between phenomena that are real and those grasped through ignorance, and the path of practice for transcending samsara.

The specific content of this scripture has not yet been fully translated; nevertheless, based on the context of the Abhidharma in the Northern Canon, it may be affirmed that this scripture addresses such matters as analyzing the nature of non-self (anattā), the operation of cause and effect in action, obstacles upon the path of practice, or methods of using wisdom to penetrate the profound qualities of the nature of phenomena (dharmatā).

The commentaries in the Tengyur generally combine principles from the three principal collections of scripture (Tripitaka) with distinctive Mahayana teachings, aiming at awakening for all sentient beings.