Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This concise sādhana, dedicated to Hevajra, outlines a meditative process centered on the transformation of sentient beings and the practitioner's own internal state. The text begins with the ontological premise that the three realms are mind-only, establishing a non-dual framework for the subsequent practice. The practitioner is instructed to employ breath-work to purify the body, speech, and mind of all beings within these realms, subsequently gathering this purified essence and drawing it into the heart center. The work commits the reader to a repetitive cycle of absorption and contemplation, specifically targeting the perception of passion. By integrating this meditative knowledge with the gathered essence, the practitioner aims to accomplish their desired goals. The text functions as a technical manual for a specific internal alchemy, moving from a universal voidness to a concentrated point of desire and accomplishment within the heart.
Provenance
About this text
A concise sādhana dedicated to the Glorious Hevajra, the bung ba 'dod pa'i sgrub thabs outlines a meditative process centered on the transformation of sentient beings and the practitioner's own internal state. The work is attributed to the Indian author Ratnacandra. It entered the Tibetan tradition through the efforts of the translators Ratnacandra and lo tsa ba khu dngos grub po, and is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཏ, where it is situated within the Non-dual Tantra collection. Spanning two pages in this classical Tibetan edition, the work enacts a technical manual for internal alchemy. It begins with the ontological premise that the three realms are mind-only, instructing the practitioner to use breath-work to purify the body, speech, and mind of all beings and draw that essence into the heart center. Through a repetitive cycle of absorption and contemplation targeting the perception of passion, the practitioner seeks to accomplish whatever is desired. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine a specific meditative framework that moves from a universal voidness to a concentrated state of desire and attainment.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “A Sādhana of the Intent of a Bumblebee” (Toh 1280), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh1280
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant for its integration of breath control and the 'mind-only' philosophy within a Hevajra-based tantric framework. It illustrates the tantric method of utilizing affective states, such as passion, as tools for spiritual accomplishment rather than obstacles to be suppressed.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Introduction and Ontological Premise
Homage to Hevajra and the assertion that the three realms are mind-only.
2
Purification and Gathering
Instructions on using breath to purify sentient beings and draw their essence into the heart center.
3
Contemplation and Accomplishment
Guidance on repetitive absorption and the cultivation of passion to achieve desired results.
Themes
Mind-only (Cittamatra) (1)
Breath-work and Purification (2)
Transformation of Passion (3)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
The Sādhana of the Desirous Bee
Homage to the Blessed One, the Glorious Hevajra.
Having paid homage to the Saṃbhogakāya, which is born from the continuum of that very wisdom, I shall explain the extremely concise sādhana of the Bee.
First, one should understand that all three realms are mind-only. Then, one should instantaneously complete oneself in the form of the glorious Heruka, resembling a red lotus. At one’s heart, one should visualize an intensely red sixteen-petaled lotus. In its center, one should mentally inscribe the syllables AṂ and HŪṂ—the forms of the perfectly condensed Āli and the syllables of passion for the qualities of all the Buddhas. Then, from the HŪṂ and AṂ, one should emanate intensely red, mind-pleasing rays of light. These saffron-colored rays pervade all directions, transforming all sentient beings into one’s own form; their body, speech, and mind are then summoned together and dissolved into the drops of the HŪṂ and AṂ.
Then, from the complete transformation of the HŪṂ, one should meditate on the nature of the Bee, which is the essence of method and insight. It is the nature of great compassion like a precious jewel, intoxicated by drinking the nectar of flowers, and constantly proclaiming the sound of the essence of HŪṂ for a long time. It is the nature of Nairātmyā and Heruka. Then, at its heart, one should visualize a tiny drop like the water on a hide, the color of red pigment, in the form of the syllables AṂ and HŪṂ. Then, the Bee of method and insight, mounted upon the life-wind, [proceeds].
Emit [the breath] through the nostrils and, having purified the body, speech, and mind of the sentient beings dwelling in the three realms, gather them back. Again, relying on the wind of the breath, act accordingly: cause [the gathered essence] to enter the center of the lotus at one's own heart. One should meditate on the body, speech, and mind of others and one's own body, speech, and mind as being one and the same. In that manner, relying on the breath, one should meditate on the form until it is seen in an instant. Once familiarized with that, visualize an eight-petaled red lotus in the instant of a man or woman. Relying on the nectar of that [lotus] and the bee of the vital winds and effort, let it emerge as before and cause it to enter the center of the flower of one's own heart. Entering the nostrils of the man, the forms of the body, speech, and mind abide at the center of the heart lotus. On the petals of that heart lotus, meditate on one's own body as the dust of the nature of the body, drink the lotus of the nature of speech, and eat the heart of the lotus of the nature of the mind. Then, the practitioner draws in the wind of one's own breath, emits it through the nostrils of the man, and causes it to enter the filaments of the heart lotus through one's own nostrils. Thus, in that shaking of the body, one should contemplate that the two dusts of the natural lotus of the body are made one, the two nectars of the flower of the nature of speech are made one, and the two hearts of the lotus of the nature of mind are made one. Furthermore, in that manner, [one performs] the emanation...
Having thus caused [the deity] to enter and having thus absorbed [the essence], one should contemplate correctly. Furthermore, by doing so again and again until passion is perceived, and by acting with the knowledge of how to meditate, one accomplishes whatever is desired. If this meditation is performed here, women will become attached with a joyful mind, and with bodies intoxicated by desire, they will bring bliss to the practitioner’s mind and come under his control. If one perceives a fault, one should not act as instructed. If one does so, it will become a great sin. Therefore, one should first understand what is an appropriate object and what is not; having understood that, one should meditate as instructed.
Through the merit of having accomplished this method for achieving the desires of the bee, may the beings of this cyclic existence here obtain the glorious compassion.
It is complete. Composed by the accomplished Ratnacandra. Translated by the translator Khu Ngödrup.