Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This text provides a detailed technical manual for the Nairātmā Sādhana, a tantric practice centered on the realization of selflessness. The work guides the practitioner through a complex ritual architecture, beginning with the establishment of a mandala consisting of five fields of merit and the visualization of specific deities associated with the sense bases and mental afflictions. By mapping deities like Vārīyoginī and Vajraḍākinī to specific bodily and psychological functions, the text seeks to transform ordinary perception into the primordial wisdom of emptiness. The practice commits the reader to a rigorous regime of visualization, mantra recitation, and the maintenance of divine pride during daily activities. Ultimately, the text argues that the integration of these meditative tools allows the practitioner to establish sentient beings in the faculties of insight and navigate the various bhūmis, transitioning from formal ritual absorption to the continuous cultivation of the natural state in all aspects of life, including sleep.
Provenance
About this text
An extensive explanation of the sādhana of nairātmyā, the Nairātmāsādhanapauṣṭikanirdeśa is a work belonging to the Non-dual Tantra. It is attributed to the Indian author Ratnākara. Preserved in the classical Tibetan tradition, the text appears in volume ཏ of the Tengyur, where it extends over eight pages under the Tibetan title bdag med ma'i sgrub thabs rgyas par bstan pa. The work enacts a ritual process for the mantra practitioner to seek suchness, beginning with homage to the Perfection of Wisdom and the generation of bodhicitta for the benefit of all sentient beings. It guides the practitioner through the integration of mantra and visualization, specifically employing the mantra oṃ śūnyatā-jñāna-vajra-svabhāva-ātmako ’haṃ to realize the primordial wisdom of emptiness. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine the technical application of the Nairātmā Sādhana, a tantric practice centered on the realization of selflessness. Through a complex ritual architecture, the work details the establishment of a mandala and the mapping of deities to bodily and psychological functions, aiming to transform ordinary perception into primordial wisdom.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “An Extensive Teaching on the Nairātmā Sādhana” (Toh 1309), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh1309
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant as it demonstrates the intersection of emptiness philosophy and deity yoga, specifically how the concept of nairātmya (selflessness) is operationalized through a sādhana. For the modern reader, it illustrates the precise methodology of the Indo-Tibetan tantric tradition in transforming psychological afflictions into wisdom through structured visualization.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1-6
Preliminary and Visualization
Includes homage, refuge vows, and the technical construction of the mandala, including the five fields of merit and the placement of seed syllables.
7-8
Deity Mapping and Offerings
Assigns specific deities to sense bases and mental afflictions and describes the emanation of offering goddesses.
9-11
Insight and Integration
Relates the deities to the faculties of insight and the bhūmis, and provides instructions for maintaining the practice during daily activities and sleep.
Themes
The Transformation of Afflictions (7)
Mandala Construction and Visualization (3-6)
Integration of Ritual into Daily Life (10-11)
The Path to Insight and Bhūmis (9)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaAn Extensive Teaching on the Nairātmā Sādhana·
In the language of India: Nairātmyāsādhanapauṣṭikanirdeśa. In the language of Tibet: Bdag med ma’i sgrub thabs rgyas par bstan pa zhes bya ba (The Extensive Explanation of the Sādhana of Nairātmyā). Homage to the Blessed Mother, the Perfection of Wisdom.
In general, although there are many methods for seeking suchness, at this juncture, a mantra practitioner who has been made a suitable vessel for meditation should rise early in the morning. Visualizing the seed syllable of Nairātmyā, accompanied by a garland of light, upon a moon maṇḍala at one’s own heart, one should perform the washing of the face and so forth. Having performed the protection of the yoga, the place, and oneself, one enters the place of concentration and sits upon a comfortable seat. One should then thoroughly recite one’s own mantra over the offering water.
One should visualize the maṇḍala of Nairātmyā—the essence that perfectly gathers all the Tathāgatas of the three times—abiding in the space of the sky before one. Then, one should make offerings with the eight offering goddesses manifested from the seed syllable at one’s own heart:
“Hariṇī holds a deer; Caṇḍālī holds the sun. Vetālī holds water in her hand; Pukkasī holds a vessel of medicine. Śavarī holds a vajra in her hand; Ḍombī holds a supreme flavor. Similarly, Caṇḍālī holds a hand-drum; Ḍombī embraces and holds the neck.”
Having made the offerings perfectly with these, one should perform the confession of misdeeds and so forth before them as follows: “I confess all my misdeeds individually. To all ordinary beings and...”
I rejoice in all the virtues of the noble ones. Until I reach awakening, I take refuge in the Buddha, I take refuge in the Dharma, and I take refuge in the Saṅgha. For the sake of bringing happiness and benefit to all sentient beings, and so that those who possess the fortune for the three types of awakening may attain those three awakenings, I shall generate the mind set upon supreme, perfect, and complete awakening. Then, in order to provide excellent happiness to all sentient beings, I shall meditate on loving-kindness. Then, compassion is the aspect of thoroughly dispelling the suffering of all sentient beings. Then, joy is the aspect of all sentient beings never being separated from happiness. Then, equanimity is the aspect of establishing all sentient beings in mundane and supramundane virtues. Then, since all phenomena arise from the mind and do not exist apart from appearances, one should eliminate the delusion of appearances appearing for the sake of subject and object. For example, this is not certain, being like a dream. In order to completely eliminate delusion, one should completely eliminate the appearance of objects such as blue and yellow. For that reason, the various appearances are one's own mind; that too should be viewed as being like the infinite, mere clarity of a stainless sky at midday in autumn, without any appearance. This is the ultimate bodhicitta.
Here, it is the primordial perfection of wisdom (prajñāpāramitā); such is the sublime primordial wisdom (jñāna) of emptiness (śūnyatā). In this context, one should perform the blessing and meditation through mantra: oṃ śūnyatā-jñāna-vajra-svabhāva-ātmako ’haṃ. Following that, one should visualize a sun disk in front of the letter repha. Upon that sun is a hūṃ, the essence of the crossed vajra (viśvavajra). One should visualize that vajra as forming the enclosure and the lattice. Then, one should visualize the source of phenomena (dharmodaya-mudrā), white like the autumn moon, standing upright and triangular, abiding within the element of great emptiness. In its center is the yellow, square maṇḍala of the great power (mahendra). Above that is the white, circular maṇḍala of water. Above that is the red, triangular maṇḍala of fire. Above that is the blue, bow-shaped maṇḍala of wind. From the total transformation of these, one should visualize a great multicolored lotus with filaments, marked by a crossed vajra, and upon it, a tiered celestial palace (vimāna). This palace is composed of the nature of the five supreme, blazing jewels; it is square, has four doors, and is adorned with four tōraṇa arches. On the perimeter, sixteen offering goddesses present offerings. It is beautified by lattices and half-lattices, adorned with vajra cords, and possesses the sound of bells on crests swaying in various directions, stirred by the wind. In the central tier, one should visualize an eight-petaled lotus.
One should visualize the five fields of merit upon the filaments and in the four directions. In the outer corners, there are four; in the gates, four; one below and one above. Then, at the heart of the central field of merit, the meditator’s mind—previously visualized as infinite, clear, and like crystal—is gathered in the form of a garland of the fifteen vowels. One should meditate on this as completely melting into the form of a full moon. Above that, the garland of the thirty-four consonant classes completely melts into a sun maṇḍala. Above that, the letter A becomes a curved knife (kartṛkā), and its center is the letter A. From that letter A, all the Tathāgatas are emanated in the form of the fifteen Yoginīs; these are then perfectly reabsorbed back into it. Through the complete melting of the moon, sun, curved knife, and seed-syllable, one should meditate on the yoga of the Blessed Lady Nairātmyā. She is black in color, extremely fierce, and adorned with the five mudrās: a wheel, earrings, a necklace, bracelets, and a belt. She wears a tiger-skin lower garment and blazes with light. Her orange-red hair stands upright. She has one face and two arms, with a frowning brow and red eyes. In her left hand she holds a skull-cup and a khaṭvāṅga; in her right, she holds a curved knife. She dwells in the dancing posture of half-lotus (ardhaparyaṅka) upon a moon seat with the light of the hare-marked moon. Upon the lotuses of the four cakras, she is adorned with the four syllables. At the center of the moon, the curved knife is beautified by the light of the seed-syllable.
Thus it is said. These are the initial yoga, the initial absorption, and the nature body (svabhāvakāya). Then, following that, one should definitively extract fourteen moon seats from the seed syllable residing in the heart-mark and place them at the heart of each of the corpse seats. Then, again from that same seed syllable, one should extract the fourteen forms of the sun and place them upon those very moons. From the union of the moon and sun, the seed syllables arise upon the suns. In that regard, for the suns of the directions such as the east in the inner circle, the syllables are, in order: Ā, Ī, Ī, and Ū. For the suns of the intermediate directions such as the northeast in the outer circle, they are, in order: Ū, Ṛ, Ṝ, and Ḷ. For the suns of the gates such as the east, they are: Ḷ, E, AI, and O. For the sun below, it is AU. For the sun above, it is AṂ. From each of those respective seed syllables, a curved knife and the seed syllables completely melting arise as the fourteen goddesses; all of them are exactly like Nairātmyayoginī. On the petals of the directions are Vajrā, Pāṇḍarā, Vāriyoginī, and Vajraḍākinī. In the intermediate corners are Pukkasi, Śavarī, Caṇḍālī, and Ḍombī. In the gates are Gaurī, Caurī, Vetālī, and Ghasmarī. These twelve goddesses face toward Nairātmyā. Below is Bhūcarī, whose face looks downward.
Above is Khachöma (Khecarī), whose face gazes upward. At the heart of each is a curved knife resting upon a moon, in the center of which is their respective seed syllable. Following that, the light rays of the mantra summon the wisdom maṇḍala. With the syllable HŪṂ, the obstructors are expelled, and in order to please those residing in the sky, one should first offer the water for the mouth, the water for the feet, and the water for rinsing the face with their respective mantras. Then, reciting JAḤ HŪṂ BAṂ HOḤ, one should visualize the wisdom maṇḍala being summoned into the samaya maṇḍala, bound, and brought under control, becoming of one taste like water and milk mixing. Then, one should view the aggregate of form of oneself as Vajrī. In the aggregate of feeling is Pāṇḍarā; in the aggregate of perception is Vārīyoginī; in the aggregate of formations is Vajraḍākinī; and in the aggregate of consciousness is Nairātmyā. In the earth element is Pukkasī; in the water element is Śavarī; in the fire element is Caṇḍālī; and in the wind element is Ḍombī. In the sense base of form is Pāṇḍarā; in the sense base of sound is Caurī; in the sense base of smell is Vetālī; in the sense base of taste is Ghasmarī; in the sense base of touch is Bhūcarī; and in the sense base of phenomena is Khachöma. Furthermore, in the sense base of the eye is Vajrī; in the sense base of the ear is Nairātmyā; and in the sense base of the nose is Pāṇḍarā.
The sense base of the tongue is Vārīyoginī. The sense base of the body is Vajraḍākinī. The sense base of the mind is Nairātmyā. Hatred is Nairātmyā. Delusion is Vajrā. Desire is Vārīyoginī. Pride is Mātsaryā. Jealousy is Vajraḍākinī. One should bless the body of all [deities] at the crown of the head with the syllable OṂ. One should bless the speech at the throat with the syllable ĀḤ. One should bless the mind at the heart with the syllable HŪṂ. In the same way, one should cultivate the conviction that the aggregates, elements, sense bases, afflictions, and secondary afflictions of the others are also completely pure.
Then, with light rays from the seed syllable at one's own heart, all the Tathāgatas are summoned and placed in the sky. One should present a perfect offering to them with the eight Mātṛs emanated from the seed syllable at one's own heart and receive empowerment. Then, one should visualize that the lords of the maṇḍalas and the deities of the maṇḍala themselves are empowered by precious vases filled with the nature of the five wisdoms. One should seal them with the five families arising from the water of empowerment: Vajra, Ratna, Padma, Karma, and Buddha. [The lords of the directions are] Vajra, Ratna, Padma, and Karma, residing in the intermediate directions. The same applies to the gatekeepers. Delusion and desire are below and above.
Then, one should emanate the eight offering goddesses by definitively extracting them from the mantra at one’s own heart, and having gathered them back, one should make the offerings. Regarding that, the first six [goddesses] should be visualized as clearly appearing within the skull-cups held in the hands of those to be offered to, who hold vessels in their hands for the purpose of the offerings. One should then visualize them fully enjoying and being satisfied by these. The eighth, Śmaśānī, embraces the neck of the Mistress of the Wheel. Apart from her, the other seven yoginīs of the maṇḍala enter into her. Therefore, the Blessed Mother herself enjoys them all with the vajra born from her own lotus.
Black, red, then yellow, green, blue, and white in sequence—these should be visualized as the mere natural joys of the Mistress of the Wheel. This is called the "Supreme King of Maṇḍalas," the second absorption and the Saṃbhogakāya. Following that, the Lord of the Wheel exhorts all the goddesses, and from their respective bodies, they emanate clouds of forms corresponding to themselves. Having diligently acted for the benefit of sentient beings, they return as clouds of their own forms. These are then absorbed back into the root bodies. Among them, the Gatekeepers and the Earth-Dweller sequentially represent faith, diligence, mindfulness, and absorption.
One establishes sentient beings in the faculties of insight. Ḍākinī [Khachöma] is in the powers of faith, diligence, mindfulness, absorption, and insight. Pukkasī is in the [first three] bhūmis: the Joyous, the Stainless, and the Luminous. Śavarī is in the [next three]: the Radiant, the Difficult to Conquer, and the Manifest. Caṇḍālī is in the Far-Gone and the Immovable. Ḍombī is in the Excellent Intelligence and the Cloud of Dharma. The remaining [four] are in the bhūmis of the five Buddhas; therein, the four goddesses of the directions are in the four wisdoms, such as the mirror-like wisdom. The Bhagavatī Mother Nairātmyā herself is in the wisdom of the utterly pure dharmadhātu. These are the third absorption, called the Supreme King of Actions, and the nirmāṇakāya.
As for the defects: one should rest for a moment and then slowly recite the blazing mantra syllables, which have been mentally inscribed as a garland of letters upon the moon at the heart, reciting them in sequence until weariness arises. The mantra consists of the fifteen vowels with svāhā placed at the end. Then, one should dedicate the merit with two verses:
"May I attain this virtue, the state of the Great Vajradhara,
Which is the entirety of the wealth of all Buddhas;
May all wandering beings also attain it.
Whatever conduct is practiced for the sake of perfect enlightenment,
And that of the perfectly complete Buddhas..."
"May I practice those two modes of conduct that were spoken by Bodhivajra." Thus he says. Having dissolved the deities of the maṇḍala into the drop of the seed syllable at one's own heart, one should rise and, maintaining the divine pride of one's own deity, engage in all daily activities without separation. During the midday session, one should enter the deity's chamber, sit upon a comfortable seat, and visualize oneself as the yoginī Nairātmyā. From the mantra at one's own heart, one should emanate the fourteen goddesses and visualize them residing in their respective places. One should briefly cultivate the conviction that oneself and their aggregates and so forth are completely pure and blessed by the three syllables. Then, as before, one should perform the empowerment and conclude with the dedication of merit. Likewise, having dissolved the maṇḍala and properly risen, one should perform everything while maintaining the divine pride of one's own deity. The torma offering should also be given with this: OṂ AKĀRO MUKHAṂ SARVADHARMĀṆĀM ĀDYANUTPANNATVĀT OṂ ĀḤ HŪṂ PHAṬ SVĀHĀ. During the evening session, one should finally offer the water for the feet, request the wisdom maṇḍala to depart, and say: "OṂ, you have accomplished the welfare of all sentient beings; please grant the attainment of siddhis as desired. I request you to depart to the buddha-fields, and I pray that you return once again." Following this, one should also urge them with "OṂ MUḤ." Then, one should dissolve the samaya maṇḍala within.
One should protect the place and oneself through yoga. At the time of sleep, one should lie down while cultivating the conviction that it is merely the joy of the natural state. One should practice in this manner repeatedly and continuously. By the power of whatever virtue exists from teaching this delightful sādhana, which is like a string of pearls, may all sentient beings who cling to "I" and "self" spontaneously realize the essence of Nairātmyā. This extensive teaching on the method for accomplishing Nairātmyā, composed by the glorious Ratnākaraśānti, is complete.