Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
The Personal Instructions on the Precious Garland of Empowerments is a technical manual focusing on the intersection of subtle body energetics and the attainment of primordial awareness (jñāna). The text outlines a process of internal alchemy, describing the movement of substances—metaphorically termed musk and camphor—through the central and lateral channels (avadhūtī, lalanā, and rasanā) to dissolve the duality of subject and object. It frames the progression of empowerment through specific stages of joy and the meeting of secret vajras, culminating in a non-conceptual state where the mind merges with the expanse of space. By committing the reader to a precise synchronization of energetic flows and meditative absorption, the work argues that the fruit of suchness and ultimate accomplishment can be realized in a single instant. The text concludes by attributing its composition to Prajñāśrīguhya and its translation and editing to Prajñāśrīguhyapāda.
Provenance
About this text
A guide to the movements of the subtle body and the attainment of empowerment, the Ratnamālā-upadeśa belongs to the Non-dual Tantra collection. The work is attributed to the Indian author Prajñāgupta. It entered the Tibetan tradition through the translation efforts of Prajñāgupta, appearing in the classical Tibetan period under the title dbang rin chen phreng ba'i man ngag. This version is preserved in volume ཏ of the Tengyur, where it extends over four pages. The work enacts a process of internal alchemy, detailing the flow of substances described as musk and camphor through the central avadhūtī and the lateral lalanā and rasanā channels. It argues that by dissolving the duality of subject and object and navigating the stages of joy and the meeting of secret vajras, the practitioner may realize the wisdom-gnosis empowerment. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine the technical intersection of energetic flows and the generation of bodhicitta in intoxication, as well as the specific descriptions of the avadhūtī as the nature of the arising of appearance and existence.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “Personal Instructions on the Precious Garland of Empowerments” (Toh 1338), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh1338
Summary & commentary
Significance
This work is significant for its detailed mapping of the subtle body as a vehicle for rapid enlightenment, a hallmark of Vajrayana praxis. For the modern reader, it illustrates the complex physiological metaphors used in Indo-Tibetan traditions to describe the transition from conceptual thought to non-dual awareness.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1-2
Subtle Body Energetics
Description of the central and lateral channels and the flow of internal essences.
3-4
Stages of Empowerment
Analysis of the meeting of secret vajras and the progression through stages of joy toward non-conceptual awareness.
5
Colophon
Attribution of authorship to Prajñāśrīguhya and translation to Prajñāśrīguhyapāda.
Themes
Subtle Body Channels (1-2)
Non-duality and Primordial Awareness (2-4)
Rapid Accomplishment (5)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaPersonal Instructions on the Precious Garland of Empowerments·
In the language of India: Ratnamālā-upadeśa. In the language of Tibet: dBang rin chen phreng ba’i man ngag (The Pith Instructions on the Precious Garland of Empowerment). Homage to the glorious Great Bliss.
From the Great Bliss wheel upward, one beholds the emanation wheel. To the avadhūti, the path of the moon and sun, I prostrate. Through the grace of the feet of Ratnavajra, who knows all the wheels of my own channels, I shall clarify the glorious self of insight within the three channels at the center of that very [body].
At the root of the wheel of great bliss, the abiding place of the channels is perfectly situated. The body’s support is the channels; for example, they are like the pillars supporting a house. What is called a "house" is taught to be the wheels. If the house of the wheels lacks pillars, there is no place for others to dwell; thus, the house of great bliss is the dwelling place. Joy and so forth are taught individually. Through joy and supreme joy, there are the moments, the instants, the brief moments, and the fleeting moments. The meaning of the four empowerments in such a manner is taught in the Jñānasāgara-tantra. The glorious Vajrasattva spoke it to the Vajragarbhas.
Bliss is also twofold: the root and the fruit. The moon, sun, and fire are the three paths; the two eyes and the flute [the nose]. The entities are like a continuous chain: the lalanā, the rasanā, and the third, the avadhūtī. That single [channel] becomes three. It pervades everything from the soles of the feet upward. How many roots of the channels are there? There are seventy-two thousand; the emanation wheel is taught to be in the bhaga. It is the vessel of the precious Buddha.
On the right and left are the lalanā and rasanā; the avadhūtī dwells in the center. Completely free from subject and object, the self-arisen musk flows through the right and left. In the central avadhūtī, the camphor flows. How is the avadhūtī described? It is the nature of the arising of appearance and existence; it is that which renders everything non-existent. That is the avadhūtī, the Vajradhātvīśvarī, who is said to be the sovereign of all. Her nature is not realized if one lacks the oral instructions of the guru; it is not realized then. If the three empowerments have not been received at the outset, not a single ācārya will show the way. Therefore, first, regarding the meaning of empowerment, one should request it from the Vajra Master. As taught in all the tantras, there are four stages of empowerment, and the forms of the result are said to be three. There is no fourth empowerment separate from these; there are only three, and the third itself is it. All its oral instructions are blissful. Thus it was spoken within the stages of meditation by the glorious Ratnavajra. First is the vase empowerment; the second is said to be the secret empowerment; the third is the wisdom-gnosis empowerment; and thus, in that way, there are four. What is the function of the fourth? It is the meaning of the wisdom-gnosis empowerment. What is wisdom? What is gnosis? Know its very essence. Wisdom is said to be nirvāṇa, and gnosis is said to be saṃsāra. All of those are its central nature. If it were not so, it would be a fault; the word of Vajrasattva would be false. But the word is not false.
It is because delusion has become great. The arrow of Devadatta is the empowerment of the meeting; the result is the generation of the joy of the moment. Second, the meeting of the secret vajra; the result is the secret empowerment of supreme joy. Third, by the fire of non-dual desire, [the essence] is melted and the bodhicitta arises in intoxication. That is the wisdom-gnosis empowerment, which generates the result of the joyless. Its cessation is the fourth, the characteristic of natural gnosis. All-knowing, all exists; all-natured, all is non-existent. That alone is the great emptiness; it is both entity and non-entity, and it acts as the absence of both. That is the meaning of the pith instructions of the four. The Great Jewel Ocean Tantra was spoken thus by Vajrasattva. Those skilled in its meaning are deluded; they fall through the great delusion of their own signs. Such is the view of my pith instructions. Then, regarding my own pith instructions, the meaning of the fourth is realized in this way: once the wisdom-gnosis is seized, the experience of bodhicitta is the fourth. Once the wisdom-gnosis is seized, the master and disciple are the form of a moment. When the vajra-sun has set, the gnosis is generated clearly from that. Knowing its meaning is the fourth. Other masters speak thus: once the wisdom-gnosis is seized, the bodhicitta in the opening of the jewel, the touch of the [arrow] hole, is the fourth. Like an arrow emerging from the arrow-hole, having descended, it does not touch but emerges; non-conceptuality is the fourth. This is the system of other masters. Other systems speak in that way.
Once the wisdom of primordial awareness (jñāna) has been grasped, first:
The mind descends into the expanse of space; this is the non-conceptual fourth [joy]. Thus have other scholars spoken. In the very center of the expanse of space, all things are accompanied by the bodhicitta; all phenomena are equanimity. Others speak of that fourth in that way. Setting aside those source texts, that is not [true] knowledge. What is wisdom? What is primordial awareness? What is its essence and its fruit? If one does not know all these points in that way, the source texts will not be established.
Once the wisdom of primordial awareness has been grasped, what did the master say to the disciple? And what did he say if it was not grasped? Primordial awareness is the nature of the essence. Because it is the nature, it is not an external joy. If it is not an external joy, one does not know it oneself. Therefore, the oral instructions of the guru are necessary. If one knows [the difference between] what is grasped and what is not grasped, that is the supreme oral instruction of the guru. The nature is non-dual and utterly peaceful; it is neither desire nor the absence of desire. Self-awareness is free from the words of expression. Its branches are taught as three: the practice, the subsequent sādhana, and the great sādhana—these are the three. The meeting of the vajra and the lotus is the method of practice. The circling of the two, hūṃ and phaṭ, is what is taught in the subsequent sādhana. Self-aware bliss, utterly peaceful, is what is taught in the great sādhana. Knowing that fruit, primordial awareness, was spoken by the master to the disciple in words. The meaning of the words is the joy of joy; it is without external touch. The internal touch is perfectly smooth. If the yogi abides in that way:
Accomplishment is attained in a single instant; the form that clarifies the fruit of suchness. Prajñāśrīguhya composed this. By the great Indian master Prajñāśrīguhyapāda, it was translated, edited, and finalized. It was composed for the benefit of sentient beings. It is complete.