Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This sādhana provides a ritualized procedure for the visualization and invocation of Ārya Avalokiteśvara, specifically in a form characterized as the Lord of the World. The text guides the practitioner through a precise iconographic construction of the deity, who is depicted with three colored faces (red, white, and blue) and six arms holding symbolic implements including a lotus, sword, jewel, and wheel. The ritual process involves the integration of a wisdom-being at the heart, followed by a structured sequence of offerings and a formal supplication for forgiveness of errors committed during the practice. The text commits the reader to a disciplined regimen that extends beyond the immediate visualization to include dietary restrictions involving an inner fire offering, the performance of merit-making activities such as stupa construction, and a specific meditative dissolution process prior to sleep. By linking internal visualization with external virtuous action and mental absorption, the text aims to align the practitioner's state with the compassionate nature of the deity.
Provenance
About this text
A sādhana for the practice of the Noble Avalokiteśvara, Lord of the World, the Āryāvalokitalokeśvarasādhana belongs to the classical Tibetan tradition. The work is attributed to the Indian author Atīśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna. Its transmission into the Tibetan language was carried out by Atīśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna and zhu chen gyi lo tsa ba dge slong rin chen bzang po. The text is preserved in the Tengyur, volume པི, where it comprises four pages and is situated within the collection of the Guhyasamāja and Related Tantras. The work enacts a ritualized procedure for the visualization and invocation of the deity, who is described as having three faces—red, white, and blue—and six arms holding a lotus, sword, jewel, and wheel. The practice guides the practitioner through the integration of a wisdom-being at the heart, the making of offerings, and a formal supplication for forgiveness of errors. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine the precise iconographic construction of the Lord of the World and the structured sequence of ritual actions required for the accomplishment of Lokeśvara.
Sanskrit title
Āryāvalokitalokeśvarasādhana
Indian author
Atīśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna
Tibetan translators
Atīśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna, zhu chen gyi lo tsa ba dge slong rin chen bzang po
The work is significant as it illustrates the synthesis of iconographic precision and behavioral ethics within Vajrayāna practice. It demonstrates how a sādhana functions not merely as a meditation but as a comprehensive lifestyle guide incorporating ritual purity and merit accumulation.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1-2
Invocation and Iconography
Initial homage and a detailed description of the deity's three faces, six arms, and associated attributes.
3
Ritual Conclusion and Supplication
Instructions for dismissing the wisdom-being and requesting forgiveness for ritual imperfections.
4
Post-Ritual Conduct and Sleep Meditation
Guidelines for dietary practices, virtuous deeds, and the dissolution of consciousness into the heart seed syllable before sleep.
Themes
Deity Visualization (2)
Ritual Purification (3)
Merit and Virtue (4)
Meditative Dissolution (4)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Āryāvalokiteśvarasādhanam. In the language of Tibet: ’Phags pa spyan ras gzigs ’jig rten dbang phyug sgrub pa’i thabs (The Sādhana of the Noble Avalokiteśvara, Lord of the World). Homage to the Lord of the World!
To him whose mind is governed by compassion,
Who always acts for the benefit of others,
To the Lord of the World, I prostrate;
I shall now write his sādhana.
Having generated the mind of awakening (bodhicitta),
Possessing faith and compassion,
Respectful toward the guru and possessing a generous mind,
Speaking the truth and endowed with diligence,
In a place that is pleasing to the mind,
Sitting upon a comfortable seat,
And having performed the preliminary practices,
One should accomplish the Lord of the World.
First, one should visualize a moon [disc] arising from the syllable A at one’s own heart. Above that, one should visualize the seed syllable. From it, light radiates forth, inviting the Lord of the World. Then, one should perform the seven-limbed practice, beginning with prostration.
Then, having gone for refuge to the Three Jewels and generated the mind of awakening, one should meditate on great compassion. One recites: OṂ ŚŪNYATĀ-JÑĀNA-VAJRA-SVABHĀVA-ĀTMAKO ’HAṂ. By this, one should meditate on all phenomena as emptiness, devoid of the duality of subject and object.
Then, one should visualize one’s own mind as a PAṂ, from which arises an eight-petaled lotus. Above that, from an A, arises a moon maṇḍala. In its center is that very same seed syllable. Light radiates from it, purifying all wandering beings, and is then reabsorbed back into it. Through its complete transformation, one becomes the Lord of the World, red in color.
He has three faces, appearing red, white, and blue, and six arms. The first pair of right and left hands are in the mudrā of meditative union. The second and third right hands hold a lotus and a sword; the second and third left hands hold a jewel and a wheel. At his heart is a wisdom-being (jñānasattva) similar to himself but of subtle proportions. At that being’s heart is the seed syllable upon a moon disc. Light radiates from it, inviting the wisdom-being from his natural abode. Having made offerings, one should recite jaḥ hūṃ baṃ hoḥ and perform the summoning, entering, binding, and pleasing of the deity into oneself. Then, visualizing the three syllables at the three places, one should perform the blessing of the body, speech, and mind. Again, light radiates from the seed syllable, inviting the five Buddhas. Having made offerings, one should supplicate: "O Protector, may all the Tathāgatas please confer empowerment upon me." Visualizing that they confer the empowerment, one should seal the deity with the Lord of the Family. One should meditate on that very form with vivid clarity. Furthermore, one should meditate until the signs of the wind element arising as a lotus the size of a chickpea, touching the tip of the upper nose, and the signs of form appear. Then, from that seed syllable, one should emanate and reabsorb the forms of the deity. When emanating, one should arrange the mantra oṃ āḥ oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ hūṃ hrīḥ svāhā in a counter-clockwise circle around the seed syllable at the heart of the wisdom-being, and meditate according to the oral instructions.
Then, if you wish to arise, dismiss the wisdom being (jñānasattva) and make offerings. You should then make this supplication: "Whatever I have done here that was improper, through the delusion of my mind, O Protector, refuge of all embodied beings, please grant me your forgiveness." Then, make this aspiration: "By this virtue, may the accomplishment of Lokeśvara, who always acts for the benefit of others, be attained; and may all wandering beings also attain it." Then, with "Oṃ Āḥ Hūṃ Muḥ," request them to depart. This should also be done for all elemental spirits (bhūta).
Visualize in front of you a source of phenomena (dharmodaya) with a lotus and moon. With light rays from the seed syllable, summon all the elemental spirits and transform them into the forms of their respective chosen deities. As for the sequence of purifying the torma: from Yaṃ arises wind, from Raṃ arises fire, and in a lotus vessel arisen from A, purify the substances such as vajra-water arisen from Mu, Vi, Ra, and Śu. Having performed the purification and so forth, place the syllable Hrīḥ there. Summon the wisdom nectar and stir it with a vajra arisen from Hūṃ. Bless it with this mantra and offer it: "Oṃ Akāro mukhaṃ sarvadharmāṇām ādyanutpannatvāt oṃ āḥ hūṃ phaṭ." Recite this seven or three times and offer it. Then, imagine that they are satisfied and attain the samādhi of non-dual great bliss. Request them to depart with "Oṃ Āḥ Hūṃ Muḥ."
When partaking of food, purify the food with that same previous samādhi as before. Visualize your own deity at your heart.
With a mind endowed with the inner fire offering, one should partake of food. Then, one should strive in virtuous deeds such as the construction of stupas and the like. At the time of sleep, one should gather all that is stable and moving into the seed syllable at one's own heart; having also dissolved oneself into that, one should abide in the meditative concentration of emptiness. Rising in the morning, one should engage in the practice as before. Regarding the bath, one should imagine it as a self-consecration. Following the Glorious Guhyasamāja, this concise pith instruction for the Sādhana of Lokeśvara has been explained here by the glorious Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna. This concludes the Sādhana of the Protector of the World composed by the great master, the glorious Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna.
Translation status: Not among 84000's published translations, and not in progress there. Translations published elsewhere have not been searched for, so one may exist. (source: 84000 catalogue + registry; checked 2026-11-10).
Set in Newsreader and EB Garamond; Tibetan in Noto Serif Tibetan; Chinese in Noto Serif SC.