Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
Personal Instructions as Vajra Song is a ritualized instructional text that guides the practitioner toward the realization of the dharmakāya through the integration of mantra and meditative insight. The work begins by establishing a lineage of authority through homage and the invocation of specific Buddhas—Amitābha, Akṣobhya, and the Vajra-Sharp One—who represent the active qualities of cutting through suffering and embodying wisdom. The text then transitions into a series of seed-syllable meditations (e ai, o au, aṃ, aḥ) that equate all phenomena with the non-arising nature of reality, supreme enjoyment, and great bliss. By linking these phonetic markers to ontological claims, the text commits the reader to a practice of non-dual awareness, where the external world is recognized as the inherent bliss and emptiness of the dharmakāya. The work functions as a manual for transforming perception into a direct experience of the fruit of practice.
Provenance
About this text
A guide for taking the nirmāṇakāya as the path, the rdo rje glu'i gdams ngag is an instructional work of classical Tibetan Buddhism. The text is attributed to the Indian author Saṃvarabhadra. It was translated into Tibetan by bla ma lo tsa ba d+harma b+hi and is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཚི, where it comprises two pages within the Other Skillful Means Tantras collection. The work enacts a ritualized process of realization, beginning with homage to the gurus and the invocation of the Buddhas Amitābha, Akṣobhya, and Vairocana, alongside the wisdom body of Amoghasiddha. Through the use of seed syllables and mantras, it argues that all phenomena are the samaya of non-arising, supreme enjoyment, and the fruit of great bliss, ultimately directing the practitioner toward the non-dual bliss of the dharmakāya. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to examine the integration of phonetic markers and ontological claims used to transform perception and realize the inherent nature of reality.
The work is significant for its use of the vajra song genre to condense complex philosophical views on non-arising into a mnemonic and ritual format. It illustrates the Tantric method of using seed syllables to trigger specific realizations of the nature of mind. For the modern reader, it provides a primary example of how Indo-Tibetan Buddhism employs sound and mantra as tools for ontological shift.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Invocation and Identification
Homage to gurus and the identification of the nirmāṇakāya path with specific Buddha figures and their attributes.
2
Seed Syllable Meditations
A series of mantras associating all phenomena with non-arising, enjoyment, and the bliss of the dharmakāya.
Themes
Non-arising and Emptiness (2)
The Nature of the Dharmakāya (2)
Buddha-attributes as Path-tools (1)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
Homage to the gurus!
First, the meaning of virtue: the vajra song for taking the nirmāṇakāya as the path is:
Oṃ vajratīkṣṇa: the Vajra-Sharp One, the Bhagavān Amitābha.
Duḥkhaccheda: the Cutter of discordant suffering, Akṣobhya.
Prajñājñānamūrtaye: the embodiment of insight and wisdom, the dispeller of delusion, Vairocana.
Jñānakāya: the wisdom body that performs enlightened activity, Amoghasiddhi.
Vāgīśvara: the Lord of Speech, who satisfies those to be trained.
Arapacana: the unborn meaning, Ratnasambhava.
Oṃ te te hūṃ: realize the meaning of bliss.
Te na hūṃ: find the path of bliss.
Te te te na hūṃ: attain non-dual bliss.
Ya te na maḥ: this is the unerring Mahāyāna.
In the middle, the meaning of virtue: the vajra song for taking the saṃbhogakāya as the path is:
Oṃ sthito hṛdi: all phenomena abide as the essence of the unborn nature.
Jñānamūrtir ahaṃ: the bliss of wisdom is within oneself.
Buddho buddhānāṃ: Buddhas and sentient beings have been non-dual from the beginning.
Tryadhvavartīnāṃ: the state that transcends the expression of the meaning of the three times.
Te na hūṃ: find the path of bliss.
Te te te na hūṃ: attain the bliss of the non-duality of method and insight.
Finally, the meaning of purity: the vajra song for taking the dharmakāya as the path is:
Oṃ sarvadharmā a ā: all phenomena are the very state of non-arising.
Oṃ sarvadharmā i ī: non-arising appears as the very state of non-arising.
Oṃ sarvadharmā u ū: the unborn phenomena are recollected by the mind throughout the three times.
Oṃ sarvadharma e ai. All phenomena are the very samaya of non-arising. Oṃ sarvadharma o au. All phenomena are the supreme enjoyment. Oṃ sarvadharma aṃ. All phenomena are the fruit of great bliss. Oṃ sarvadharma aḥ. The meaning of the dharmakāya itself, great bliss. Oṃ te te hūṃ. Realize the meaning of bliss. Te na hūṃ. Find the path of bliss. Te te te na hūṃ. Attain non-dual bliss. Ya te na maḥ. This is the unerring Mahāyāna. The first song is to be taken by those who have obtained the vase empowerment. The middle song is to be taken by those who have obtained the secret empowerment and the wisdom-gnosis empowerment. The third song is to be taken by the great yogis who have obtained the fourth empowerment. This concludes the instructions on the vajra song.
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.