Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This fragmentary text, titled The Definitive Teaching on Illusion (Sgyu ma nges par bstan pa), addresses the ontological status of sentient beings and the path to enlightenment. The author argues that the realization of the lack of intrinsic reality in beings—likening their existence to an illusion—is the catalyst for their transformation into Buddhas. The text transitions from this metaphysical premise to a description of the practitioner's lifestyle and mental discipline. It emphasizes the necessity of renouncing wealth and adopting the life of a mendicant, characterized by eating alms and practicing the patient acceptance of the non-arising of phenomena. By integrating these ethical and meditative disciplines, the practitioner is said to enter a state of effortless play. The work commits the reader to a rigorous path of asceticism and the cognitive shift toward perceiving the illusory nature of all phenomena as the primary means of liberation.
Provenance
About this text
A treatise on the nature of illusion, the Māyāniruktinama (Tibetan: sgyu ma nges par bstan pa zhes bya ba) originates from the Indian tradition and is attributed to Avadhūtipa Advayavajra and Maitrīpa. The work was translated into the Tibetan language by Vajrapāṇi and lo tsA ba dge slong tshul khrims rgyal ba. It is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཝི, where it is situated within the General Unexcelled Yoga Tantra Works. The text argues that sentient beings are like illusions and lack intrinsic reality, a realization that allows for the attainment of Buddhahood. It further describes a path of asceticism and mental discipline, advocating for the renunciation of wealth in favor of a mendicant's life characterized by eating alms and the patient acceptance of the non-arising of phenomena to reach a state of effortless play. A scholar or serious reader consults this two-page fragment today to examine the intersection of ontological claims regarding the illusory nature of existence and the practical, ethical requirements of the practitioner's life as presented in the classical Tibetan corpus.
Sanskrit title
Māyāniruktinama
Indian author
Avadhūtipa Advayavajra, Maitrīpa
Tibetan translators
Vajrapāṇi, lo tsA ba dge slong tshul khrims rgyal ba
Cite thisAnuvāda, “Teaching on [Phenomena Being Like] An Illusion” (Toh 2234), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh2234
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant for its synthesis of Madhyamaka-style emptiness (the non-arising of phenomena) with the practical requirements of the monastic or mendicant path. It illustrates the traditional Buddhist link between the philosophical understanding of illusion and the lived experience of renunciation.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Introduction and Ontological Premise
Provides the Indian and Tibetan titles, an invocation to Mañjuśrī, and the central thesis regarding the illusory nature of beings.
2
The Path of Renunciation
Discusses the difficulties faced by the wealthy and describes the ascetic practices and meditative realizations required to reach effortless play.
Themes
Illusion and Intrinsic Reality (1)
Asceticism and Mendicancy (2)
Non-arising of Phenomena (2)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaTeaching on [Phenomena Being Like] An Illusion·
In the language of India: Māyānirukti-nāma. In the language of Tibet: Sgyu ma nges par bstan pa zhes bya ba (The Definitive Teaching on Illusion). Homage to Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta.
Just as beings are like an illusion, when they are without intrinsic reality, they are Buddhas. Why has the wise one, with a mind of bliss, not liberated these beings? The illusion created by a magician appears to some as real even when the house is ablaze; the wise understand it to be like a magician’s trick. By seeing things as an illusion, whatever is desired will occur without effort. In this regard, all things are the practice of illusion. Because everything is realized as an illusion, do not conceive of it as false, but speak of illusion as being permanent. Because the expanse of phenomena (dharmadhātu) is unarisen, the consequence of nihilism does not follow. Because phenomena are unarisen and unceasing, they are not inanimate matter. Since phenomena are produced from emptiness, the nature of phenomena is not other than emptiness. Therefore, the Omniscient One does not cause the Buddhas to decline. By the power of effortlessness, the turning of the wheel of Dharma proceeds everywhere. Having abandoned the stretching out of feet and having relinquished pride and the like, the yogi dwells well in the state of non-abiding and practices the Dharma. Having found the taste of food and drink, they speak only of purity. That which does not practice what is to be practiced is not this practice of perfect enlightenment. That person speaks of reality and rejoices in this practice; they are the practitioner who accomplishes the reasoning.
It is difficult for those who are wealthy to find [the path];
Clad in the directions as their garments upon the path of the stages,
Eating food obtained through alms,
And attaining the patient acceptance of the non-arising of phenomena,
They enter into effortless play.
Whatever dharma conquers the world,
The Victor practices that very thing.
Look at its fruit in this very life;
What need is there to mention the unsurpassed fruit?
By whatever merit is gained through this teaching of illusion
With a virtuous mind,
May the world attain the state
That is non-dual and transcends the world.
The Definitive Teaching on Illusion composed by the master Advayavajra is complete.
Translated by the Indian abbot Vajrapāṇi and the translator-monk Tsultrim Gyalwa.
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.