Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
The Precious Garland of Suchness, attributed to Avadhūtipa Advayavra, provides a hierarchical critique of Buddhist philosophical views to establish the superiority of the Madhyamika perspective. The text organizes practitioners into inferior, middling, and superior categories, beginning with a critique of the Vaibhāṣikas and their acceptance of external objects. It progresses through the views of the pratyekabuddhas and the mind-only proponents, arguing that the essence of mind is luminous and devoid of aspects, yet warning that conceptualizing this absence is itself a stain. The work culminates in the Middle Way, where the author asserts a state of non-superimposition that transcends both negation and proof. By integrating references to the Trikāya doctrine—specifically the Sambhogakāya and Svābhāvikakāya—and citing Nāgārjuna on the indivisibility of the dharmadhātu, the text commits the reader to a non-dual realization. The author concludes that while the three vehicles are taught for the benefit of sentient beings, the ultimate reality is an indivisible expanse.
Provenance
About this text
Seeking to express the jewel of suchness, the Tattvaratnāvalīnāma is a treatise belonging to the General Unexcelled Yoga Tantra Works. The work is attributed to the Indian authors Avadhūtipa Advayavajra and Maitrīpa. It entered the Tibetan tradition through the translator nag tsho tshul khrims rgyal ba and is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཝི, where it extends over eleven pages. Written in classical Tibetan as the de kho na nyid rin po che'i phreng ba zhes bya ba, the work opens with homage to Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta and prostrations to Vajrasattva. The author organizes the subject matter through a hierarchical division of inferior, middling, and superior perspectives. Specifically, the text analyzes the views of the inferior and middling later Vaibhāṣikas, as well as the superior Kashmiri Vaibhāṣikas, beginning with a critique of the acceptance of external objects such as color. It further addresses the analysis of inferior Śrāvakas and the practice of meditative concentration on exhalation and inhalation. A scholar or serious reader consults this work today to examine these philosophical divisions and the author's method of categorizing Buddhist views to clarify the nature of suchness.
The work is significant for its systematic attempt to map the progression from lower scholastic realism to the non-dualism of the Middle Way. It illustrates the integration of Yogācāra-style luminosity and Madhyamika emptiness within a single framework. For the modern reader, it serves as a primary example of how Tibetan-translated Indian texts categorized competing philosophical schools to validate a specific soteriological path.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1-5
Introduction and Lower Views
Opening prostrations and the analysis of inferior and middling practitioners, specifically the Vaibhāṣikas and pratyekabuddhas.
6-8
Cultivation and Mind-Only
Discussion on the necessity of cultivation over direct realization and the philosophy of mind-only and luminosity.
9-11
The Middle Way and the Trikāya
Analysis of the superior Madhyamika view, the nature of inconceivable cognition, and the description of the Sambhogakāya and Svābhāvikakāya.
12-13
Conclusion
Citations of Nāgārjuna regarding the indivisibility of the dharmadhātu and the author's dedicatory prayer.
Themes
Philosophical Hierarchy (2-4, 9)
Mind-Only and Luminosity (7-8)
Non-duality and the Middle Way (9-10, 12)
Trikāya Doctrine (11)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Tattvaratnāvalī-nāma. In the language of Tibet: De kho na nyid rin po che'i phreng ba zhes bya ba (The Precious Garland of Suchness). Homage to Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta.
Having prostrated at the lotus feet of Vajrasattva, whose stainless light is like the autumn moon, I shall express the jewel of suchness. For those individuals whose eyes are covered by the cataracts of ignorance and who have strayed from the scriptural traditions of the lineage, I shall provide a detailed explanation of the jewel of authentic suchness.
In this regard, there are three vehicles: the Śrāvaka vehicle, the Pratyekabuddha vehicle, and the Mahāyāna. There are four systems of tenets, distinguished by the Vaibhāṣika, Sautrāntika, Yogācāra, and Madhyamaka.
Among these, the system of the Vaibhāṣikas consists of the Śrāvaka vehicle and the Pratyekabuddha vehicle. The Mahāyāna is also twofold: the Pāramitāyāna and the Mantrayāna. Within the Pāramitāyāna, there are three: one should practice by abiding in the Sautrāntika, Yogācāra, and Madhyamaka. Within the system of Secret Mantra, there are also two: the Yogācāra and the Madhyamaka. Within the Yogācāra, there are two types, distinguished by the "with-aspect" (sākāra) and "without-aspect" (nirākāra) divisions. Likewise, the Madhyamaka is also twofold, distinguished by the "illusion-like non-dualist" and the "thoroughly non-abiding" proponents.
In that regard, the Śrāvakas are also of three types: ... (text continues) ...
[This is] by way of the divisions of inferior, middling, and superior. Among these, the inferior and middling are the later Vaibhāṣikas; the superior are the Kashmiri Vaibhāṣikas. Regarding the analysis of the inferior Śrāvakas: preceded by the acceptance of external objects such as blue, yellow, and so forth, they analyze that the person is devoid of both permanence and impermanence. Furthermore:
"Those seized by the demon of grasping at things as real,
Out of fear of the profound body,
Are utterly deluded beings."
And: "The person who carries the burden exists; yet it is not said to be permanent, nor is it said to be impermanent. Since a person possessed of attachment will wander in saṃsāra, in order to thoroughly abandon attachment, one should meditate on the contemplation of the unattractive. The meditation on the unattractive consists of definitively analyzing the collection of the body's excrement, urine, semen, blood, mucus, intestines, grease, lungs, heart, kidneys, spleen, stomach, and so forth."
As it is also said:
"First, with your own intellect,
Separate this union of skin;
From the lattice of flesh and bone,
Separate it with the weapon of insight.
Having separated the bones,
And having separated them down to the marrow,
Examine for yourself:
'What essence is there in this?'"
The view of the person as permanent is a stain of meditative concentration. As long as one lives, [one should rely on] the Buddha and the Dharma...
I take refuge in the Saṅgha. I prostrate to the Sugatas and the two elders. Whatever roots of virtue I have accumulated, I shall tame myself alone; I shall pacify myself alone—this is the view. The view and analysis of the middling [practitioner] are as before. This is the desire to perform a small amount of benefit for others. Through the meditative concentration of exhalation and inhalation, the meditative concentration that views the person as free from permanence and impermanence, and the nature of the mind as being like an empty vase of wind, are the stains of meditative concentration, because it has become inanimate matter. The superior [practitioner] accepts external objects and analyzes and investigates the body as being selfless. Through the thorough knowledge of the four noble truths, the view of emptiness is meditative concentration. Here, suffering should be understood as the nature of the five aggregates; its origin is conceptualization and should be abandoned; its cessation is special insight and should be realized; and the path is emptiness and should be cultivated. The superimposition of emptiness as being eternally peaceful in nature is the stain of meditative concentration. Furthermore, the view of this [superior practitioner] is the distinction of performing the benefit of others. Moreover, some maintain that here the lowest śrāvaka, because of their fixed lineage and lack of compassion, will attain only the enlightenment of a śrāvaka. Others [hold that] "All will become buddhas; there is no one here who lacks the fortune [to do so]." Thus it is said.
Thinking, "I shall not be discouraged in the accomplishment of perfect, complete enlightenment," they say that even the lowest of śrāvakas will become a perfectly complete buddha. They think that the lineage also arises in dependence upon certain buddhas. The middling ones will become pratyekabuddhas. The superior ones, they say, will become buddhas in four incalculable eons. Regarding the analysis of the pratyekabuddhas, it is the same as for the superior śrāvakas. The individuals who have entered this path possess emptiness, the characteristic of the inconceivable, the absence of a teacher, self-arisen wisdom, special insight, and calm abiding. In that regard, special insight is the cessation of the sense faculties and the non-apprehension of a person. Calm abiding is the perfect restraint of body, speech, and mind; this is their meditative concentration. In this context, the meditative concentration of the mind is the state of bliss in which the mind is gathered by the two [calm abiding and special insight], while the state in which mental factors are completely ceased is the stain of meditative concentration. Regarding that, the former is for those who follow the Sāṃkhya system, as it is said: "When the external objects of the senses have faded, whatever becomes the object of the mind, that should be cultivated with effort." Furthermore, those who follow the Vaiśeṣika system also hold, as stated in the presence of Nāgārjuna: "The wisdom that is without cognition, which is established by the example of sleep, is the cognition of the cessation of the sense faculties; this is the assertion of the Vaiśeṣikas."
Thus it is taught. Furthermore, from the scriptures of the Blessed One: "In the Jeta Grove, which is so delightful, I would rather become a jackal than ever know the liberation of the Vaiśeṣikas, O Gautama." Thus it is taught. This [pratyekabuddha] also becomes a buddha after four incalculable eons have passed. The compassion of these śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas is also focused upon sentient beings; the compassion that arises day by day, focusing on sentient beings and their suffering of suffering and the suffering of change, is compassion focused upon sentient beings. A śrāvaka teaches through speech; a pratyekabuddha teaches through the body. As it is taught: "When the perfect buddhas do not appear and the śrāvakas have also ceased, the wisdom of the pratyekabuddhas arises without conceptualization." Now, the proponents of the Pāramitā-yoga should be discussed. Among them, the "inferior" are the Sautrāntikas. Furthermore, for this purpose, their nature is that which produces a consciousness possessing aspects, which is an accumulation of subtle particles. Moreover, its very nature is called "the very arising of a consciousness possessing aspects." If one asks, "How is it apprehended at a different time?" the analysis is: "The object to be apprehended by the wise is the very reason for the knowledge of awareness; it is the consciousness that is capable of taking on the aspect." Meditative concentration is the inconceivable state of completely withdrawing from the village of the sense faculties and their objects.
Furthermore, it is said: "This is the time for cultivation, but not the time for direct realization." Therefore, one should engage solely in cultivation. Regarding cultivation:
"When one cultivates with the mind's non-mind through conceptual thought,
At that time, wherever it has gone, the mind will not be seen.
Relying on moment by moment,
Having assumed the vajra posture,
And fixing the moving mind on the tip of the nose,
One should meditate even if one is a householder."
The stains of this samādhi are as before. The view is to practice the five perfections of wisdom through the non-apprehension of the three spheres, ripening sentient beings without expectation of a result. The middling [level] is the Yogācāra practice.
Regarding that, as for the proponents of consciousness with aspects, through the reasoning: "When six [atoms] are joined simultaneously, the subtle atom would have six parts," and so forth, even the subtle atom is not apprehended. Thus, one thoroughly realizes: "All these are mind-only; the nature of mind itself is free from the aspects of apprehended object and apprehending subject, and is the manifestation of clarity itself."
This is also in accordance with the statement: "O Sons of the Victorious One, these three realms are mind-only," and likewise from the venerable Dharmakīrti:
"If the nature of blue and so forth is the mind itself,
What is the cause of an external object?
If the mind itself is not blue and so forth,
What is the cause of an external object?"
And from others: "The very nature of the sensory object..."
"Other than mind, nothing exists; that which appears as form and so forth is the very mind itself appearing." Because this has been taught, the statement that "therefore, mind alone is the establishment of the various aspects, and since it does not depend on anything else, it is itself luminous" is the conceptualization of the Yogācāra who propound cognition with aspects (sākāravāda).
Furthermore, the Yogācāra who propound cognition without aspects (nirākāravāda) maintain: "All these are mind itself; mind is the essence of self-cognition (svasaṃvedana) without aspects." As it is said:
"Just as the external objects
Imagined by the foolish do not exist,
The mind, stirred by habitual tendencies,
Arises appearing as objects.
As long as anything appears,
It appears like an illusion.
The reality of non-appearance
Is like the pure, limitless sky.
The Great Sage’s Dharmakāya
Is without elaboration and without appearance.
The Form Bodies (rūpakāya) that arise from it
Subsequently abide like an illusion."
This is the conceptualization. As for the meditative concentration (dhyāna) with aspects: it is the direct realization of the non-duality of the manifold, having abandoned all conceptualization without exception. As it is taught:
"Whatever objects of knowledge
The mind engages with,
Wherever it goes and moves,
All are of that [mind's] nature."
As for the meditative concentration of those who propound cognition without aspects: it is the direct realization of the wisdom (jñāna) without appearance, which is non-dual in terms of the two truths, inconceivable, and free from elaboration. As it is said:
Its essence is asserted to be luminous,
Devoid of aspects and unstained.
This is not understood by the unwise;
It can never be known by them.
Thinking, "All these are mind-only,"
And even perceiving in that way,
If one places anything before oneself,
One does not abide in that very [mind-only].
When consciousness no longer perceives
Any objects of perception,
One abides in mind-only;
Since there is no apprehended object, there is no apprehension of it.
Thus it is taught.
The stain of the proponents of "aspected" meditation is the desire to realize the ultimate. Abiding by the scriptures of the Blessed One, they follow the Vedas; they assert that the world proceeds as a transformation of the ultimate, eternal essence of one's own mind, which is none other than Brahmā. As it is said:
"Whatever little is seen,
That and that is Brahmā.
There is no mind other than that;
One abides definitively in Brahmā itself."
This is the stain of the aspected meditation.
Likewise, the meditation of the proponents of "aspectless" [consciousness] is the self-cognizing awareness of the non-conceptual, appearance-less ultimate. This would entail following the scriptures of the Sun (Sāṃkhya); they assert an eternal Brahmā that is free from all names and forms, utterly pure of all the delusions of conceptual proliferation, supremely luminous, limitless, and without interruption. As it is said:
"In the clear ocean of the conceptual self,
These various bubbles of accumulation arise.
They also emerge and they subside."
"Not conceptualizing through conceptualization" is the stain of the meditative concentration of those who propound the absence of aspects. Its view is also as previously described. The "superior" are the Madhyamikas. In that regard, the analysis of those who propound the non-dual illusion-like is as follows:
Neither existent, nor non-existent, nor both,
Nor even not both;
Completely liberated from the four extremes—
That is the system of the Madhyamikas.
The meaning of this is as follows: it is not existent because it is undermined by logical reasoning. It is not non-existent because it appears falsely through the power of habitual tendencies. Since both [positions] have their respective faults, it is not both. Furthermore, without prior or present analysis, how could the various appearances that manifest be truly real in any way? That is what is designated as "the non-dual illusion-like." This itself is the meditative concentration of the non-dual illusion-like. In this too, clinging to nihilism is the stain of meditative concentration. The view is to have superior conviction in the non-dual illusion-like and to bring the six perfections to completion.
The tenet of those who propound that all phenomena are utterly non-abiding is as follows:
The manifold is not conceptualized,
Nor is nihilism asserted.
Neither permanence nor nihilism,
Nor even neither of the two.
Since all things are non-abiding,
The wise realize the suchness of entities.
Therefore:
By such conceptualization,
The mind is not known by the mind.
As long as all superimpositions
Are entirely non-existent in every respect.
In the meaning of the Middle Way, there is no superimposition; therefore, there is neither negation nor proof. That cognition which is spontaneously present is described as "inconceivable." One does not describe it as "inconceivable" by means of not thinking while intending to think. It is the very realization of the pure intellect that "beings are unborn." The innate reality of beings is effortlessly realized by the wise. Furthermore: "That which is definitively liberated from all superimpositions, I describe as suchness. The expressions 'emptiness' and so forth are for the purpose of cutting through superimpositions regarding it." Thus it is taught. The meaning of this designation is that meditative concentration is the non-apprehension and non-manifestation of the nature of the object, free from superimposition. The stain of meditative absorption is to fall into the view of nihilism or to perceive the object as having a material nature. The view is the complete perfection of the six perfections without superimposition. Here, the lesser and middling compassion is "compassion directed toward phenomena," which should be understood as arising by focusing on all phenomena as they are stirred by the wind of impermanence. The superior is "compassion without an object," which is the clear realization through mental engagement with phenomena that lack intrinsic nature. Here, the presentation of the three bodies was taught by the Protector Maitreya: "That body which, for as long as existence lasts, performs various benefits for beings with equanimity, is the Sage’s emanation body, an uninterrupted stream. It possesses the thirty-two marks..."
This [body] consisting of the eighty minor marks is asserted to be the Sambhogakāya of the Sage, for the sake of the enjoyment of the Mahāyāna. Those stainless dharmas which are completely purified in every respect are the Svābhāvikakāya of the Sage, characterized by their very nature. Thus it is taught.
Here, I have not explained the scriptures of Secret Mantra because they are extremely profound, because they are the domain of persons who have exceptional devotion to the profound vehicle, and because they extensively teach the practices of the four mudrās and so forth. As it is said: "Though the goal is the same, the Mantra treatises are superior because they are free from confusion, possess many methods, are without hardships, and are governed by those of sharp faculties." Furthermore, I have taught this in the work titled The Definitive Teaching on Empowerment.
If this point is definitively taught in the Mahāyāna, one might ask: why did the Blessed One teach the vehicles of the Śrāvakas and Pratyekabuddhas for the sake of training in the ultimate truth? They are for those of inferior intellect; in order to realize the Mahāyāna which is to be attained, these are taught like the rungs of a ladder. As it is said: "For sentient beings who are beginners to enter into the ultimate truth, the Perfect Buddha taught this method like the rungs of a ladder." And from the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra: "The vehicle is one and the system is one; this teaching of the Lord is also one. As for the teaching of the three vehicles, it is my skillful means."
Thus it was said. Furthermore, from the presence of Nāgārjuna: "Because the expanse of phenomena (dharmadhātu) is indivisible, there are no divisions of vehicles for the Lord; yet the three vehicles you taught were for the sake of leading sentient beings." Thus it is taught. And from others: "Through emptiness one is liberated; by not knowing it, one is bound. All other meditations have that as their purpose." Thus it is taught. The thorough teaching of such three vehicles is also because the Blessed One, through the distinctions of general and specific conceptualizations, acts for the benefit of sentient beings so that they may realize [the truth]. Furthermore: "O Lord, in some places you did not speak even a single syllable; yet for all beings to be trained, you satisfy them with the rain of Dharma." And: "Though unmoving like a wish-fulfilling jewel, you completely fulfill the intentions of all sentient beings without exception through every conceptualization. By the application of turning the wheel, you protect them without conceptualization; through the power of the divisions of the accumulations, the teaching is thoroughly introduced. As long as the mind continues to engage, there is no end to the vehicles. When the nature of mind is fully transformed, there is no vehicle and no traveler. This precious garland of the sublime Dharma, strung on the thread of stainless speech, generates joy; I shall place it upon your hearts through this teaching. Since I am devoted to the essence, I have not taught extensively; may the learned who delight in the extensive teachings forgive me for all of it."
Through the request of the fortunate one, I have composed this work of unsurpassed meaning with great effort. By the merit I have thereby acquired, may all future sentient beings become Tathāgatas. This concludes "The Precious Garland of Suchness," composed by the master Avadhūtipa Advayavajra. It was translated by Nagtsho Tsültrim 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.