Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This text presents a concise instruction on the nature of the Tathāgata's body, speech, and mind, arguing that these are not substantial entities but are characterized by non-abiding and the absence of inherent nature. The author asserts that the ultimate nature of phenomena (dharmatā) is non-dual and beyond the reach of conceptual intellect. The work is structured as a series of aphorisms that move from the praise of the non-abiding nature of the Vajra Holder to a critique of mental engagement with signs. It warns that conceptualizing the path through the lens of duality or gradual training leads to further bondage. Instead, it commits the reader to a direct realization where the distinction between saṃsāra and nirvāṇa is collapsed. By treating all appearances as illusory and essence-less, the practitioner is directed toward a state of non-duality where phenomena are recognized as having a single taste of emptiness, bypassing gradual training for an immediate completion stage.
Provenance
About this text
A treatise on the non-abiding nature of body, speech, and mind, the Kāyavākcittāmanasikāra is attributed to the Indian author Saraha (II). The work entered the Tibetan tradition through the translation of Kṛṣṇa Paṇḍita and is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཞི, where it comprises eleven pages within the General Unexcelled Yoga Tantra Works. The text argues that the nature of phenomena, or dharmatā, is non-dual and beyond the reach of conceptual intellect, asserting that the Tathāgata exists in a state of non-duality and non-abiding. It enacts a critique of mental engagement with signs, warning that conceptualizing the path through duality or gradual training leads to further bondage. Instead, it directs the practitioner toward a direct realization where the distinction between saṃsāra and nirvāṇa is collapsed and appearances are recognized as illusory and essence-less. A scholar or serious reader consults this work today to examine these concise instructions on the nature of the Vajra Holder and the collapse of conventional mindfulness into the single taste of the ultimate expanse.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “Mental Non-Engagement with regard to Exalted Body, Speech, and Mind” (Toh 2272), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh2272
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant for its emphasis on the non-conceptual nature of the enlightened state, reflecting a Mahāmudra or Dzogchen-style approach to non-duality. It provides a critical perspective on the dangers of 'familiarization' with signs, suggesting that true liberation requires the total cessation of mental engagement with conceptual constructs.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1-6
Praise and Nature of the Non-Abiding
An opening sequence describing the non-dual, non-abiding nature of the Tathāgata and the illusory quality of appearances.
7-13
Critique of Conceptual Engagement
An analysis of the pitfalls of mental engagement with signs, the errors of conceptualizing existence and non-existence, and the necessity of viewing phenomena as essence-less.
14
Application to Completion Stage
A concluding instruction on applying these insights to the completion stage to achieve immediate realization of emptiness.
Themes
Non-abiding (non-duality) (1-6, 11)
The illusory nature of signs (7, 10, 12, 13)
The single taste of emptiness (2, 14)
Critique of gradual training (14)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaMental Non-Engagement with regard to Exalted Body, Speech, and Mind·
In the language of India: Kāyavākcittāmanasikāra-nāma. In the language of Tibet: Sku gsung thugs yid la mi byed pa zhes bya ba. Homage to the non-abiding of signs. Homage to the Vajra Holder.
To him whose bodily excellence utterly subdues the four māras,
Who, through the liberation of yoga, performs all deeds,
Who perfectly bestows the desired aims,
And who, in the guise of loving-kindness for beings, reveals the supreme goal:
The ultimate, non-abiding intention of the Victorious One’s mind—
O, in whose mind all these are beyond thought!
You display many branches of enlightened activity,
Joyfully filling the entire expanse of space.
With the sixty branches of supreme speech, you proclaim various sounds and languages;
Though the excellence of your mind never stirs from the expanse of intention,
All are satisfied and delighted, and offer supreme praise.
You clearly display the maṇḍala of the parasol of love and compassion,
Utterly subduing Mahādeva and Umādevī.
The embodiment of all the Buddhas of the ten directions and three times,
This very path of yoga is the gateway to liberation.
Through the application of the supreme lord, without any differentiation,
Great yoga is inseparable.
Whoever does not know this,
Sees nothing at all due to the manner of stains.
Whoever upholds all of this,
Relying on the two splendors, displays all activities.
Possessing a form that pervades the single taste of selflessness—
It does not abide here, yet it causes all to go. Empowered as the king of all mantras and sūtras, it is the root of all these; do not think of it as one or two, O you! It displays the various miraculous displays of conventional mindfulness, yet is of a single taste in the ultimate expanse where nothing is observed. It dispels the darkness of those afflicted by the diseases of the five poisons and so forth. Without seeing a beginning, an end, or a fundamental entity, there is no mental object in the unconditioned, O you! Between subject and object, it remains free from names. If the branches are reversed, it is the single essence. All conventions of what is to be known and what is to be done—those who view it otherwise will experience it through signs. Just as Rāhu swallows the moon, the very state of not seeing is lost between the childish and the intermediate. Between distraction and abiding, there is no such thing as an "essence." Between the causeless, the conditionless, and the unborn, the hosts of wrong views cannot penetrate this. Like markings of bezoar, saffron, and sandalwood, the light of the excellent moon is covered by the stars; the light of the essence will outshine the branches. It is difficult to examine how it arises, saying, "It is exhausted from here to there." For one who enjoys the pure sky, the qualities of desire arise without increase or decrease. For whoever holds the stainless jewel, the great treasure of the mind's qualities will emerge from this; one should always look at it in the manner of not seeing.
This essence that characterizes the nature of phenomena (dharmatā) is such that even those of supreme intellect are unable to pierce it. Know that the Tathāgata himself, in the manner of non-duality, has not gone anywhere from here. This does not abide, nor does it abide anywhere; it is forever free from views regarding this objectless state. In all those directions and intermediate points where one might go from here, do not be carried away by terrifying sounds, but proceed in purity together with whatever is pleasant.
Kye ho! Friends, regarding this, there is no duality of mind; all investigations into existence and non-existence are the ravings of a madman, stirred by the winds of conceptual thought. Having become mad, one falls into the ocean. Those who are not free from the dust and darkness of signs, yet desire to realize that very reality free from duality, are like seeing a jewel in the ocean, on the ground, or in a blade of grass. Whatever ascetic practices or conduct for nirvāṇa they perform, they teach such things out of ignorance.
The innate state, free from the two truths and devoid of superimposition or denial, is that which is not seen anywhere. It is definitively established, and in this, there is no inherent nature. By not seeing it, one becomes a Victor. The three vehicles that teach nirvāṇa do not see that very reality if it is not understood here. The path of liberation is not differentiated in any particular way; it is not something that the childish can understand. Those who desire to realize freedom from attachment have abandoned all the three or eight types of suffering and so forth, through various skillful means that do not transcend the two truths.
Emitting rays of light to the right and left to act for the benefit of beings, it shows the impure as pure, like an overturned vase. It utterly destroys the six objects and their dense entanglements. That which possesses omniscience and is unseen by anyone is unmoved by the praise or agitation of fame and the like.
Kye ho! If one abides in this way, all will come to know it. That which has been tossed about in the ocean of existence since beginningless time has made this very thing the root of suffering. Here, it is unstained by the impurities of cognition, afflictions, and so forth, like a lotus in the mud. Its colors are unmixed, appearing distinctly to each object. Realizing them as mere illusion is like a dancer’s magical display. Whatever various formations have been accumulated there, through the power of habituation to adventitious dependent origination, one will not know anything by habituating to this; rather, by not habituating, one will know everything. One does not allow any mixed phenomena to remain. Do not, for even a single moment, conceptualize the stages of the body, speech, mind, mudras, and so forth. The nature of speech is not to be expressed by worldly treatises or volumes.
When the sun and moon abide as two, and then become merged into one, whatever one practices will be perfectly adorned by it. By expressing the definitive state of non-arising in the center, the extremes are utterly abandoned. Those who do not understand through such teachings wander forever in the world-realms, their lineage severed. Because they do not perceive the torment of habitual tendencies and karma, they do not see the stainless meaning of the nature of phenomena (dharmatā).
That which is never separate from this,
Is swiftly liberated in an instant from the body of grasping mindfulness.
The vajra mind is utterly difficult to examine;
When the mind is not seen as mind, it is equalized.
Examined by the pinnacle of outer and inner meditative concentration, it is empty.
The yogi who abides in the natural meaning
Is perfected in the secret expanse of wisdom and insight.
Not seen by oneself, yet possessing all characteristics—
Thus it is praised.
In the expanse of non-mindful equality, act without attachment to the clarity of the kāya.
Not seen through compassion, unstained by body, speech, or mind,
Not seen as two, free from the stains of the three.
Like the various sky, it cannot be identified;
Do not torment the body, speech, and mind with the effort of striving.
I sing vajra songs and idle talk, shouting "Strike!" and "Kill!"
I act as I please, in a way known to all beings.
Without tension, without looking, without acting, I have never been separate from this.
Primordially uncontrived, it is the state from which all arises and enters.
Kye ho! Since this manifold variety is free from the thinking mind,
These various mental constructs are the mind of mindfulness.
They arise from that which is formless and rootless.
Ordinary awareness, ungrasped, is the king of great bliss itself.
Its characteristics are not seen as anything; it is free from all partiality and dimensions.
These thoughts and expressions imputed by delusion are adventitious;
Since they arise from the intellect, how could they be meditated upon by the intellect?
That which has no parts falls into the home of all.
At the time of understanding, there is nothing at all.
All things are seen as nothing but clarity; there is no seeing. That in which nirvāṇa and saṃsāra are joined, the appearance of duality, depends upon you and arises from you. You display various emanations everywhere, such as the Victors and so forth; you act within all the pure families. Your self-arisen emanations of inconceivable compassion arise without increase or decrease, like a precious jewel. Since there is no entity, it is never realized; there is no accepting or rejecting, and it is naturally liberated. The yoga of meditative concentration is without grasping and without mental engagement. That which is not to be meditated upon and not to be sought anywhere is the equal taste of non-mental engagement, being inconceivable. This essence, the uncontrived meaning, is wisdom like space, beyond thought. O, it cannot be conceived by the intellect or expressed in words! This conduct of the six sense-aggregates left in their natural state, spontaneously released, is the conduct of the wise who follow the six aggregates without accepting or rejecting. Through the yoga of suchness, free from superior intention, one does not abide in suchness, but is liberated without inherent nature. Whatever becomes the luminosity, the perfection, the dissolution, or the cessation, and whatever is meditated upon or becomes attached to, are signs. All aggregates, elements, sense bases, and limbs abide in a subtle manner, unmanifest within the single expanse. Just as a precious jewel found in the depths of the ocean is not seen by crocodiles, conchs, or venomous creatures, so too, within the expanse of signs such as the afflictions of existence and jealousy, one sees that there is nothing to be identified.
Engaging by way of the three doors and so forth, one exerts effort through the gateway of the two truths of cognition. The path of worldly convention is just as it appears; the three doors of liberation and the three types of training are the yoga of mental engagement with signs. One does not abide in this Great Yoga. That which is like a pure crystal ball, free from the two stains, is liberated from both existence and transcendence. Like a precious gem, it brings forth all that is needed and desired. Because it is utterly exhausted, it is without characteristics. Being non-substantial and free from the two truths, it is the single entity of emptiness. Since all signs are primordially non-existent, there is no conceptualization of extremes such as seeing or hearing. To grasp at what is non-existent as non-existent is a mere convention; this cannot be perceived. Do not conceptualize this, the root of all things. Whenever one conceptualizes this, even if one counts for an eon, that reality will not be found. Like a firebrand or a fire-drill, the fire spreads and blazes; once this has spread, it consumes everything. O friends, this very mind is like a jewel in the ocean. If one pours the milk of a lion into the horns of a buffalo, one will obtain that blazing, precious jewel. These rays of light, which completely dry up the afflictions like the sun, are those who find them; they have no fear of the lower realms or wrong views, and their attainment is beyond measure. As long as it appears within the expanse of phenomena (dharmadhātu), all that is untainted is practiced by it.
Just as a venomous snake, a wild boar, an elephant, or a lion might devour [its prey], likewise, existence and nirvāṇa are not swallowed up. Over many hundreds of thousands of inexpressible eons, the seeds accumulated through afflictions and the like, by appearing as a single mind, will ripen into a single result. Just as the light of a jewel placed inside a small lamp-house outshines everything else, having correctly adopted that mind of the Hearers and others with their inferior views and conduct, one enters [the path]. In this regard, for one who has become a bodhisattva, it is not difficult to attain perfect buddhahood. In this single moment of mind, there is no limit or boundary; all branches [of the path] are perfected in this very moment. All phenomena are fully realized within suchness; there is nothing else, and nothing comes from anywhere else. Just as the moon’s essence triumphs over the battle of darkness, one will correctly find this world to be like a dream. Whoever sees what is false as true in this [world], how could they see that which is invisible as a form? Since nothing exists at all in the ultimate sense, those individuals who, seeing something else as "the other side," desire to go there, are like those with a musk-odor who seek to go elsewhere from here. This is not something to be sought by the path of conventional terminology; liberation is not found by the constant leaping of a cat, for one will fall into the forest. This is not something to be pierced by going to the other side; without leaving anything behind, not a single thing has gone, yet by this, it is pierced. Alas! This is not to be sought by the path of conventional designations; liberation is not found by the constant leaping of a cat, for one will fall into the forest.
If the strength of the tiger and the fox were reversed, then because that very [nature] exists, what would not be beneficial to it? If one knows that very [nature], without thinking or conceptualizing, whatever forms are seen and whatever objects appear, they become empty therein. If one is distracted from this, one will not notice that one is abiding in it. Between mindfulness and vigilance, nothing at all is seen; if all phenomena are lost, one will abide within this. This is without entity and beyond thought; you should make both of these non-existent, like a mere blade of grass. O! All these four limbs of all the Buddhas are shown as three; though you contemplate them again and again, there is nothing to be seen. Arising from the dependent origination of the mindfulness of saṃsāra, because the various appearances are unarisen in their own essence, they are coemergent with the nature of unchanging great bliss. The meaning of the mind and the nature of all the Tathāgatas are the qualities of total purity. All phenomena have never arisen as dual from the beginning; through the mindfulness of duality and oneness, one becomes free from multiplicity. Whatever entity is to be expressed is empty of itself; because it transcends the intellect, it utterly destroys signs. That which is non-existent is not something that abides anywhere. When one attains the uninterrupted meditative concentration, because of being free from this, one does not see anything else. All these secret mantras are generated from that very root.
There is nothing whatsoever that arises from non-existence. Any fool who conceptualizes this will not see the supreme meaning even in a hundred eons. All those who are intoxicated by the signs of mental engagement will neither abandon nor attain, just like a kingdom [lost]. Bodhisattvas who have attained even a slight degree of "warmth" do not perceive where they are moving. Because those with conceptualization have entered the path, whatever drops of bodhicitta are mounted upon the winds, by that seed they will leak into this saṃsāra. They will not attain the authentic reality, but will become entangled in the midst of a dense thicket of nets. If one is correctly subdued by the eye of insight, the wrong views of others are liberated into one's own state. There is no need for asceticism or other efforts elsewhere. Selflessness is the self-arisen variety of all things. Empty this connection of causes, conditions, and so forth. In this yoga, I do not see a place for a self to abide. Those blind to the levels and perfections, who are distracted, carry the net of existence and leap into the ocean. Without a boat, they will sink into the depths of the ocean. This beginningless and endless Mahāmudrā dries up the ocean of afflictions and liberates one from both existence and nirvāṇa. Do not think that the continuum of the mind is severed, and do not mentally engage in emptiness. Until you have attained this great ascetic discipline of the ultimate meaning, do not touch it through the power of ascetic conduct alone.
Since there is neither the blessing nor the object to be blessed, it is truly wondrous. Whoever abides in this non-duality, free from superimposition and denial, will abide in a manner devoid of any support. Whoever understands all wandering beings in such a way will understand the meaning of all existence and nirvāṇa. All phenomena of existence and nirvāṇa are one's own mind; without viewing them as anything else, one reaches a certainty that is inconceivable and beyond the intellect. In that state, there is no need for the conceptualization of meditating or not meditating, nor for the negation or abandonment of signs. Whatever is done there, or whatever is not done, that very state becomes manifest. Just as when conceptual thoughts are neither blocked nor abandoned, and nothing else is seen, that very state becomes manifest, so too, wherever one abides, one will not see anything else. It is a nature that is not unconnected to what is not meditated upon or intentionally created. At all times, do not conceptualize this sign of knowing the meaning. This appearance and existence, which is luminous together with oneself, is non-conceptual; those whose minds realize it as something other than this will not find the jewel within the ocean. If this grasping—which asks "from where did it arise?" and "where does it abide?"—is unborn, then because it is a continuous non-cessation, that subject-object duality is unarisen, and is thus primordial wisdom itself. Without abandoning stains in that essence and without meditating upon it, roam like a wild elephant in the forest. Through the inconceivable conceptual distractions of the objects of signs, one is not harmed or distracted; one is not killed or cut by thieves who lack weapons.
Make those very signs essence-less; let them be without inherent nature, like the eight examples of illusion. Whatever is seen is mind, and since that has no substantiality, all phenomena do not abide in a mind free of recollection. Arising from that and appearing therein, they pass away into that very state; there is no movement elsewhere in this at all. Know it to be mere suchness; do not direct the mind toward it! O friends, whatever arises in the mind is not clear at any time. Since there is nothing at all to be clarified therein, by abiding in oneself free from all dispute, one is liberated. All these Buddhas who have practiced hypocrisy have not been true monks; they have fallen into the ocean. Not looking at anything other than this very state, one is a monk who sees everything. An elder who is habituated to falsehood is unable to emerge from this wretched existence. Whoever knows this river of existence to be false will attain the supreme state of an elder. The sphere of activity of that yogi is all the branches of deities, mantras, and mudrās; if one knows all this, it is not something to be brought down. For one who knows suchness, there is no seeing of any of those. Thus, apart from this, there is no arising from other objects of perception. In whichever direction the subject is, that which is seen without duality is the liberation of the various aspects. Whoever comes to view things in terms of partiality—
It is the familiarization with the subtle and coarse awareness of signs. Whoever becomes familiar with this, all their conduct, however performed, will not be meaningful; rather, they will be swiftly bound by the signs of misery. There is nothing to be familiarized with in this or its direction; there is no familiarization with the non-conceptual mind.
Kye ho! Friends, the non-dual primordial wisdom of awareness is the great empowerment of unsurpassed wisdom. It is obtained by the glorious gurus of the Perfect Age in a manner that is not to be bestowed. The supreme yogis bestow the empowerment in a manner that is not to be attained, whereby everything is perfected. The empowerments of those with perverted cravings who do not know that very reality will leak into the three [realms] through the conceptualizations of signs. In this, all accumulated obscurations of afflictions and the known are liberated without the need for insight or meditative concentration. Without a frown, all thorns are destroyed; one does not grasp by way of the unborn. Do not mentally engage in the clear conceptualization of this cessation of appearances. All perversions and conceptualizations will leak entirely into the abode of the five afflictions.
Others, by knowing this very thing, [realize] the emptiness of the net of saṃsāra. This secret meaning, the essence that dispels the darkness of delusion, is as rare as the udumbara flower. It becomes clear to all without anyone [else] knowing it. The meaning abiding in the heart becomes stainless; it is not seen by those who practice ascetic conduct.
The ability to apply these to the completion stage is as follows: when the branches dissolve, one abides in emptiness. Kye ho! Friends, just as a wrestler or a nobleman, whoever attains this will quickly achieve fullness. There is no gradual training whatsoever. All phenomena are of one taste in emptiness; you will attain perfection, for there is nothing to be attained. When one realizes that this is without root, at that very moment, non-duality is certain. Just as a silkworm is bound by its own activity, these are bound by attachment to flavors. Whoever is able to consume this dense thicket will cause all the wheels to turn continuously. To the one who does not mentally engage with the clear body, speech, and mind of the Buddhas—to the Teacher, the Guru Vajradhara, I bow. This concludes the Mahāmudrā of Non-mental Engagement of Body, Speech, and Mind, renowned as the Second Buddha, spoken from the presence of the great lord of yogins, the glorious Saraha. It was translated by the Guru Kṛṣṇa himself. Gya sa ma pa ta mi thi.
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.