Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This short text presents a non-dualist critique of the perceived nature of existence and the mind. The author argues that entities characterized by neither birth nor cessation are inherently free from bondage, while the three realms of existence are mere projections of a deluded state. The text posits that the root of this experience is the nature of the mind itself, which manifests as manifold delusion. However, the author employs a dialectical method to challenge the reality of this delusion, asserting that a rigorous analysis of beginningless delusion reveals no substantial entity. The work commits the reader to a process of analytical negation, culminating in a rhetorical question regarding the identity of the observer, thereby directing the reader toward the realization of the emptiness of the subject-object dichotomy.
Provenance
About this text
A treatise exploring the nature of delusion and the unborn, the bla ma mai tri'i glu belongs to the classical Tibetan period. This work is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཟི, where it comprises one page and is categorized within the General Unexcelled Yoga Tantra Works. The text enacts a non-dualist critique of existence, arguing that the three realms are projections of a deluded state and that the root of this experience is the nature of the mind itself. Through a dialectical method, it asserts that a rigorous analysis of beginningless delusion reveals no substantial entity, ultimately utilizing rhetorical questions to challenge the identity of the observer. A scholar or serious reader consults this work today to examine its process of analytical negation and its direction toward the realization of the emptiness of the subject-object dichotomy.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “A Song of the Guru Maitrīpa” (Toh 2353), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh2353
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant for its application of Mahamudra or Dzogchen-style analysis to the nature of the mind. It demonstrates the tradition's use of negation to dismantle the conceptual framework of samsara and the illusory nature of the perceiving self.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Analysis of Delusion
A concise exploration of the illusory nature of the three realms and the emptiness of the deluded mind.
Themes
Non-duality and Liberation (1)
The Nature of Mind (1)
Analytical Negation (1)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
Whatever is neither born nor ceasing, no entity is bound.
The three realms are not liberated; they appear only to the deluded.
The root, the nature of the mind itself, is the nature of manifold delusion.
If one analyzes the nature of beginningless delusion, nothing will be found.
Who is it that sees that things are unborn from the very beginning?
Who is it that thinks of birth, cessation, and bondage?
The root, the nature of the mind itself, is the nature of manifold delusion.
If one analyzes the nature of beginningless delusion, nothing will be found.
The Master says the mind is like the stainless sky.
The three realms of existence are of such a nature.
The root, the nature of the mind itself, is the nature of manifold delusion.
If one analyzes the nature of beginningless delusion, nothing will be found.
The non-conceptual nature is established through the experience of self-knowing awareness.
Since the nature is luminous, why would delusion cause one to be confused?
The root, the nature of the mind itself, is the nature of manifold delusion.
If one analyzes the nature of beginningless delusion, nothing will be found.
The song of the Guru Maitrīpa is complete.
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.