Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This fragmentary text, presented as a song, explores the non-dual nature of reality and the mind through the lens of an inconceivable, formless state. The author begins with a traditional homage to the Buddha before immediately pivoting to a paradoxical description of perception, asserting that while nothing is seen, this absence is a deception devoid of falsehood. The text identifies the nature of the mind of the Protector (Heruka) as being beyond formal categorization or physical manifestation. By contrasting the inherent nature of the mind with that which is adventitiously placed, the work commits the reader to a meditative inquiry into the gap between conceptual overlays and the primordial, formless essence of consciousness. The fragment concludes mid-sentence, leaving the central inquiry into the nature of adventitious mental constructs unresolved.
Provenance
About this text
A treatise exploring the non-dual nature of reality and the mind, the glu/ belongs to the General Unexcelled Yoga Tantra Works. It is attributed to the Indian author Dhiṣṭijñāna. This work is preserved in the classical Tibetan period within the Tengyur, specifically in volume ཟི, where it occupies a single page. The text opens with a traditional homage to the Buddha before presenting a paradoxical meditation on perception, asserting that while nothing is seen, this absence is a deception devoid of falsehood. It identifies the nature of the mind of the Protector, the Heruka, as being beyond formal categorization or physical manifestation. By contrasting the inherent nature of the mind with that which is adventitiously placed, the work enacts a meditative inquiry into the gap between conceptual overlays and a primordial, formless essence of consciousness. A scholar or serious reader consults this fragment today to examine how the author addresses the tension between the inconceivable and the accomplished, though the text concludes mid-sentence, leaving the inquiry into adventitious mental constructs unresolved.
The work is significant for its use of paradoxical negation to describe the nature of the mind, a hallmark of the Great Perfection or Completion Stage traditions. It illustrates the tension between the manifestation of a deity (Heruka) and the ultimate formlessness of the mind.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Fragment
A brief poetic meditation on the formless nature of the mind and the illusory quality of perception.
Themes
Non-duality and Emptiness (1)
The nature of the Heruka/Protector (1)
Adventitious stains vs. primordial nature (1)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
Homage to the Buddha!
However one looks, there is nothing seen.
It is a mere deception, devoid of falsehood.
The Heruka who proclaims the inconceivable and the accomplished—
The nature of the mind of the Protector is not known as a form.
Just as it is, whatever is adventitiously placed,
Why is one pierced by the spear of desire?
The Heruka who proclaims the inconceivable and the accomplished—
The nature of the mind of the Protector is not known as a form.
The coemergent mind, the body of space, the body of the essence of bliss,
Non-dual, yet dual, the mind of emptiness and compassion—
The Heruka who proclaims the inconceivable and the accomplished—
The nature of the mind of the Protector is not known as a form.
That is unborn, unceasing, and without conditions;
If the nature is realized, it is the knowledge of the root mind.
The Heruka who proclaims the inconceivable and the accomplished—
The nature of the mind of the Protector is not known as a form.
This concludes the song from the presence of the Guru Dhiṣṭhijñāna.
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.