Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This fragmentary text, titled Personal Instructions on Binding Internal and External Bodhicitta, addresses the relationship between the conventional and ultimate aspects of bodhicitta. The author posits that these two dimensions are coemergent, suggesting a non-dualistic integration of the aspirational drive for enlightenment and the direct realization of emptiness. By framing the instructions as a method of binding these two poles, the text commits the reader to a practice that avoids the dichotomy between relative means and absolute truth. The work aims to provide a pith instruction on how to synchronize the internal realization of the nature of mind with the external application of the bodhisattva's altruistic intention, though the provided excerpt cuts off before the specific methodology is detailed.
Provenance
About this text
An instruction on the binding of outer and inner bodhicitta, the Bāhyāntarabodhicittabandhopadeśanāma is attributed to the Indian author Minapa. Preserved in the classical Tibetan tradition, the work is found within the General Unexcelled Yoga Tantra Works collection and is contained in volume ཟི of the Tengyur, where it extends over two pages. Under the Tibetan title phyi nang byang chub sems bcing ba'i man ngag, the text addresses the coemergence of ultimate and conventional bodhicitta, which the author asserts are obscured by darkness. It enacts a practice for the universal arising of these two dimensions, seeking to synchronize the internal realization of the nature of mind with the external application of altruistic intention. A scholar or serious reader consults this work to examine the non-dualistic integration of the aspirational drive for enlightenment and the direct realization of emptiness, avoiding the dichotomy between relative means and absolute truth. The provided translation follows this trajectory, though the specific methodology remains fragmentary as the source text cuts off during the description of the practice.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “Personal Instructions on Binding Internal and External Bodhicitta” (Toh 2376), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh2376
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant for its focus on the coemergence of relative and ultimate bodhicitta, a central tension in Mahayana soteriology. It reflects a tradition of pith instructions designed to provide direct, practical shortcuts to integration rather than exhaustive philosophical treatises.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Introduction
Provides the Sanskrit and Tibetan titles, an opening homage, and the initial thesis regarding the coemergence of ultimate and conventional bodhicitta.
Themes
Coemergence of Relative and Ultimate Bodhicitta (1)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaPersonal Instructions on Binding Internal and External Bodhicitta·
In the language of India: Bāhyāntarbodhicittabandhanāma. In the language of Tibet: Phyinang byangchub sems bcing ba’i man ngag ces bya ba (The Pith Instructions on Binding the Outer and Inner Bodhicitta). Homage to the Bodhisattvas!
The ultimate and conventional bodhicitta are coemergent, yet obscured by darkness. I shall here explain the practice for their universal arising.
From the crown of the head down to the bola, one should meditate on the various channels. Then, in the wheel of great bliss, focus the mind upon the bodhicitta, which is like the interior of an egg. At the tip of the bola, for a moment, meditate on it as being clear and the size of a pea.
Within the channels of the egg of great bliss, the bodhicitta should be made to descend. O yogi, until it reaches the navel, fill [the channels] with non-dual nectar, and consciousness will become supreme bliss.
Do not project the object of meditation outward; do not draw the mind inward. Like the knot of a snake, the mind abides in self-liberation. Free from the activity of substantial entities, the yogi’s mental clinging is severed. Through my realization, I am liberated.
The Pith Instructions on Binding the Bodhicitta, composed by the master Minapa, 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.