Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
The Method of Taming the Mind and Consciousness is a technical instructional work focused on the discipline of the mind and its underlying nature. Attributed to the master Mekola and transmitted from Śāntideva, the text aims to provide a systematic approach to mental taming. The provided fragments indicate a structure that begins with a traditional Sanskrit and Tibetan title and a ritual invocation to Heruka, followed by a poetic metaphor involving a variegated deer to illustrate the wandering nature of the mind. The work commits the reader to a process of mental stabilization and refinement, moving from the recognition of mental instability toward a state of taming. By framing the instructions within a lineage connecting a known Indian figure with a Tibetan master, the text positions its methodology as an authoritative transmission of meditative practice designed to reconcile the active mind with its intrinsic nature.
Provenance
About this text
A treatise on the method for taming the mind and the nature of mind, the Cittacaitanyaśamanopāya belongs to the General Unexcelled Yoga Tantra Works. The work is attributed to the Indian author Mekola and is described as having been transmitted from the master Śāntideva. Preserved in the classical Tibetan tradition, the text appears in volume ཟི of the Tengyur, where it extends over two pages. The Tibetan title is rendered as sems dang sems nyid 'dul ba'i thabs. In practice, the work enacts a process of mental stabilization, beginning with an invocation to the glorious Heruka and employing a poetic metaphor of a variegated deer wandering the four directions to illustrate the instability of the mind. By tracking and slaying this deer in the expanse of space, the text provides a systematic approach to taming the mind and its underlying nature. A scholar or serious reader consults this work today to examine the specific instructional methodology used to reconcile mental activity with its nature, as framed within a lineage connecting Mekola and Śāntideva.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “The Method of Taming the Mind and Consciousness” (Toh 2395), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh2395
Summary & commentary
Significance
The work is significant for its explicit link between the Indian scholar Śāntideva and the Tibetan master Mekola, illustrating the transmission of mental training techniques across cultures. For the modern reader, it provides insight into the specific metaphors and ritual frameworks used in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism to describe the process of cognitive discipline.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Introduction
Contains the Sanskrit and Tibetan titles, a devotional homage to Heruka, and the beginning of a poetic metaphor regarding the wandering mind.
2
Conclusion
A closing statement identifying the lineage of the instructions from Śāntideva to Mekola.
Themes
Mental Taming (1-2)
Lineage Transmission (2)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaThe Method of Taming the Mind and Consciousness·
In the language of India: Cittacittilashopāyaṃ. In the language of Tibet: Sems dang sems nyid 'dul ba'i thabs zhes bya ba (The Method for Taming the Mind and the Nature of Mind). Homage to the glorious Heruka!
A deer of variegated hue,
Striking with its hooves, wanders in the four directions.
Having been tracked, it is slain in the expanse of space.
With its own flesh, its own body,
It has become an enemy in every respect.
The Bhūṣuku hunter
Does not let it go for even a single moment.
The female deer speaks to the male:
"If we dwell in the forest, we shall be happy.
Yet, having emerged from there, you kill us.
With your own flesh, your own body,
You have become an enemy in every respect.
The Bhūṣuku hunter
Does not let us go for even a single moment."
The male speaks thus to the female:
"To whom have I done harm?
I have eaten nothing at all.
If I have done no harm to anyone,
Why do you say, 'Kill me'?"
With your own flesh, your own body,
You have become an enemy in every respect.
The Bhūṣuku hunter
Does not let you go for even a single moment.
Not harming the grass or the water,
Wherever it dwells, it is never hungry.
These two, the male and female deer,
Whom I have sought but never found,
I have not been able to capture.
With your own flesh, your own body,
You have become an enemy in every respect.
The Bhūṣuku hunter
Does not let you go for even a single moment.
The deer that runs and flees,
Its tracks cannot be found.
Having been tracked, it is lost in the expanse of space.
The Bhūṣuku hunter
Does not let it go for even a single moment.
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.