Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
The Samādhi Empowerment is a ritual manual detailing the transmission of meditative concentration. The text functions as a guide for the initiation process, beginning with a formal invocation of Lokanātha and the attainment of awakening. It commits the practitioner to a specific sequence of internal yogic operations, specifically the manipulation of the three bindus to achieve a state of secret great bliss. The work argues that the realization of the state of the Sugatas is contingent upon the successful conferral of this empowerment and the subsequent meditation of the practitioner. By linking the ritual act of empowerment with the internal physiological and mental shifts of samādhi, the text positions the initiation as the necessary catalyst for accessing the non-dual experience of the enlightened ones.
Provenance
About this text
A ritual manual detailing the transmission of meditative concentration, the Samādhyabhiṣeka is a work of the General Unexcelled Yoga Tantra tradition. It is attributed to the Indian author Mitrānanda. The text entered the Tibetan tradition through the translator Gnubs Lo-tsā-ba and is preserved in the Tengyur, volume ཟི, where it spans two pages. The work enacts a specific sequence of internal yogic operations, beginning with a formal invocation of Lokanātha and the attainment of awakening. It focuses on the application of the continuous flow of the three bindus to achieve a state of secret great bliss, arguing that the realization of the state of the Sugatas is contingent upon the successful conferral of this empowerment and subsequent meditation. A scholar or serious reader consults this text today to understand how the ritual act of empowerment is linked to the internal physiological and mental shifts of samādhi, positioning the initiation as the necessary catalyst for accessing the non-dual experience of the enlightened ones.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “The Samādhi Empowerment” (Toh 2470), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh2470
Summary & commentary
Significance
This text is significant for its focus on the intersection of ritual empowerment and the internal yogic control of bindus, a hallmark of Vajrayāna practice. For the modern reader, it illustrates the technical nature of Tibetan Buddhist initiations, where ritual authority is used to trigger specific meditative states.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
Introduction and Invocation
Provides the Sanskrit and Tibetan titles and offers homage to Lokanātha.
2
Instruction and Conclusion
Details the meditation on the three bindus and the resulting state of the Sugatas.
Themes
Ritual Empowerment (1-2)
Yogic Physiology (Bindus) (2)
Great Bliss (2)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
In the language of India: Samādhy-abhiṣeka. In the language of Tibet: Ting-nge-’dzin-gyi dbang-bskur-ba (The Empowerment of Meditative Concentration). Homage to the glorious Lokanātha, the Universal Monarch.
Having attained the supreme empowerment of awakening, having conquered the four glorious māras, and through compassion never forgetting to ripen other embodied beings upon the excellent path of unsurpassed peace, I bow to the Lord Avalokiteśvara, the master of the three worlds, and shall explain the ritual for the empowerment of the pure mental engagement of the wisdom of meditative concentration for those of fortunate destiny.
In a pleasing location, possessing the collection of conditions and all the samayas, one should place great compassion before oneself and first make a request with devotion.
In the sky, one cubit above, one should meditate on the Great Sage, the Universal Monarch, coemergent with the Mother of Great Bliss, together with an immeasurable retinue of sons.
Having made offerings of clouds of all various things, just like the conduct of Samantabhadra, and having cleared away misdeeds, one should subsequently receive the pure empowerment.
Within the deity, oneself, and the location—these three—one should clearly visualize the three vajra syllables. Through faith, compassion, and samaya, rays of light in three successive colors are emitted.
From the white light of the syllable OṂ, the essence of the supreme body; from the stainless red light of the syllable ĀḤ, the stream of speech; and from the syllable HŪṂ, the master of the pure mind, blue rays radiate forth. Touching the three locations of my own body, speech, and mind, they clear away the three stains.
Thereafter, according to the pith instructions, the three purifiers—white, red, and blue nectars—are applied. Following that, the three wisdoms are smeared, and finally, there is non-dual peace.
The most secret great bliss, the application of the continuous flow of the three bindus, should thereafter be meditated upon by those of great intelligence. Having conferred the empowerment, one should sport in the state of the Sugatas. This concludes the empowerment of meditative absorption. Translated by Gnubs Lo-tsā-ba.
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.