Derge Kangyur/Tengyur e-text, Esukhia/Barom edition — public domain (mechanical reproduction)
This fragment outlines a specific ritual practice known as the yoga of food associated with the Nāmasaṃgīti (the Recitation of the Names of Mañjuśrī). The text instructs the practitioner to transform the act of eating into a meditative exercise by first contemplating the emptiness of the food's substance. This conceptual shift is reinforced through the recitation of a specific mantra intended to purify the sustenance. By integrating ontological contemplation with mantra recitation, the text commits the reader to a practice where physical nourishment is transmuted into a spiritual or purified substance, thereby aligning the mundane activity of eating with the broader goals of the Mañjuśrī-centered yoga system.
Provenance
About this text
A treatise detailing the yoga of food, the mtshan yang dag par brjod pa'i zas kyi rnal 'byor belongs to the Yoga Tantra Treatises. It is attributed to the Indian author Mañjuśrīmitra. This work is preserved in the classical Tibetan Tengyur, specifically within volume ངུ, where it extends over two pages. The text enacts a ritual process for the yogin of the Nāmasaṃgīti, instructing the practitioner to contemplate the substance of food as empty and to purify it through the recitation of a specific mantra. This process transforms the food into stainless white nectar, thereby transmuting a mundane physical activity into a meditative exercise. A scholar or serious reader consults this work today to understand the integration of ontological contemplation and mantra recitation within a Mañjuśrī-centered yoga system, observing how the act of nourishment is aligned with spiritual purification.
Cite thisAnuvāda, “The Yoga of Food according to “The Recitation of the Names of Mañjuśrī”” (Toh 2550), machine draft, 2026.https://naxiai.com/tibetan/works/toh2550
Summary & commentary
Significance
The text illustrates the application of emptiness philosophy to daily somatic activities within the Indo-Tibetan tradition. It demonstrates how mantra and visualization are used to bridge the gap between ordinary consumption and ritual purity.
Structure
Passages
Section
Description
1
The Yoga of Food
Instructions on the contemplation of emptiness and the use of a purification mantra during eating.
Themes
Ritual purification (1)
Emptiness (śūnyatā) (1)
Mantra practice (1)
Summary, significance and provenance note generated by gemma4:31b from the translation and the catalogue record.
AnuvādaThe Yoga of Food according to “The Recitation of the Names of Mañjuśrī”·
Homage to the noble Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta! A yogin of the Nāmasaṃgīti should perform the yoga of food as follows: One should contemplate the substance of whatever food is eaten as empty, and purify it with the mantra: oṃ akāro mukhaṃ sarvadharmāṇām ādyanutpannatvāt svāhā. Then, from the total transformation of āḥ, [the food becomes] stainless white nectar; from the total transformation of oṃ, it is increased and multiplied; and by hūṃ, the nectar of wisdom is drawn in. Visualizing one’s own tongue as a vajra, one blesses the three doors of body, speech, and mind. Having clearly visualized the assembly of deities at the heart, one first makes offerings to the Three Jewels. Then, one makes offerings to the assembly of deities as appropriate, satisfies the assembly of deities within one’s own body, and gives the remainder to all elemental spirits. This concludes the Nāmasaṃgīti Yoga of Food composed by the master Mañjuśrīmitra.
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.