Chapter 13 - Nucleus of Most Secret Esoteric Instructions

Then when all maṇḍalas of indestructible Buddha-body, speech and mind of the Tathāgatas throughout the ten directions and four times had been subsumed together, the Great Joyous One became equipoised in the contemplation which is a cloud-like array of the nucleus of the most secret commitment, i.e. that all things are spontaneously present in the primordial Great Perfection; and then he uttered this meaningful expression. [1]

There are those of no understanding,
And those of wrong understanding,
Those with partial understanding,
And those who have not (quite) understood genuine reality,
Those of discipline, intention, secrecy,
And the naturally secret truth. [2]

These are well illustrated by verses which depend
On syllables, conventional sounds and nominal compounds. [3]

The concealed and hidden points
Extracted from within these
Abide in the mind of the teacher.
Who is the indestructible reality. [4]

Through the maṇḍala endowed with the maṇḍala,
One should meditate on the maṇḍala as a maṇḍala. [5]

The maṇḍala which emerges from the maṇḍala
Is the maṇḍala of Buddha-mind.
Supreme among maṇḍalas. [6]

The secret seminal point is the expanse
In which the maṇḍalas (emerge). [7]

The elements (abide as) the female consorts
Of the enlightened families.
Who are discriminative awareness;
The great (components) are the real nature
Of the enlightened families;
The enlightened mind is the assembly
Of indestructible reality;
The sense-organs, objects, times, and awarenesses
(Abide as) the maṇḍala of All-positive (Samantabhadra).
One should have regard for that superior Great Identity
By means of the five pristine cognitions of buddha-mind. [8]

Through the display of the pristine cognition of bliss
When the essential seminal points are united.
Offerings are made to joyous pristine cognition. [9]

Through that merit, free from corruption.
Manifestins in and of itself
As a magical display of pristine cognition.
There is derived the infinite maṇḍala of the display
And the supreme (field). [10]

The secret seminal points are the expanse of real nature.
They are the actuality of all the buddhas. [11]

Manifestly perfect in the ten directions and four times.
The faces which identify body, speech, attributes.
Activities, and mind, without exception, are perceived.
This mastery is the genuine supreme nature.
For one who abides in the maṇḍala, the maṇḍala itself
Becomes spontaneously present as the maṇḍala of perfection,
And. as its ornaments, one encounters all maṇḍalas without exception. [12]

Through the union of the perfect maṇḍala
The maṇḍalas of spirituality entirely emerge.
(One becomes) the lord who trains the maṇḍalas of space and time.
And by (deeds) which liberate the maṇḍalas of magical display.
One enacts the maṇḍala without object or subject. [13]

In the maṇḍala which is perfect in pristine cognition,
Through union with study, thought, and meditation.
The self-originated (pristine cognition).
Confronting all, is spontaneously present.
This is the supreme commitment
Not to be transgressed by all the Buddhas. [14]

One who has aspired towards this
Is deemed by all the maṇḍalas of Buddhas
To be a closest son.
Who would perform the ritual service
Of all maṇḍalas without exception
Throughout space and time, in all their aspects. [15]

This is the most secret result (gained)
By those who well abide in excellent refinement
Over aeons equal to the number of atoms in the fields.
And by those who perform the ritual service
Of all maṇḍalas without exception. [16]

In the ten directions of the six world-systems.
All maṇḍalas without exception of the conquerors
Of the past, present, and future
Have mastered this (path), and then
Spontaneously perfected the five Buddha-bodies. [17]

All (yogins) who have emerged.
And those in the future, in their entirety.
Accomplish spontaneous presence through this (path). [18]

The result, definitive and most secret.
Has been transformed into the path. [19]

For the maṇḍalas of the conquerors, without exception,
Apart from this, there is no secret definitive meaning.
Though sought, none is found by the conquerors. [20]

Among the great seals of all (Buddhas).
This supreme one should be retained by those endowed
With the eyes of discriminative awareness,
Who have well refined it in study, thought, and meditation.
And it should be given to those worthy recipients.
Who are of noble disposition and steadfast.
Who donate their bodies and enjoyments. [21]

It should never be given to others.
If it has been given to those who are deluded
Because they are agitated.
One's life will come to an untimely end.
And then one will be roasted, parched,
And one will remain so for a long time. [22]

—Such was the meaningful expression which the Tathāgata himself uttered to the Tathāgata himself. This completes the thirteenth chapter from the Secret Nucleus Definitive with respect to the Real, entitled [the Nucleus of] Most Secret Esoteric Instructions. [23]