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The Profound Inner Principles

Translation of The Profound Inner Meaning

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With masterful clarity and precision, The Profound Inner Principles delineates the principles and foundations of Vajrayāna practice. Rangjung Dorje presents the nature of things—mental and physical—and looks at the cause of delusion, what delusion creates, and how delusion is corrected. His explanations capture the principles of the Vajrayāna’s niruttara tantras, with a special focus on the structure and functioning of the body. Just as sugatagarbha, or buddha nature, is the nature of our mind, the potential for awakening lies within our body. The Mahāyāna literature refers to this pure potential as the evolving gotra, whereas the Vajrayāna refers to it as the “vajra body”—the subtle body of channels, winds, and bindus with six elements (earth, water, fire, wind, space, and wisdom-bliss). The vajra body is not only our innate capacity, it is also our path. Understanding its components and properties is essential for most meditators. The overarching theme of the text is that we need to understand how buddha nature is present in sentient beings, those on the path, and buddhas. All the details concerning the mind’s workings, the vajra body’s structures, and the meditations, paths, and stages will reinforce that understanding and give us insight into how and why the Vajrayāna path provides access to wisdom through the body.

This translation includes a commentary by Jamgön Kongtrul with extensive footnotes containing extracts from all the other important commentaries to The Profound Inner Principles; several glossaries with annotations by the translator; a works cited list and a selected bibliography; and an index. (Source: Shambhala Publications)

Citation	Callahan, Elizabeth M., trans. The Profound Inner Principles. By Rangjung Dorje (rang byung rdo rje), the Third Karmapa. With Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye's Commentary Illuminating "The Profound Principles." Tsadra Foundation Series. Boston: Snow Lion Publications, 2015.

ContentsSources

• Foreword by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche xi
• Translator’s Introduction xiii

• The Profound Inner Principles1

• Illuminating "The Profound Principles" 69
  • Introduction 71
  • Causes and Conditions 103
  • Development of the Body 135
  • Channels 175
  • Winds 225
  • Bindus 287
  • The Four States 339
  • The Correspondences with the Environment 373
  • Imagined Deities 387
  • Bases of Purification and Means of Purification 405
  • The Correspondences with the Stages of the Path 435
  • Dissolution 455
  • Conclusion 493

• Appendix 1. Outline of Illuminating "The Profound Principles" 517
• Appendix 2. Prenatal Development 533
• Appendix 3. Time: Internal and External Measurements 537
• Appendix 4. Bindus: Overview 539
• Appendix 5. Bindus: Seven Stages of Quintessences and Dregs 541
• Appendix 6. Bindus: Internal and External Twenty-Four Sacred Places 543
• Abbreviations 549
• Notes 551
• Glossary 585
• Glossary of Enumerations 607
• Translation Equivalents 635
• Works Cited 651
• Selected Bibliography 667
• Illustration Credits 673
• Index 675

1. Karmapa, 3rd, (rang byung rdo rje). zab mo nang gi don zhes bya ba'i gzhung. In thabs grol, 1- 44. Zi ling: mtsho sngon mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2004.
2. 'jam mgon kong sprul. rnal 'byor bla na med pa'i rgyud sde mtsho'i snying po bsdus pa zab mo nang gi don nyung ngu'i tshig gis rnam par 'grol ba zab don snang byed. rum btegs: s.n., 1970?. Also, in thabs grol, 45- 322. Zi ling: mtsho sngon mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2004.

Vajrayāna - The esoteric Buddhist tradition which developed as a syncretic system involving deity worship, use of mantras, physical energy, and mystical practices. It is also known as the mantra tradition and the tantric school as a result of being based on texts known as tantras. Skt. वज्रयान Tib. རྡོ་རྗེ་ཐེག་པ། Ch. 金剛乘

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sugatagarbha - Literally, the "essence" or "heart of the Bliss Gone One(s)," a synonym for tathāgatagarbha that is likewise often rendered into English by the term buddha-nature. Though it is often back translated into Sanskrit as sugatagarbha, this term is not found in Sanskrit sources. Skt. सुगतगर्भ Tib. བདེ་གཤེགས་སྙིང་པོ་

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Mahāyāna - Mahāyāna, or the Great Vehicle, refers to the system of Buddhist thought and practice which developed around the beginning of Common Era, focusing on the pursuit of the state of full enlightenment of the Buddha through the realization of the wisdom of emptiness and the cultivation of compassion. Skt. महायान Tib. ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོ། Ch. 大乘

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gotra - Disposition, lineage, or class; an individual's gotra determines the type of enlightenment one is destined to attain. Skt. गोत्र Tib. རིགས་ Ch. 鍾姓,種性

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