Profound Inner Meaning

File:Rangjung Dorje.jpg

The 3rd Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje (1284–1339).

The Profound Inner Meaning (T. zab mo nang don ཟབ་མོ་ནང་དོན; pron. 'Zabmo Nangdon'). A treatise by the 3rd Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje (1284–1339) on the principles and foundations of Vajrayāna practice.

The Tsadra editors state:

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.

Chapters

As presented in the translation by Callahan (2013), the chapters are:

• Introduction
• One: The Causes and Conditions for Saṃsāra and Nirvāṇa
• Two: Development of Body in Womb
• Three: Nāḍīs
• Four: Prāṇas
• Five: Bindus
• Six: The Four States
• Seven: Correspondence between Inner and Outer
• Eight: Imputed Deities
• Nine: Bases and Means of Purification
• Ten: Stages of the Path
• Eleven: Dissolution
• Conclusion

Commentaries

• Jamgon Kongtrul, 'Illuminating the Profound Meaning: a Commentary to The Profound Inner Meaning (Zabdon Nangjey)'.
• 3rd Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje, auto-commentary?

Translation

• The Profound Inner Principles, with Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye’s commentary 'Illuminating the Profound Principles', transl. E. Callahan, Shambhala, 2013. Publisher's page

Further reading

• The Profound Inner Principles, Buddha Nature: A Tsadra Foundation Initiative
• The Profound Inner Meaning, Buddha Nature: A Tsadra Foundation Initiative
• Profound Inner Meaning, Rigpa Shedra Wiki
• The Profound Inner Principles, Wikipedia