Th e p r o f o u n d and visionary world of the Karmapa Rangjung Dorje is on display in his monumental Profound Inner Principles. The self- proclaimed, and recognized, incarnation of Karmapa Karma Pakshi, Rangjung Dorje (1284-1339) studied with the great masters of his time, absorbing the immense wealth of Buddhist teachings and transmissions that had been carried from India and recently translated into Tibetan. He meditated in various wild places, including Tsari and Kongpo, and com­ posed treatises that became the foundation for studies by generations of meditators and scholars in the Karma Kagyu tradition and beyond. One of his most famous compositions is The Profound Inner Principles, with its Autocommentary. In eleven chapters, 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 Vajrayânas niruttara tantras, primarily the Vajra Gar­ land Tantra, Kâlachakra Tantra, Hevajra Tantra, Samvarodaya, and Sam­puta.

The Profound Inner Principles focuses on the mind and its reflections and the mind-body relationship. The text creates maps of the way things are now, how they can be changed, and what happens when they change. Central to its presentation is that just as sugatagarbha, or buddha nature, is the nature of our mind, the potential for awakening lies within our body.