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TheJonang (Tibetan:ཇོ་ནང་,Wylie:Jo-nang) is a school ofIndo-Tibetan Buddhism. Its origins inTibet can be traced to the early 12th century masterYumo Mikyo Dorje. It became widely known through the work of the popular 14th century figureDolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen. The Jonang school's main practice is theKālacakra tantra (Wheel of Time Tantra), and they are widely known for their defense of thephilosophy known asshentong ("empty of other").
After a period of influence, the Jonang tradition suffered a series of reversals, partly due to its suppression by the politically dominantGelug school under theFifth Dalai Lama in the17th century. Jonang did survive inAmdo, from which they eventually re-established themselves in other regions likeGolok,Nakhi, andKham. They have continued practicing uninterrupted to this day.[1] An estimated 5,000monks andnuns of the Jonang tradition practice today in these areas. However, their teachings were limited to these regions until theRimé movement of the 19th century encouraged the study of non-Gelug traditions of Tibetan Buddhism.[2][3]
The Jonang shentong view was influential on various figures in other Tibetan Buddhist schools, including the 3rdKarmapaRangjung Dorje (1284–1339), the eighthTai Situpa (1700–1774),Katok Tsewang Norbu (1698–1755),Situ Panchen (1700–1774),Jamgön Kongtrül (1813–1899),Kalu Rinpoche (1905–1989), andKhenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso (1934–2024).
The monk Künpang Tukjé Tsöndrü (Wylie:kun spangs thugs rje brtson 'grus, 1243–1313) established akumbum or stupa-vihara in the Jomonang Valley about 160 kilometres (99 mi) northwest of theTashilhunpo Monastery inÜ-Tsang (modernShigatse).[4] The Jonang tradition took its name from this "Jomonang" monastery, where Tsöndrü established a practice tradition that integrated seventeen different transmission of the Kālacakra Tantra completion stage yogas,[4] and which was significantly expanded by later figures, includingDolpopa.[5]
The Jonang tradition combines two specific teachings, what has come to be known as the philosophy ofshentong ("empty of other")madhyamaka, and the Dro lineage of theKalachakra Tantra. The origin of this combination in Tibet is traced to the masterYumo Mikyö Dorjé (c. 11th-12th century), a pupil of theKashmiri master Somanātha, whose treatises compiled sources emphasizing the unique approach to emptiness of the Kalachakra Tantra.[6][7]
The shentong view holds that the non-dual nature of the mind (thebuddha-nature) is real (andnotempty ofinherent existence), while all other phenomenaare empty in this way. The buddha-nature can be described empty, but not of its own-nature, rather it is empty of all defiled and illusory phenomena. Thus, in Jonang, the emptiness of ultimate reality should not be characterized in the same way as the emptiness of relative phenomena. This is because ultimate reality is a stream of luminosity (prabhāsvara-saṃtāna), endowed with limitless Buddha qualities.[8] It is empty of all that is false, not empty of the limitless Buddha qualities that are its innate nature.
The key figure in Jonang isDolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen (1292–1361), a great yogi and scholar who widely promoted the philosophy ofshentong. He was initially educated atSakya monastery, and he also studiedKagyu andNyingma lineages.[9] He was very impressed by the yogis of Jonang Monastery and eventually studied there under Khetsun Yonten Gyatso (1260–1327), receiving a complete transmission of the JonangKālacakra tradition.[9] After some years in meditative retreat, Dolpopa assumed the leadership of Jonang monastery.[9] Over the years, Dolpopa became extremely popular and was invited to teach throughout Tibet.[9] He wrote various influential works on the shentong philosophy.
After Dolpopa's time, the Jonang school generated a number of renowned Buddhist scholars, its most famous being LamaTāranātha (1575–1634), who placed great emphasis on theKālacakra Tantra,Sanskrit study and thehistory of Indian Buddhism. Tāranātha studied under various figures, such as Je Draktopa, Yeshe Wangpo, Kunga Tashi and Jampa Lhundrup, but his main teacher was themahāsiddhaBuddhaguptanātha.[10]In the 17th century, theGelug school became the dominant political force in Tibet, which was now ruled by theDalai Lamas. The Gelug school worked to suppress the Jonang school and its distinct philosophy of shentong. Modern historians have identified two other reasons which more likely led the Gelugpa to suppress the Jonangpa. First, the Jonangpa had political ties that were very vexing to the Gelugpa. The Jonang school, along with theKagyu, were historical allies with the powerful house ofTsangpa, which was vying with the5th Dalai Lama and the Gelug school for control ofCentral Tibet.
This was bad enough, but soon after the death of Taranatha, an even more ominous event occurred. Taranatha'stulku was discovered to be a young boy namedZanabazar, the son ofTüsheet Khan, Prince of Central Khalkha. Tüsheet Khan and his son were ofBorjigin lineage (the imperial clan of Genghis Khan and his successors), meaning they had the birth authority to becomekhagan. When the young boy was declared the spiritual leader of all ofMongolia, suddenly the Gelugpa were faced with the possibility of war with the former military superpower of Asia. While theMongol Empire was long past its zenith, this was nonetheless a frightening prospect and the Dalai Lama sought the first possible moment of Mongol distraction to take control of the Jonang monasteries.[11]
As a result of the suppression of Jonang, the writings of Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen and even those ofSakya proponents of shentong (likeSakya Chokden) were sealed and banned from publication and study. Jonang monasteries were also gradually converted to the Gelug lineage by the political authorities.[12][13]
The14th Dalai Lama has also said that the main reason for the suppression of Jonang was political, not religious sectarianism (since the 5th Dalai Lama was himself a student of numerous lineages, includingBon).[14]
The Jonang tradition was able to survive inAmdo where a couple of monasteries had been founded in ’Dzam thang and rGyal rong. From here Jonang was able to spread to other regions likeGolog andNgawa.[13]Dzamtang Tsangwa dzong (inZamtang County,Sichuan), established by Ngag dbang bstan ’dzin rnam rgyal (1691–1728), eventually became the school's main seat.[13] Due to the efforts of figures like Ngag dbang blo gros grags pa (1920–1975) and Ngag dbang yon tan bzang po (1928–2002), about fifty Jonang monasteries survived the cultural revolution.[13]
The Jonang school also experienced a revival in the modern era during theRime period. Important modern Jonang scholars include Bamda Gelek Gyatso (1844–1904), Tsoknyi Gyatso (1880–1940), Ngawang Lodro Drakpa (1920–75), Kunga Tukje Palsang (1925–2000) and Ngawang Yonten Sangpo (1928–2002).[15] Modern Jonang figures also had close relationships with masters of the non-sectarian (Rime) movement such asJamgon Kongtrul (1813–1899) andPatrul Rinpoche (1808–1887) and these Rime figures also visited and studied atDzamtang.[13]
Until recently little was known about the survival of Jonang untilTibetologists discovered around 40 monasteries, with around 5000 monks, including some in theAmdo Tibetan andrGyalgrong areas ofQinghai, Sichuan and Tibet.[2]
One of the primary supporters of the Jonang lineage in exile has been the14th Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama donated buildings inHimachal Pradesh state inShimla,India for use as a Jonang monastery (now known as the Main Takten Phuntsok Choeling Monastery) and has visited during one of his recent teaching tours. TheKarmapa of theKarma Kagyu lineage has also visited.
The Jonang tradition has been actively petitioning for the past 20+ years to theTibetan Government in exile, requesting them to recognize the Jonang as the sixth living Buddhist tradition ofTibetan Buddhism, and seek equal religious rights and representation to the Bon, Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyu and Gelug.[16] The 14th Dalai Lama assignedJebtsundamba Khutuktu of Mongolia (who is considered by the Gelug tradition to be an incarnation of Tāranātha) as the leader of the Jonang tradition.[17]
More recently, the Jonang school has been growing in the West (led by teachers likeKhentrul Jamphel Lodrö Rinpoché andKhenpo Chokyi Nangwa) and among the Chinese (led by teachers like Tulku Jamyang Lodrö and mKhan po Chos kyi dbang phyug).[13]
Much of the Tibetan literature of the Jonang has survived, including theOcean of Definitive Meaning: A Teaching for the Mountain Hermit (commonly referred to asMountain Dharma), an extensive presentation of the ground, path, and fruit from the shentong perspective by Dolpopa.[18]
According to Dolpopa, his main sources for theultimate truth and definitive meaning (nītārtha) are thetathagatagarbha sutras, the most important of which are the following:[19][20]
Another Jonang list of sutras of definitive meaning, i.e. which teach theultimate truth, not the relative or provisional meaning (neyārtha) for the Jonang traditions is the following:[21]
The most importantBuddhist tantra in the Jonang tradition is theKālacakra tantra.
Regarding tantric commentaries, Jonang relies onThe Bodhisattva Trilogy (sems 'grel skor gsum), which comprises the following three texts:TheVimalaprabhā (an 11th-century Indian commentary on theKalacakra tantra), theHevajrapiṇḍārthaṭīkā (Toh 1180, a commentary on theHevajra tantra in 6000 lines), and theLaksabhidhanaduddhrtalaghutantrapindarthavivarana (Toh 1402), a commentary on theChakrasamvara tantra by Vajrapani.[22]
The Jonang tradition also relies on several important Indian and Tibetan śāstras (treatises), including:[23]
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