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Library Updates

Dolpopa's Song of Auspiciousness in Translation

Submitted by Michael R. Sheehy on Mon, 2015-03-09 16:59
We are happy to make a new translation of a song of auspiciousness by Dolpopa available to download and share. jf_dolpopa_lineage field_01.jpg The newest contribution to the Jonang Foundation online library is a translation by James Rutke of Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen’s song, translated as, Buddha Nature’s Auspiciousness . What Dolpopa has done in this song is deconstruct the common Tibetan expression “Tashi Delek” ( bkra shis bde legs ), turning it into an uncommon expression of auspiciousness by interpreting the phrase in the...

Shangpa Sites on Tibet Map

Submitted by Michael R. Sheehy on Tue, 2014-10-14 10:13

The Shangpa Kagyu tradition has had close historical connections with the Jonang since the sixteenth century. Starting with Kunga Drolchok , and his lineage successor Taranatha , the Jonang and Shangpa transmissions have passed in sync up to the present day. For more on these connections see the post, On the Shangpa & Jonangpa .

Because of the closeness between these traditions, and our work to preserve the Jonang Buddhist tradition and its affiliates, we have begun to document the Shangpa tradition in Tibet. Field work began on this project this past summer on the Jonang Foundation...

Translation of Chod Texts by Taranatha

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 2014-04-07 17:27

Translator Sarah Harding has graciously made available two translations of Tarantha 's writings on Chod practice.

These new translations into English are now available to download as PDFs from the Jonang Foundation online library,

A Practice Manual of Profound Object-Severance: Essence of the Vital Meaning (10 pgs.) The Required Liturgies on the Occasion of Master Tāranātha’s Severance Empowerment of Opening the Door to the Sky in the Gyaltang Tradition (10 pgs.)

jf_machik labdron.jpg ...

Jonang Sites Database

Submitted by Michael R. Sheehy on Sun, 2012-11-04 21:38

We thought to share with you some of our preliminary findings on an ongoing research database to map the geographical history of Jonang monasteries and sites. Since 2004, we at Jonang Foundation have conducted textual and field research on places and institutions affiliated with the Jonang Buddhist tradition. This is enabling us to track the historical migration and spatial presence of the Jonangpa across the Tibetan plateau.

jf_siteclusters.jpg Jonang Site Clusters

There are at present almost 50 sites located on the map out of the...

Jonang Takten Monastery 3D Map

Submitted by connor on Mon, 2012-10-29 11:21

An extension of our sites database and interactive satellite map of Jonang sites , we are happy to announce the launch of our 3D map of the campus of Takten Phuntsok Damcho Ling Monastery in southern Tibet.

Video Map Guide:

This map is the first in a multi-phased project that is visualizing Takten Monastery in an interactive three dimensional space. Takten Monastery was built by Tāranātha and completed in the year 1615. It served as headquarters for the Jonangpa until it was confiscated in 1650. This project utilizes digital architecture technology tools, images and blueprint sketches...

Finding the Original Jonang Monastery

Submitted by Michael R. Sheehy on Thu, 2012-09-27 16:29

The Jonangpa have longstanding historical and cultural ties to locality. [1] So much so that their very identity is derived from and enmeshed within their place of origin. The term “Jonang” is an abbreviation of “Jomonang,” the name of the valley where the first Jonangpas settled. [2]

Jonang historical texts as well as biographies of early Jonangpa masters reference this first settlement simply as, "Jonang Monastery" ( jo nang dgon pa ). These sources specify this as the founding site of the Jonang tradition.

Where Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen (1292-1361) lived and constructed the...

Jonang Sites Interactive Map

Submitted by Michael R. Sheehy on Mon, 2011-02-28 23:19

The following post is by Connor McCarty, an honors student at the University of Alabama and contributor to Jonang Foundation. [1]

jf_mapimage_02.jpg Interactive Map of Jonang Sites

Working in collaboration with the University of Alabama, we at Jonang Foundation have developed an interactive satellite map of Jonang sites across Tibet. Providing precise geographic locations of key Jonang sites, this map allows users to navigate both historical and active Jonang monasteries, stupas, nunneries, meditation caves, and other relevant landmark sites like never before.

Viewers can now traverse the Tibetan plateau and see the migration and spatial presence of the Jonangpa with an unprecedented degree of accuracy. Each site is marked at its exact co-ordinal location, providing an invaluable resource to researchers and interested members of the community alike.

New Master Bios.

Submitted by Michael R. Sheehy on Mon, 2009-05-11 13:39
JF's Masters Database

One of the ongoing projects that we have been developing on the main website is our Masters Database in conjunction with the Sites Database . Recently we have added, expanded, and updated a few Jonang lineage masters. These include: Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen , Nyawon Kunga Pal , and the Indian mahasiddha Buddhagupta who was a teacher of Taranatha. We will be regularly adding short biographies for new masters and expanding those that we have already entered. We are also working on new maps for the Sites Database.

The First Jonangpa

Submitted by Michael R. Sheehy on Wed, 2007-11-28 05:28

Throughout my readings on the Jonangpa in English, I've noticed the (all too) common attribution of either Yumo Mikyo Dorje or Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen as the "founder" of the Jonang tradition. [1] Though Yumowa was a major figure in the transmission of the Drö Kālachakra lineage as it was received by the Jonangpa, and was a prominent forefather of the tradition, its unlikely that he even heard the word "Jonangpa" in his lifetime.

jf_kunpangpa_1.jpg Kunpangpa

The term was coined during the time of Kungpang Thukjé Tsöndru (1243-1313), [2] the master who later inherited the Drö Kālachakra lineage as it was transmitted through Yumowa, and the first in the lineage to settle in the valley named " Jomonang ." He was the 1st Jonangpa.