The following is a transcript of a talk, The Legacy of the Jonangpa by Michael R. Sheehy at the Great Stupa of Jonang in Tibet on July 17, 2009.

Great Stupa at Jonang, '09

So, the actual name of this place is Jomonang, which is the name of the valley.^[1] It is named "Jomonang" because the female local protector deity here is known as Jomo Ngag Gyalmo, who is said to live in the upper ridge right above you, but she oversees this whole valley. In the 13th century, a few hundred years after Guru Rinpoche and Yeshe Tsogyal inhabited this place, she discovered that there was this man called Kunpangpa (Kunpang Thukjé Tsöndru) who was living in a cave about three valleys away from here, who was a Kalachakra master and whose meditative realization had reached a point of perfection. She went to visit Kunpangpa. I have been to this cave where they met. It is up on a ridge that is a straight vertical drop down into a rushing river, a thousand feet or so – very, very high – its a precipice. Kunpangpa was living up there and she came to visit and said to him, “Oh, great Kalachakra master, I invite you to come and live in my valley and your so doing will allow the Kalachakra teachings to flourish in the Land of Snows.” He then replied to her (something like), “Oh, thank you for the invitation, but I am very busy, as you can tell, and I have at least three more years I have to stay in this cave – some more realizations to accomplish, some more siddhis. But, after three years, if my meditation goes well, then I’ll come visit you in Jomonang.”

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.

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.

To inaugurate this Jonangpa blog, I thought it might be helpful to provide historical context for some of the socio-cultural and religious forces that eventually led to the founding of the Jonang as a distinct tradition of Buddhism in Tibet. What follows is an abbreviated outline of the early history of Tibetan Buddhism, highlighting some of the major figures and events that preceded the commencement of the Jonangpa.

A Chronology of Tibetan Buddhism^[1]

• c. 779 Emperor Tri Song Detsen establishes Samye, the first major monastery in South Central Tibet, beginning the "early dissemination" (snga dar) of the Buddha's teachings in Tibet and what later becomes referred to as Nyingma or "Ancient" tradition; Tibetan empire reigns Dunhuang in northern China; the Chinese Chan master Moheyan and the Indian philosopher Kamalashila are invited to debate at Samye Monastery in order to resolve the tensions between which system of Buddhism to adopt in Tibet