JF Newsletter #1: Summer 2007

Dear Friends & Benefactors of Jonang Foundation:

We are very pleased to bring you this inaugural issue of JF’s bi-annual email newsletter. This edition contains several updates on the progress of our field research and ongoing projects in Tibet, as well as news regarding some of our latest programs and initiatives online, and around the world.

Great Stupa of Jonang, Central Tibet

Jonang Foundation was conceived in the summer of 2004 in the Amdo cultural domain of northeastern Tibet, and was formally established as a U.S. 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation in February, 2006. After spending time with several influential Jonang masters in India and Tibet, and through my conversations with Khenpo Sherab Saljay Rinpoche and Tulku Kunga Zangpo, it became apparent to me that a foundation dedicated to facilitating the emergence of the Jonang tradition into the wider international community would be beneficial. With the re-organization of the Jonang Standing Council in 2005, and in close consultation with members on our Board of Directors including Gene Smith, Cyrus Stearns, and Steven Goodman as well as our Board of Advisors, we began executing our mission last year.

In sum, our work at Jonang Foundation is twofold:

• Supporting the living Jonangpa by directing educational and cultural preservation programs inside Tibet
• Promoting understanding of this little-known Tibetan Buddhist tradition through research and scholarship

Having identified projects of priority based upon our five guiding principles of (1) preservation, (2) education, (3) translation, (4) documentation, and (5) revivification, we are concentrating our efforts on our four core projects:

• Tibet Primary School Project
• Jonang Art & Literature Collection
• Ngedon Thartuk Translation Initiative
• Portraits of the Living Jonangpa: A Documentary Series

We have also began to expand and undertake recent initiatives including:

• Launching version 3.0 of our website with JF’s online database of Sites and Masters
• Hosting the teaching tour and Kalachakra empowerment with Khenpo Sherab Saljay Rinpoche in Italy, 2007-2008
• Releasing the Jonang Publication Series that can be purchased on the e-commerce Publications page of our website

In the near future, initiatives that we will undertake include:

• Reproducing rare and previously unpublished Jonang Tibetan manuscripts
• Publishing Jonang books from contemporary Tibetan and Western authors
• Leading journeys to select historical and active sites of the Jonangpa in Tibet

Entering into our second year, we are now primarily concerned with building a basic infrastructure in order to fulfill our mission through programs of action. In order to actualize our vision, we are working to build a network of supporters who can regularly contribute financially, as well as with time, energy, and professional skills (such as those in communications and fundraising). We seek to facilitate a system that will enable the long-term and ongoing support of our projects and programs so that we have the financial and human resources required to realize our goals.

We appreciate your support and patronage, and look forward to hearing from you. Please know that your thoughts and feedback are always welcome via email correspondence at: [email protected].

Thank you for your interest in the work of Jonang Foundation.

Michael R. Sheehy, Ph.D.
JF’s Founder & Executive Director

In April of 2007, we at Jonang Foundation launched version 3.0 of our website: www.JonangFoundation.org. This latest version retains the same design but now incorporates an ever-increasing database of Jonang historical and contemporary sites, as well as past and living Jonang lineage masters. Content is drawn from our own field research in Tibet and primary Tibetan language source materials.

JF Sites Database: Designed to reflect the historical sites of the early Jonangpa in U-Tsang (central Tibet), and the more than 70 contemporary sites of the Jonangpa in Amdo (northeastern Tibet). Each site can be searched by location or by specific categories such as the Tibetan name (phonetic/transliterated), type (monastery/nunnery/cave, etc.), and/or its present operating status (active/inactive/ruined). Brief histories and descriptions along with photos and relevant data are provided for each site.

JF Masters Database: Designed to reflect the prominent lineage masters of the Jonang zhentong and Kalachakra traditions from its ancient ancestors up to the living exemplars. Each master can be searched by historical period or Tibetan name (phonetic/transliterated). Brief biographies along with images and relevant data are provided for each master.

*Our sites and masters databases are fully integrated to provide viewers with a rich historical context of the tradition. Both databases are being regularly revised and expanded.

Please see our Home page for the latest news and updates about our online database.

Ground was broken in May of 2006 for construction of “Losal Ling” (“The Oasis for Clear Learning”) schoolhouse in the Golok cultural region of northeastern Tibet.

This project is now home to 80 young Tibetan students and will eventually have the capacity to educate up to 250 students at a time. New students are arriving regularly from every corner of Tibet including Amdo and U-Tsang, and this project is rapidly expanding.

Schoolhouse under Construction

As one of Jonang Foundation’s educational initiatives in Tibet, this school project is giving particular attention to nomad children and orphans who would not otherwise receive an education. By providing the facilities, instructors, and classroom environments necessary for children from the ages of 5-18 to receive a primary education, this project is preparing young students for secondary school and college.

The standard curriculum includes both modern secular subjects such as math, world history and geography, Chinese and English language study, as well as the traditional Tibetan curriculum of reading, writing, and the memorization of classical texts. All students attend this school free of costs.

The foundation, frame, and preliminary structure of the Losal Ling school building is complete. We are now raising the funds necessary to construct the internal framework of the school and its classrooms.

At present, in order to meet our goals for this year, we are in need of U.S. $17,000.

To make a financial contribution towards this project, please visit our Support page.

Read more about our school project.

The Jonang Publication Series (Jo nang dpe tshogs) is dedicated to making select Tibetan texts of the Jonang literary tradition available to a wider audience. This series features important philosophical Buddhist classics by major Jonang authors from all genres of sutra and tantra. Each work in this series is chosen to reflect the contemporary scholastic curriculum in Jonang monasteries inside Tibet.

Cover of Book in the Series

The first set in this annual series is 8 books (10 volumes), and is now being offered for purchase exclusively from Jonang Foundation. Volumes in this set include:

• Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen’s Rgyud bla’i TIk ka, an annotated commentary on Maitreya’s famed Uttaratantra. This work is not contained within Dolpopa’s “Collected Works” (gsung ‘bum), and is offered here in published form for the first time.
• Sazang Mati Panchen’s Mngon pa kun btus, a commentary on the essential points of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy, psychology, and metaphysics by one of Dolpopa’s primary disciples.
• Taranatha’s Dbu ma theg mchog, his seminal work on zhentong (gzhan stong) that includes the root text along with its extensive commentary in the form of transcript notes (zin bris) taken from Taranatha’s own instructions on the text.

All works in this series are in the Tibetan language. Each volume is in bound paperback book form and was printed by Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, People’s Publishing House (Beijing, 2007).

To order this set or select volumes in this series, please visit our Publications page.

We are very happy to announce the 1st program in our upcoming series of teaching tours.

The program in Italy this winter will be in Milano, Graglia, and Venice from December 12th until January 20th, 2008. Khenpo Kunga Sherab Rinpoche will be performing the Great Kalachakra Empowerment in Graglia, and giving various teachings on Jonang Kalachakra practice and the zhentong philosophical view. This tour is also in conjunction with the Festival of Tibetan Culture at the University Ca’ Foscari of Venice from Janauary 16-20, 2008.

Programs in this upcoming series hosted by Jonang Foundation will include:

• Teaching tours of prominent Jonang masters in the U.S. and Europe

   

• Intensive cultural and educational study programs in Asia and the U.S.

   

• Pilgrimages to major sites of the Jonang in central and far eastern Tibet

   

For the most up-to-date information on the teaching tour in Italy, please stay-tuned to our News page.

For details concerning transportation, accommodation, costs, etc., please see our Logistics for Italy page.

Jonang Kalachakra Mandala

The Jonang Art & Literature Collection is a digital documentation and preservation project hosted by Jonang Foundation. The specific goals of this project are to document and catalogue the entire corpus of Jonang art and literature in order to compile a comprehensive database of this material, and therefore preserve it in digital format.

Art documented is being made available through the Himalayan Art Resources. Texts documented are being made available via the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center (TBRC). All original materials obtained as well as all digitally documented materials are kept in the Jonang Foundation Archives.

To date, we have documented numerous volumes of previously unpublished Tibetan textual materials, thangka paintings, statues, and various other pieces of religious art including wall murals and ritual implements.

Once a comprehensive collection of Jonang literary materials is compiled, we will begin to redistribute these texts to each of the active Jonang monasteries and nunneries inside Tibet. The aim of this text diffusion effort is to provide a complete “Collected Works” (gsung ‘bum) of the entire tradition for the first time in history, in order to support and encourage education of this distinctive Tibetan Buddhist literary heritage.

Read more about our collection project.