Tags: Jonangpa

The 21 Tārās of Sūrya-Gupta

The following post is titled, “A Description of the Various Aspects of Tārā as Contained in Jonang Tāranātha’s Ocean of Yidam Deities, the 100 Deities of Narthang and the Vajrāvalī…

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Tāranātha’s Descriptions of Tārā

The following post is titled, “A Description of the Various Aspects of Tārā as Contained in Jonang Tāranātha’s Ocean of Yidam Deities, the 100 Deities of Narthang and the Vajrāvalī…

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The Quintessence of Zhentong

Thinking about this well structured collection of 108 instructions, I thought to pick a few and post them. Feeling predictable, I wanted to start with what you may expect to…

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108 Quintessential Instructions

As I’ve recently been reading through the collection of 108 Quintessential Instructions that was arranged by the Jonang master Kunga Drolchok (1507-1566), I’ve been thinking through the seemingly simple question,…

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Tibetan Zhentong Discourse I

The wide variety of intricacies and nuances within the body of Tibetan thought that is termed “zhentong” is simply fantastic. The use of the word is so varied in fact…

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Elucidating the Jeweled Matrix

Let’s talk texts. As much as contemplative practice, ritual, or even personal oral instructions are essential to esoteric transmission, it is texts and the transference of texts through time that…

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Tārāyogīni Tantra & Practice

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This post is titled, The Transmission of the Tantra and Practices of Tārāyogīni (Sgrol ma rnal ‘byor ma): A Little-Known Jonang Specialty. By Thomas Roth, a contributing author to the…

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Zhentong isn’t Cittamātra

For some reason, those unfamiliar with the zhentong presentation tend to associate it with the Cittamāra (“Mind Only” or “Mentalist”) system, as if Madhyamaka was only divided into Svātantrika and…

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Śākyamuni’s 3 Revolutions

With the sustaining of a tradition, there is the multi-generational task of repeatedly defining and describing what is understood to be most real (or unreal). Then, every once in a…

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Tradition of the Perfect Eon

The “now” is important for any tradition. For it is in the process of bringing the past into the present wherein a tradition is brought to life. However, the past,…

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