Tibetan Buddhist Lexicon & Glossary | Jonang Monastery

Abhidharma ('Higher Doctrine' or 'Phenomenology') is the third basket (piṭaka) of the Buddhist canon. It maps the human mind through detailed classifications of consciousness, positive and afflictive mental factors (caitta), karma, and the 75 or 100 dharmas. Monastic students at Jonang study Vasubandhu's Abhidharmakośa to ground their philosophical training.

Āgantukamala ('incidental or adventitious stains') is a central concept in Tathāgatagarbha and Shentong doctrine. It asserts that ignorance, desire, aversion, and karmic patterns are not intrinsic to consciousness—they are like clouds veiling the sun or dust coating a diamond. When these adventitious stains are purified through the contemplative path, the innate qualities of Buddha-nature become manifest.

The avadhūti (Tibetan: dbu ma) is the central pathway of the subtle energetic body in Anuttarayoga Tantra. Flanked by the left (lalanā) and right (rasanā) channels, it represents the non-dual axis of spiritual transmutation. In Kālacakra practice, the yogi causes the karmic winds to enter, abide, and dissolve into the avadhūti, triggering the dawn of immutable bliss and unhindered empty form.

Bamda Thupten Gelek Gyatso (1844–1904) was a master of the rimé (non-sectarian) movement and an authoritative commentator on the Kālacakra. His extensive multi-volume practice manual, 'A Ray of Sunlight' (Nyin byed snang ba), provides the detailed liturgical and physical guidance utilized to this day in Jonang retreat centers.

Bindus (Tibetan: thig le) are the subtle drops or essences located in the energy centers of the subtle body, categorized into white bodhicitta (lunar/cooling) and red bodhicitta (solar/warming). In advanced Kālacakra meditation, the melting and immobilization of these drops at the crown and other cakras generates the 21,600 moments of unchanging great bliss.

Bodhicitta is the foundational motivation of the Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna paths. It is divided into conventional bodhicitta (comprising aspirational bodhicitta to liberate beings and practical bodhicitta through the six pāramitās) and ultimate bodhicitta, which is the direct, non-dual realization of emptiness and luminous wisdom.

A Bodhisattva ('awakening being') vows to attain complete Buddhahood to liberate all sentient beings from saṃsāra. Cultivating the six transcendental perfections (generosity, ethics, patience, diligence, meditation, and wisdom), Bodhisattvas traverse the ten spiritual grounds (bhūmi) until Buddhahood is realized.

Cham ('cham) is a sacred ritual dance performed by ordained monastics as an integral element of tantric liturgies. Monks visualize themselves as meditational deities and protectors, executing prescribed geometric movements accompanied by cymbals, long horns (dungchen), and drums to purify obstacles and consecrate the sacred environment.

Chöd ('severance' or 'cutting through') is a profound meditation system originated by the Indian master Padampa Sangye and the great Tibetan yoginī Machig Labdrön. Practiced in charnel grounds and desolate places using a bell, ḍamaru drum, and thighbone trumpet (kangling), it cuts through root ego-grasping by offering the meditator's visualized body as an ambrosial feast.

The chos rwa ('dharma courtyard') is the setting for monastic dialectical debate. Monks gather daily to test philosophical interpretations and clarify doctrinal points through structured debate, accompanied by traditional physical gestures including rhythmic clapping and stepping.

Cittamātra ('Mind-Only') or Yogācāra asserts that external physical objects do not exist independently of cognition; all perceived dualities are projections of karmic imprints in the storehouse consciousness (ālayavijñāna). Jonang masters integrate the Yogācāra analysis of consciousness with Madhyamaka emptiness, synthesizing them into the Great Middle Way of Other-Emptiness.

In traditional Tibetan monastic debate, the dam bca' pa sits and defends their thesis against formal challenges and absurd consequences (prasaṅga). They respond strictly using canonical formulas: 'I accept,' 'The reason is not established,' or 'There is no pervasion.'

Dbang (Sanskrit: Abhiṣeka) is the formal ritual empowerment required to practice the tantras. In the Kālacakra tradition, initiation encompasses the Seven Empowerments of Entering Like a Child, the Four High and Highest Empowerments, and the Great Vajra Master Empowerment, purifying the disciple's body, speech, mind, and subtle drops.

Dharmadhātu refers to the true nature of phenomena, the ultimate reality in which all things abide beyond birth, death, and conceptual duality. In Jonang thought, the Dharmadhātu is not a mere absence or non-affirming negation, but the luminous, intrinsically pure expanse inseparable from wisdom (jñāna) and Buddha-nature.

Dölpopa Sherab Gyaltsen (1292–1361) was a formative master of the Jonang tradition. Following studies across Sakya, Kagyu, and Kadam centers, he settled at Jomonang where he practiced the Six-Branch Yoga. He authored the treatise 'Mountain Dharma: Ocean of Definitive Meaning' (Ri chos nges don rgya mtsho) and oversaw the construction of the Great Kumbum Stūpa at Jomonang, establishing the monastery as a prominent center of Tibetan scholasticism and contemplative practice.

A Dorje Lopön (Vajra Master) is a highly realized practitioner who has completed rigorous monastic training and multi-year contemplative retreats. They oversee the retreat facility, guide candidates through the subtle completion stages of Kālacakra, and maintain the purity of the samayas.

The Dro Lineage ('bro lugs) was established in Tibet by the Kashmiri master Somanātha and the great Tibetan translator Dro Lotsāwa Sherab Drak (11th century). It emphasizes the practice tradition of the Six-Branch Yoga and profound philosophical commentaries. Whereas the parallel Ra Lineage (rwa lugs) emphasized ritual recitation and wrathful rites, the Dro Lineage became the primary meditative lineage of the Jonang order.

A drupdra ('place of practice') is the meditation center of a monastery, distinct from the academic shedra. Monks enter the drupdra to complete the canonical three-year, three-fortnight retreat (lo gsum phyogs gsum) in total seclusion, mastering the subtle wind-channel yogas and dark retreats.

A sand mandala (rdul tshon dkyil 'khor) is constructed over several days by trained monks using narrow metal funnels (chakpur). It represents the divine residence and enlightened qualities of deities like Kālacakra. Upon completion and consecration, the mandala is ritually swept up and offered to a flowing river, demonstrating the impermanence of all composite phenomena.

Dzogrim (Completion Stage) is the phase of Anuttarayoga Tantra practice involving the subtle channels, winds, and drops. In the Kālacakra system, this is practiced as the Six-Branch Yoga, in which karmic winds are gathered into the central channel (avadhūti) to give rise to immutable bliss and empty form.

The gaṇḍī is a traditional carved wooden percussion beam dating back to the time of Buddha Śākyamuni in India. Kept inside the main prayer hall, its traditional rhythmic striking summons the Sangha to assemblies, monastic confessions (poṣadha), and liturgies.

Jetsun Tāranātha (1575–1635) was one of Tibet's most prolific scholars, meditators, and historians. He revitalized the Jonang lineage during a turbulent period, founded Takten Phuntsok Choeling (Takten Damchö Ling) in Tsang, and composed classic texts such as the 'History of Buddhism in India' (rgya gar chos 'byung) and extensive commentaries on the Kālacakra Six-Branch Yoga and the Tara tantras.

Jñāna (Tibetan: ye shes, 'primordial knowing') is distinguished from vijñāna (rnam shes, ordinary dualistic consciousness). While consciousness operates through subject-object duality and conceptual fabrications, jñāna is the non-dual, self-illuminating, uncompounded wisdom that perceives ultimate reality directly. In Jonang Shentong, jñāna is permanent, immutable, and replete with the spontaneous enlightened qualities of Buddhahood.

Kālacakra ('Wheel of Time') is an Anuttarayoga Tantra system central to the Jonang tradition. It synthesizes three interdependent realms: the Outer Kālacakra (the macrocosm, celestial motions, and astrology), the Inner Kālacakra (the human microcosm, subtle channels [nāḍī], winds [prāṇa], and drops [bindu]), and the Alternative Kālacakra (the mandalas, initiations, and meditation stages that purify body and mind into the indestructible union of great bliss and empty form).

The Kalkīs (Tibetan: Rigs ldan, 'Holders of the Castes') succeeded the Seven Dharma Kings of Shambhala, beginning with Mañjuśrī Yaśas. They unified all castes into a single vajra family through the Kālacakra initiation. According to tradition, the 25th Kalki, Raudracakrin, is prophesied to defeat degenerative forces and re-establish the Kālacakra teachings.

The Khalkha Jetsun Dampa (Bogd Gegeen) line originated when Zanabazar was recognized as the direct incarnation of Jetsun Tāranātha. The 9th Khalkha Jetsun Dampa (1933–2012) served as the supreme head of the Jonang tradition in exile, consecrating the Main Jonang Takten Phuntsok Choeling monastery in Sanjauli, Shimla.

Khrid ('guidance' or 'leading step-by-step') refers to practical meditation instructions derived from the realization of lineage masters. In contrast to theoretical treatises, khrid manuals (khrid yig)—such as Tāranātha's 'Meaningful to Behold' (Mthong ba don ldan)—provide step-by-step instructions for retreatants.

Kora (skor ba) is the devotional practice of walking clockwise around holy temples, stupas, or mountains. Accompanied by prayer wheels and mantra recitation, circumambulation unifies body, speech, and mind in reverence, purifying aeons of negative karma.

A Kumbum (literally 'one hundred thousand holy images') is a multi-tiered stupa format in Tibetan Buddhist architecture. The Great Jonang Kumbum, consecrated by Dölpopa in 1333, houses chapels arranged as a three-dimensional mandala representing the outer, inner, and alternative Kālacakra, preserving extensive 14th-century mural programs.

Kunpang Thukje Tsöndru (1243–1313) was the founder of the Jonang tradition as an independent monastic institution. After mastering all available Kālacakra commentary traditions in Tibet, he established the primary monastery at Jomonang in 1294, where the lineage took its name.

In Buddhist psychology and Yogācāra philosophy, the Ālayavijñāna (Künzhi) is the eighth consciousness—the repository where latent karmic impressions (vāsanā) are stored and ripen into ordinary dualistic perceptions. In Dölpopa's Shentong writings, a crucial distinction is made between the conditioned, defiled all-ground (kun gzhi rnam shes) and the primordial, unconditioned wisdom-ground (ye shes kyi kun gzhi) which is identical with Buddha-nature.

Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche (1905–1989) was one of the earliest Tibetan masters to propagate Vajrayāna Buddhism to the West. Having trained in Jonang Kālacakra transmissions in Eastern Tibet, he assisted in preserving the Jonang transmissions and establishing its primary monastic seat in exile in India, acquiring and establishing the Sanjauli monastery in Shimla in the 1960s before placing it under the spiritual care of the Jonang order.

Kyerim (Generation or Development Stage) is the meditative process of systematically constructing the visualization of oneself as the meditational deity (yidam) inside the sacred mandala palace. This practice purifies ordinary grasping at mundane birth, death, and intermediate states (bardo), training the mind in divine pride and clarity prior to entering the subtle body practices of the completion stage.

In Vajrayāna subtle physiology, the lalanā (left, white, lunar) and rasanā (right, red, solar) channels run parallel to the central channel and knot around the bodily cakras. These side channels govern ordinary dualistic inhalation and exhalation. Through the six yogas of Kālacakra, these dualistic energies are drawn inward and untied, releasing their winds into the central channel.

A lung ('authorizing transmission') is the oral reading of a scripture, ritual liturgy, or commentary by a lineage master who received it in an unbroken chain from the author. It awakens the receptive potency in the student's mind and authorizes them to read and practice the text.

Founded by Ārya Nāgārjuna in the 2nd century CE based on the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras, Madhyamaka ('Middle Way') demonstrates through rigorous dialectic that nothing possesses intrinsic, independent existence. Jonang philosophy categorizes Madhyamaka into Rangtong Madhyamaka (which negates self-existence in relative phenomena) and Shentong Madhyamaka (The Great Middle Way / dbu ma chen po, which affirms the unconditioned reality of ultimate wisdom).

Mahāsukha ('Great Bliss') in Kālacakra is not a physical or emotional sensation, but the permanent, unfluctuating realization of the primordial Buddha nature. When the 21,600 karmic winds are transmuted into wisdom winds, the yogi experiences 21,600 moments of immutable bliss (acalasukha), culminating in complete enlightenment.

Butter lamps (mar me) are ubiquitous offerings in Himalayan Buddhist temples. Filled with pure clarified butter and lit with a cotton wick, their steady, golden flames represent the illumination of prajñā and the removal of the two obscurations.

A mun khang ('dark room') is a sealed meditation chamber constructed to exclude all external light. In sensory isolation, the practitioner settles the physical senses (lus dben), speech (ngag dben), and mind (yid dben). With external visual stimuli eliminated, visual consciousness subsides and the ten visionary signs of empty form manifest directly.

In Buddhist tantric physiology, nāḍīs are the internal subtle energetic pathways. The system centers around three primary channels: the central channel (avadhūti / dbu ma), flanked by the left lunar channel (lalanā / rkyang ma) and right solar channel (rasanā / ro ma), intersecting at various wheels or centers (cakras). Kālacakra yoga directs all turbulent energy into the central channel.

Neyārtha ('interpretable or provisional meaning') refers to discourses where the Buddha spoke using conventional metaphors, dualistic frameworks, or intermediate negations to guide beings away from gross clinging. According to Jonang masters, teachings that stop at mere absence or non-affirming negation without revealing luminous wisdom serve as provisional stepping stones toward the definitive Shentong realization.

Ngöndro ('preliminaries') forms the foundation of Tibetan Vajrayāna practice. It consists of the Common Preliminaries (the Four Mind-Turnings on impermanence, karma, suffering, and precious human rebirth) and the Uncommon Preliminaries: 500,000 accumulations of prostrations with refuge, bodhicitta, Vajrasattva purification, maṇḍala offerings, and Guru Yoga.

In Buddhist hermeneutics, nītārtha ('definitive meaning') denotes scriptures and teachings that articulate the ultimate truth directly, in contrast to neyārtha ('provisional meaning') which uses pedagogical devices adapted to disciples' capacities. The Jonang school considers the Third Turning of the Dharma Wheel and the Kālacakra Tantra as the supreme nītārtha revelations of the Buddha.

A pecha (dpe cha) is the sacred physical format of Tibetan religious and philosophical literature. Inherited from Indian palm-leaf (pattra) manuscripts, pechas consist of long, unbound horizontal folios wrapped in cloth covers and secured between wooden boards. In monastic practice, pechas are revered as physical representations of the Buddha's speech (Dharma).

Prajñāpāramitā ('Perfection of Transcendent Wisdom') is the central corpus of Mahāyāna literature (such as the Heart Sūtra and Diamond Sūtra) and the supreme of the six pāramitās. It reveals that all phenomena are unborn, unceasing, and free from conceptual extremes. In the Jonang monastic curriculum, it is studied extensively through Maitreya's Abhisamayālaṃkāra.

Pramāṇa (Tibetan: tshad ma, 'valid cognition') is the epistemology and formal logic system utilized throughout Tibetan monastic debate (shedra). It accepts two valid means of knowledge: direct perception (pratyakṣa) and inferential reasoning (anumāna). Jonang scholars utilized Dharmakīrti's Pramāṇavārttika to defend the Shentong view against philosophical objections and demonstrate its dialectical consistency.

Prāṇa (Tibetan: rlung) is the vital wind or subtle life energy. Mind and prāṇa are compared to horse and rider: discursive thought (vikalpa / rnam rtog) is propelled by karmic winds (las kyi rlung). Through the breath-control branch (prāṇāyāma) of the Six-Branch Yoga, these dispersed winds are gathered and dissolved into the wisdom wind (ye shes kyi rlung) within the central channel.

The Ra Lineage (rwa lugs) is one of the two major historical streams of the Kālacakra Tantra in Tibet, brought from Nepal by Ra Lotsāwa Dorje Drak. In contrast to the Dro tradition which emphasizes internal meditative realization and the Six-Branch Yoga, the Ra tradition is noted for its extensive ritual manuals and protective wrathful rites. Jonang masters studied both, but anchored their practice in the Dro lineage.

Rangrik (Self-cognition or reflexive awareness) is consciousness's inherent ability to illuminate and know itself immediately, without being split into an external subject observing an object. While critically analyzed in Prāsaṅgika Madhyamaka, Jonang and Yogācāra scholars affirm that on the ultimate level, the luminous nature of primordial mind is inherently self-illuminating and self-aware.

Rangtong ('self-emptiness') holds that all phenomena without exception—both conventional truths and the ultimate truth—are entirely empty of any inherent, intrinsic reality (svabhāva). In Tibetan scholastic debate, Shentong masters do not reject Rangtong, but rather maintain that Rangtong perfectly describes the relative, conditioned realm of dependent origination taught in the Second Turning of the Dharma Wheel, while Shentong represents the definitive realization of the Third Turning.

Sahajakāya ('Innate Body') is regarded in the Kālacakra tradition as the ultimate body of enlightenment. It transcends ordinary dualisms of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, embodying the Primordial Buddha (Ādibuddha) Kālacakra endowed with the thirty-two major and eighty minor marks devoid of material particles.

According to tradition, King Sucandra of Shambhala requested the Kālacakra Tantra from Buddha Śākyamuni at the Dhānyakaṭaka Stūpa in South India. Sucandra returned to Shambhala to write down and practice the root tantra. Ruled by seven Dharma Kings and twenty-five Kalki rulers (Kulika), Shambhala is described both as a sacred geographic pure land and an inner state of spiritual realization.

A shedra ('place of explanation') is the formal university of Tibetan Buddhist monasticism. Monks undertake a rigorous 9 to 13-year curriculum studying the Five Great Treatises: Prajñāpāramitā, Madhyamaka, Pramāṇa, Abhidharma, and Vinaya, accompanied by daily dialectical debates in the courtyard (chos rwa).

Shentong ('other-emptiness') is the distinctive hermeneutical view formulated and championed by the Jonang master Dölpopa Sherab Gyaltsen (1292–1361). In contrast to Rangtong ('self-emptiness'), which emphasizes that all phenomena are empty of self-nature (svabhāva), Shentong distinguishes between conventional and ultimate reality. Conventional, conditioned phenomena (relative truth) are empty of their own nature. However, the ultimate nature—luminous awareness, Dharmadhātu, and Buddha-nature (Tathāgatagarbha)—is unconditioned, unchanging, and permanent, empty only of extraneous, adventitious defilements (kleśa) that temporarily obscure it.

The Six-Branch Yoga (Ṣaḍaṅgayoga) forms the core contemplative praxis preserved unbroken in the Jonang tradition. The six stages are: 1) Withdrawal (pratyāhāra / sor sdud), 2) Meditative Absorption (dhyāna / bsam gtan), 3) Breath Control (prāṇāyāma / srog rtsol), 4) Retention (dhāraṇā / 'dzin pa), 5) Recollection (anusmṛti / rjes dran), and 6) Meditative Concentration (samādhi / ting nge 'dzin). Through these branches, the meditator binds the karmic winds into the central channel, giving rise to empty forms and unchanging great bliss.

Stong gzugs ('Empty Form') is the hallmark realization of the Kālacakra Six-Branch Yoga. Unlike ordinary mental imagery produced by conceptuality, empty forms arise spontaneously in dark retreat and sky-gazing as reflections of ultimate reality—replete with color, light, and deity forms, yet completely uncompounded by atomic matter (paramāṇu). In union with immutable bliss, empty form constitutes the Sambhogakāya.

Śūnyatā ('emptiness' or 'openness') is the core insight of Mahāyāna Buddhism articulated in the Prajñāpāramitā scriptures. It signifies that phenomena exist solely through dependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda) and lack inherent essence. In the Jonang Shentong formulation, relative conditioned phenomena are empty of self-nature (rangtong), while the ultimate unconditioned reality—luminous awareness and Buddha-nature—is empty only of adventitious obscurations (shentong).

Svabhāva ('own-nature' or 'inherent existence') refers to the assumed intrinsic reality of phenomena that Buddhist dialectics thoroughly refute. Nāgārjuna demonstrated that if a phenomenon had svabhāva, it could never arise, change, or cease. In Shentong, while conventional entities are devoid of svabhāva, the ultimate dharmatā is an uncompounded, primordially enduring reality that never undergoes degeneration.

Tathāgatagarbha, literally the 'embryo or matrix of the Thus-Gone One' (Buddha), is the luminous core of enlightened awareness present in all living beings. In the Jonang Shentong tradition, as articulated in the Uttaratantraśāstra (Ratnagotravibhāga), Buddha-nature is not merely a metaphor or a seed to be manufactured, but the actual, fully endowed ultimate reality of wisdom and compassion obscured only by adventitious delusions.

The thal 'phen pa ('launcher of consequences') stands, circles, and energetically challenges the defender's assertions by exposing hidden contradictions. Emphasizing each deduction with a rhythmic downward clap of the hands and a stamp of the foot, the challenger drives the inquiry to root philosophical clarity.

As set forth in the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra, the Buddha turned the Wheel of Dharma three times: 1) The First Turning at Vārāṇasī taught the Four Noble Truths and impermanence for early disciples; 2) The Second Turning at Rājagṛha taught universal emptiness (Prajñāpāramitā); 3) The Third Turning at Vaiśālī and Mount Malaya revealed the definitive (nītārtha) ultimate reality of luminous awareness, Buddha-nature, and unconditioned wisdom. Jonang regards the Third Turning as the ultimate definitive teaching.

Tormas (gtor ma) are physical offering sculptures central to Tibetan ritual liturgy. Modeled from dough and decorated with delicate butter ornamentation (kar rgyan), tormas serve multiple functions: as representations of deities, as feasts of spiritual sustenance for protectors, and as tools for casting out adversities.

Trulkhor ('magical wheel' or yantrayoga) consists of coordinated physical postures, movements, and breath retentions designed to resolve knots in the subtle channels. In the Jonang Kālacakra retreat curriculum, trulkhor exercises prepare the practitioner for prolonged retreat and the Six-Branch Yoga.

Tsa-tsas (tsha tsha) are sacred votive plaques stamped from metal molds using clay mixed with medicinal herbs, flower petals, and consecrated substances. After painting and ritual consecration, tsa-tsas are enshrined within stupas and shrines as sacred reliquary deposits (gzungs).

Tummo (Sanskrit: Caṇḍālī) is a completion-stage practice found across the Anuttarayoga Tantras. By combining breath retention, subtle body postures, and visualization at the navel cakra, inner heat is directed through the central channel to melt the subtle drops, giving rise to the Four Joys (ānanda) and the realization of emptiness.

The Vinaya (Tibetan: 'dul ba, 'taming') is the foundational monastic ethical framework instituted by the Buddha to guide the Sangha. Tibetan monasticism, including the Jonang tradition, upholds the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya lineage, requiring full monks (gelong) to observe 253 rules covering celibacy, non-harm, poverty, and communal harmony.

Yidam (contracted from yid kyi dam tshig, 'mind-bond') is a personal meditational deity such as Kālacakra, Cakrasaṃvara, or Tārā. The practitioner visualizes themselves as the yidam to dissolve mundane ordinary perception and actualize pure awareness. In the Jonang tradition, the primary meditational deity is Kālacakra in union with Viśvamātā.