Books
The Other Emptiness: Rethinking the Zhentong Buddhist Discourse in Tibet. Edited by Michael R. Sheehy and Klaus-Dieter Mathes. State University of New York (SUNY) Press. 2019
Presents a new vision of the Buddhist history and philosophy of emptiness in Tibet. This book brings together perspectives of leading international Tibetan studies scholars on the subject of zhentong or “other-emptiness.” Defined as the emptiness of everything other than the continuous luminous awareness that is one’s own enlightened nature, this distinctive philosophical and contemplative presentation of emptiness is quite different from rangtong—emptiness that lacks independent existence, which has had a strong influence on the dissemination of Buddhist philosophy in the West. The contributors examine a wide range of views on zhentong from each of the major orders of Tibetan Buddhism, highlighting the key Tibetan thinkers in the zhentong philosophical tradition.
“This is an extraordinary anthology, and should be on the bookshelf of anyone interested in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy.” ― Jay Garfield, H-Buddhism review.
“The book contains extremely interesting material and makes a valuable contribution to the study of Tibetan Buddhism. It will be appreciated by those interested in the development of one of the important and yet understudied of its traditions, the other emptiness tradition.” ― Georges Dreyfus.
Available to order on Amazon.
Articles & Chapters
“The Jonangpa Scholar Künga Drolchok’s Oeuvre, Its Xylography Project, and the Analects of Zhentong.” In Histories of Tibet: Essays in Honor of Leonard W. J. van der Kuijp. Wisdom Publications. 2023
“Cognitive Illusion, Lucid Dreaming, and the Psychology of Metaphor in Tibetan Buddhist Dzogchen Contemplative Practices.” International Journal of Transpersonal Studies. 2023 Download from IJTS Advance Publication Archive
“Images of Emptiness in a Prognostic Mirror: Tantric Zhentong Visions of Tathāgatagarbha in Early Jonang Kālacakra Yoga Manuals.” In Buddha Nature Across Asia. Edited by Klaus-Dieter Mathes and Casey A. Kemp. Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde. Vienna: Arbeitskreis für tibetische und buddhistische Studien. University of Vienna Press. 2022.
“The Distinctive Mindfulness of Dzogchen: Jigme Lingpa’s Advice on Meta-Awareness and Nondual Meditation” with Marc-Henri Deroche. Religions 2022, 13(7), 573. DOI.
“Tibetan Buddhism and the New Science of Rebirth.” In Voices from Larung Gar: Shaping Tibetan Buddhism for the Twenty-First Century. Edited by Holly Gayley. Boulder: Shambhala Publications. 2021.
“The Offering of Mount Meru: Contexts of Buddhist Cosmology in the History of Science in Tibet.” In The Journal of Dharma Studies. DOI. January, 2021
“Materializing Dreams and Omens: The Autobiographical Subjectivity of the Tibetan Yoginī Kun dga’ ‘Phrin las dbang mo (1585-1668).” In Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines, 56, 263-292. 2020
“The Case of the Missing Shangpas in Tibet.” In Reasons and Lives in Buddhist Traditions: Studies in Honor of Matthew Kapstein. Edited by Daniel Arnold, Cécile Ducher, and Pierre-Julien Harter. Boston: Wisdom Publications: Boston. 2019
“The Philosophical Grounds and Literary History of Zhentong.” In The Other Emptiness: Rethinking the Zhentong Buddhist Discourse in Tibet. Edited by Michael R. Sheehy and Klaus Dieter-Mathes. Albany: State University of New York Press. 2019. Co-authored with Klaus-Dieter Mathes.
“The Dharma of the Perfect Eon: Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsan’s (1292-1361) Hermeneutics of Time and the Jonang Doxography of Zhentong Madhyamaka.” In The Other Emptiness: Rethinking the Zhentong Buddhist Discourse in Tibet. Edited by Michael R. Sheehy and Klaus Dieter-Mathes. Albany: State University of New York Press. 2019
“The Zhentong Lion Roars: Dzamthang Khenpo Lodro Drakpa (1920-1975) and the Jonang Scholastic Renaissance.” In The Other Emptiness: Rethinking the Zhentong Buddhist Discourse in Tibet. Edited by Michael R. Sheehy and Klaus Dieter-Mathes. Albany: State University of New York Press. 2019
“Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen on Refraining from Meat.” In The Faults of Meat: Tibetan Buddhist Writings on Vegetarianism. Edited by Geoff Barstow. Boston: Wisdom Publications. 2019
“Teaching Contemplation in 3D.” In Spotlight on Teaching: Contemplative Pedagogy. American Academy of Religion. Religious Studies News 21.1, May 2019.
“Traversing the Path of Meditation.” In A Gathering of Brilliant Moons: Practice Advice from Rimé Masters of Tibet. Ed. Holly Gayley and Joshua Schapiro. Wisdom Publications: Boston, MA. 2017
“The Jonangpa after Tāranātha: Auto/biographical Accounts of the Transmission of Esoteric Buddhist Knowledge in Seventeenth Century Tibet.” In The Bulletin of Tibetology, 45.1. Namgyal Institute. 2010
“Transforming a Tradition: Tibetan Artists on the Dialectic of Sanctity and Modernity.” In Tradition Transformed: Tibetan Artists Respond. Arts Asia Pacific and Rubin Museum of Art. 2010
“The Zhentong Madhyamaka Writings of Ngawang Tsoknyi Gyatso (1880-1940).” In Ngag dbang tshogs gnyis rgya mtsho gzhan stong phyogs bsgrigs. Sichuan Nationalities Publishing House. 2009
“A Radial Ngor Kalachakra Mandala.” In Mandala: Sacred Circle in Tibetan Buddhism. Rubin Museum of Art. 2009
“A Lineage History of Vajrayoga and Tantric Zhentong from the Jonang Kālacakra Practice Tradition.” In As Long As Space Endures: Essays on the Kālacakra Tantra. Snow Lion Publications. 2009
“Rangjung Dorje’s Variegations of Mind: Ordinary Awareness and Pristine Awareness in Tibetan Buddhist Literature.” In Buddhist Thought and Applied Psychological Research. Routeledge Curzon Press. 2005
“Severing the Source of Fear: Contemplative Dynamics of the Tibetan Buddhist gCod Tradition.” In Contemporary Buddhism, 6.1. Routeledge Curzon Press. 2005
Book Reviews
Review of Mind Seeing Mind: Mahāmudrā and the Geluk Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism by Roger R. Jackson. Journal of World Buddhist Cultures.
“The Problem with Calling Buddhism a Science.” Review of Why I Am Not a Buddhist by Evan Thompson. Yale University Press, 2020. In Buddhadharma: The Practitioner’s Quarterly, 115-119, Spring 2020.
“The Science of Meditation, Beyond the Brain.” Review of Meditation, Buddhism, and Science. Edited by David L. McMahan and Erik Braun. Oxford University Press, 2017. In Buddhadharma: The Practitioner’s Quarterly, 111-115, Fall 2018.
“Investigating the Rainbow Body.” Review of Rainbow Body and Resurrection: Spiritual Attainment, the Dissolution of the Material Body, and the Case of Khenpo A Chö. By Francis V. Tiso. North Atlantic Books, 2016. In Buddhadharma: The Practitioner’s Quarterly, 73-77, Winter 2017.
Encyclopedia Entries
“Introduction to Zhentong (Extrinsic Emptiness).” 2023. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion. Oxford University Press.
“Jonang.” In Oxford Bibliographies in Buddhism. New York: Oxford University Press.
“Taranatha.” In Oxford Bibliographies in Buddhism. New York: Oxford University Press.
Translations
“The Essence of Zhentong” By Taranatha. In Jonang Foundation Library.
“Elucidating the Zhentong View.” By Tsen Kawoche. In Jonang Foundation Library.
“Ordinary Awareness and Pristine Awareness: A Treatise on the Distinction.” By Karmapa III, Ranjung Dorje. In Jonang Foundation Library.
See translations on LOTSAWA HOUSE.
Online Publications
Ngawang Lodro Drakpa. In Treasury of Lives: A Biographical Encyclopedia of Tibet, Inner Asia and the Himalaya.
Ngawang Trinle. In Treasury of Lives: A Biographical Encyclopedia of Tibet, Inner Asia and the Himalaya.
Rinchen Pel. In Treasury of Lives: A Biographical Encyclopedia of Tibet, Inner Asia and the Himalaya.
See also, Jonangpa Blog and the Jonang Foundation Library.
