The Jonang tradition arose as a distinct Tibetan Buddhist school associated with the Jomonang valley in central Tibet, drawing on transmissions of the Kālacakra Tantra and a contemplative emphasis on buddha‑nature. Early figures such as Dro Lotön Sherab Jungné and Kunpang Thukjé Tsöndru helped establish hermitages and study centers in this region, shaping a curriculum in which Kālacakra practice and philosophical reflection were closely intertwined. Over time, Jonang came to be known not only as a geographical designation but as a spiritual and scholastic lineage with its own characteristic approach to emptiness and awakening. Its roots in the later diffusion of Buddhism in Tibet gave it a somewhat liminal position, at once inheriting earlier Indian and Tibetan insights and re‑articulating them in a distinctive way.

The pivotal figure in the formation of Jonang thought is Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen, who, after training in other Tibetan traditions, became abbot of the main Jonang monastery. He systematized the shentong, or “emptiness of other,” view, presenting relative phenomena as empty of inherent existence while affirming ultimate reality—buddha‑nature—as empty only of adventitious defilements, yet endowed with its own enlightened qualities. Under his guidance, Jonang scholarship integrated Kālacakra tantra, Madhyamaka reasoning, and buddha‑nature scriptures such as the Tathāgatagarbha Sūtras and the Ratnagotravibhāga into a coherent path. This synthesis gave the tradition a reputation for both rigorous analysis and deep contemplative practice, especially in long Kālacakra retreats aimed at experiential realization of buddha‑nature.

Subsequent masters, especially Tāranātha, further refined Jonang doctrine and extended its institutional reach. Tāranātha became renowned as a scholar and historian, composing extensive works on tantra and on the final phases of Indian Buddhism, and he strengthened Jonang’s status as a major center of Kālacakra study. During these centuries, Jonang monasteries flourished in Tsang and central Tibet, developing a strong scholastic culture alongside intensive meditative training. The tradition’s distinctive reading of emptiness and its emphasis on an ultimately endowed, luminous reality set it apart from other Tibetan schools, even as it remained in dialogue with them.

Political and philosophical tensions in central Tibet eventually led to the suppression of Jonang institutions. With the rise of Gelug power, supported by Mongol military backing, Jonang monasteries in Tsang, including the principal seat at Takten Damcho Ling, were forcibly converted into Gelug establishments. The school was officially declared defunct in central Tibet, and its public institutions largely disappeared, though its literature was not entirely destroyed. In the wake of this upheaval, Jonang survived in more remote regions, particularly in Amdo, where communities continued Kālacakra practice and shentong exegesis, sometimes in close contact with Kagyu and Nyingma circles while preserving their own textual and contemplative heritage.

Over time, many outside observers assumed that Jonang had vanished as an independent tradition, yet its lineages endured quietly in these eastern regions. Later, as conditions shifted, Jonang masters re‑established institutions, republished key works of Dolpopa, Tāranātha, and others, and entered into renewed dialogue with other schools. Shentong interpretations of buddha‑nature began to receive fresh attention among non‑sectarian and other Tibetan circles, and Jonang came to be recognized again as a distinct school of Tibetan Buddhism. Today, Jonang monasteries and practice centers in Tibet, the Himalayan region, and diaspora communities continue to uphold detailed Kālacakra practice and the shentong understanding of emptiness, bearing witness to a lineage that, though once thought extinguished, maintained an unbroken contemplative and scholarly stream.