Shentong (“other-emptiness”) forms the beating heart of Jonang thought: the idea that ultimate reality isn’t a bare negation but a radiant, ever-present ground of mind. All phenomena are empty of inherent self-natures, yes—but that empty space is pregnant with buddha qualities, temporarily obscured by adventitious defilements.

This vision unfolds through the Kalacakra tantra, which Jonang masters systematized into detailed maps of subtle channels, energies and consciousness-transference (phowa). These practices—alongside the classic six yogas—aren’t lofty abstractions but hands-on tools to awaken the luminous essence here and now.

Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen’s “Mountain Dharma” laid out two levels of emptiness: • relative emptiness—phenomena lack self-essence
• ultimate emptiness—the ground itself is empty only of what it is not, namely ignorance and afflictions

Bodhicitta, the irrepressible wish to free all beings, threads through every teaching, while tantric ethics ensure wisdom and compassion dance together in daily life. Debates on logic and philosophy sharpen insight, not for show, but to dismantle subtle self-grasping.

Revival in the 20th and 21st centuries—monasteries reopening in Amdo, digital archives of rare texts, Western students attending online Kalacakra transmissions—has given Jonang a fresh wind in its sails. These days, its approach to buddha-nature resonates in mindfulness circles keen to infuse stillness with warmth and depth.

No longer an abstract chalkboard concept, Jonang’s buddha-nature feels like discovering an oasis in the mind’s desert—an ever-flowing spring of clarity and compassion, waiting to be tasted in every breath.