Q: There are various Kalachakra lineages. Which Kalachakra lineage does the Jonang school uphold?
A: There are seventeen different lineages of the Kalachakra tradition. The Jonang’s Jetsun Taranatha, in his 1608 masterpiece The Origin of the Kalachakra System/History of Kalachakra, wrote: “Gyijo, Ma, Trom, Jowo (Atisha); / Dro, Rwa, Tsami, Dorje Drag; / The two of Galo, the three of Kashmir; / The two of Vibhūti, Chag, and Menlung.”
Like streams flowing into a river, the Jonang lineage’s Gonpo Tuje Tsundrup (Kunpang Tukje Tsöndru) (1243–1313) gathered these seventeen lineages into one. While some of the lineages differed slightly, they were all practiced together. But the Dro lineage was the primary foundation.