TANTRIC BUDDHISM (INCLUDING CHINA AND JAPAN)It is next explained that the Jo nan pa doctrines are similar to those of the
Sarpkhya inasmuch as they assume what amounts to a kind of inherent liberation
existing continuously from the outset in every puru!)a or being. But, as the
author of the ThG shows at some length, such an interpretation has been explic-
itly rejected in the Lankiivatiirasiitra itself in its presentation of the tathiigata-
garbha doctrine. Similarities are also pointed out in the ThG between the logical
consequences of the Jo nan pa theories and some Mima111saka and early Vedan-
tin doctrines; as regards the latter, it is also to be noted that the relative world is
said to be an erroneous illusory appearance ( 'khrul snan [bhranta-abhasa ?], but
not miiyii).^18
The ThG moreover briefly indicates how the Jo nan pa theory is in conflict
with the basic doctrine of the Buddha, for it inevitably leads both to a 'nihilistic'
and to an 'etemalistic' position-ucchedaviida and siisvataviida-, the two
extremes which the teaching of the middle path avoids. Contradictions are also
pointed out with the teaching of Nagaijuna; and it is explained that the Dhar-
madhiitustotra is to be interpreted in the sense of the Miidhyamikakiirikiis.
A list is then given of the chief refutations of the Jo nan pa doctrines com-
posed by scholars of various schools. And reference is also made to some com-
parable points in the doctrine of the famous but unorthodox Sa skya pa scholar
sakya mchog Idan.
The Jo nan pa chapter of the ThG does not however close on an exclusively
polemical note; for, while rigorously combatting their unorthodox teachings
which conflict with the Madhyamika, Blo bzan chos kyi iii rna also pays tribute
to the part played by their masters in transmitting instructions in the Kalacakra.Translation^188Here begins the discourse concerning the history of what is known as
the Jo nan pa doctrine,
The way opened up wide by Dol bu pa, the white banner renowned as
the Omniscient One who made the entire assembly of scholars tremble
greatly.The sixth chapter of the Grub mtha' sel gyi me ton on the history of the Jo nan
pa doctrine contains three sections: 1, the history of the doctrine; 2, the doctrinal
method of the gian stan theory according to their system; and 3, the demonstra-
tion that this this theory is bad.
I. The history of the doctrine
The anchorite Thugs Ije brtson 'grus^19 founded a monastery at Jo mo nan. After
Dol bu pa had settled there, the doctrine spread widely; and subsequently those
who maintained this tradition received the name of Jo nan pas.