Monks debating: a practice for which
the Gelug tradition is renowned.

A monk's 16 or 18-hour days would involve all three branches of learning: listening, reflecting and meditating. Listening comes first, in this case listening to the teachings, which traditionally were taught orally. Many texts and commentaries are committed to memory. Learning from books is included in this category.

Reflecting refers to considering the meaning of what you have heard and testing your understanding. Students are encouraged to question, to formulate doubts and to come to a conclusion.

This process might be done alone, as in reading over texts or teaching notes. It also includes debating, a central technique used in Gelug monasteries which reinforces the teachings and cuts through doubt and uncertainty. It is a boisterous, dramatic and rowdy performance, as anyone who has ever visited the courtyard at Sera Je monastery can attest!

"Hearing is a lamp that dispels the darkness of delusion,
The supreme wealth that cannot be carried off by thieves,
A weapon that vanquishes the foe of confusion;
It is the best of friends, revealing personal instructions, the technique of method.
It is the friend who does not desert you in times of need,
A harmless medicine for the illness of sorrow,
The supreme battalion to vanquish the troops of great misdeeds,
It is the best fame, glory and treasure."
Jataka Tales

A debate follows stylised rules of engagement. It takes place either between a pair of opponents or in a group. One or more people ask questions of a single opponent. Geshe Tashi Tsering is a renowned debater and has introduced this method of learning into the BSP programme he teaches at Chenrezig Institute to western students. During the lam rim chen mo teachings in 2004/5, more experienced students met to practice debating. Like generations of students before them, they found it a powerful way to more deeply understand the teachings — if initially confusing and the source of much hilarity!

Meditating is the last of the three ways of learning. The rationale is that you cannot meditate effectively until you have prepared the topic for meditation. The Gelug tradition doesn't overlook placement meditation (that is, keeping the attention single-pointedly on an object of meditation) but it emphasises analytical meditation. This means investigating a particular topic following a pre-determined order in order to reach a firm conclusion, all without allowing the mind to wander. It is, if you like, a way of dropping the teachings from the head to the heart, a way of developing realisations or an experience of the teachings rather than simply a theoretical understanding. This training is what separates an accomplished yogi or meditator from a learned professor.

In a modern context
In traditional Tibetan society, detailed teachings were generally available only to monks. Lay people were more likely to attend public teachings and initiation ceremonies; they also placed great importance on supporting lamas and monastics. There were fewer opportunities for women to ordain and receive teachings.

This is changing, particularly as the dharma spreads to the west. A handful of Western monks have attained a geshe degree. At nunneries in India, Tibetan nuns are following the geshe cirriculum and honing their debating skills. The first Tibetan nuns are expected to take their geshe examinations in the next few years. The BSP programme taught at Chenrezig Institute follows the traditional topics taught in Tibetan monasteries, although necessarily not in such depth. Western nuns make up the core of the BSP student body.

Find out more about the current schedule of teachings.