Anyone have any information on debates monks often have in exile (and use to have before chinese invasion)...in tibetan buddhism or other forms of buddhism? i find it a rather interesting way for practicing buddhism. from what i've read in books, that many of the monks took the debates seriously and criticized the highest monks, but it was all done out of good spirit and people were not celibrated in a poor way for being out debated. often i find westerners here try to proove they are right or someone is wrong, rather then truely saying something enlightening.
Debating formed a huge part of the curriculum in most Tibetan monastaries. This was how the monks sharpened their critical skills and tested their ability to explain and debate various teachings. Another point often overlooked is that these debates were often the only real physical activity that many monks got to take part in so the complex and dramatic gestures involved were often performed highly energetically and with an enthusiasm one would not expect from a 'dry debate'. This system of learning is not included in most Western schools of Tibetan Buddhism because when it was tried it was discovered most Westerners were not comfortable performing such debates. However I would suggest you have the wrong idea if you think all Tibetan Buddhists involved in debates were constantly trying to say something enlightening. Debating was a competitive skill and while it was surely used as a skill to further various monks practice it is equally assured that many Tibetan monks took winning quite seriously. I think its quite an interesting system and another point of significance is that the monks were not allowed to have sutras handy so they had to memorise entire texts and then remember the precise location of passages and examples they wished to use. Regardless of how you view debating there is no denying that the critical and logical skills and the excellent memorisation ability such debates helped develop would certainly be useful for someone who is trying to become more aware of thweir thoughts and more in control of their actions.
=) Thanks for the reply.. I wonder if there are any printed dialogs of such debates. I have read several debates (such as when the Dalai Lama was given full power in his teens), but never have read the context of the debates. I find the memorization skills to be amazing. Here I have to use google lol.
