Tibetan Buddhists prime for debate test
Candidates for advanced degrees at the High-level Tibetan Buddhism College of China in Beijing debate Buddhist scripture on Friday with heated arguments. The candidates will be challenged on five major classic works of Tibetan Buddhism by senior monks from Buddhist temples or colleges from Tibet and other provinces. [Photo by Zou Hong/China Daily]
Judges will use secret ballot to decide results
Students at the High-level Tibetan Buddhism College of China in Beijing debated Buddhist scripture on Friday in sessions filled with nerves and heated arguments.
There are 13 candidates from the Tibetan Bon region for the Tho Ram Ba－equal to a university doctorate－and 22 candidates for the Chi Ram Ba－equivalent to a master's degree－according to the college.
The college, established in 1987 after a proposal by the late 10th Panchen Lama, is the only Buddhist college in China that offers the Tho Ram Ba degree.
Zhu Xiangdong, an official with the news office of the college, said a major change this year is that judges will use a secret ballot after the debating test.
Candidates for advanced degrees at the High-level Tibetan Buddhism College of China in Beijing debate Buddhist scripture on Friday with heated arguments. [Photo by Zou Hong/China Daily]
He noted that candidates will be challenged on five major Mahayana sutras－the classics of Tibetan Buddhism that every monk must study and understand－by senior monks from Buddhist temples or colleges from the Tibet autonomous region and the surrounding Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan and Gansu provinces.
Sherab Nyima, a 27-year-old Tho Ram Ba candidate at the college, said he was more nervous than he expected as he prepared for the debating session.
Nyima became a monk in the Tibetan Bon region when he was 8 years old, and has been studying the five major Mahayana sutras since he was 16.
A candidate debates the Buddhist scripture with a senior monk at the High-level Tibetan Buddhism College of China in Beijing. [Photo by Zou Hong/China Daily]
"Even if I manage to obtain the degree, it will be only a starting point," he said. He plans to go back to his home monastery in the Ganzi Tibetan autonomous prefecture in Sichuan after having studied at the college for three years.
He added that the degree will allow him to teach scripture at his monastery.
A heated debate between a candidate and a senior monk at the High-level Tibetan Buddhism College of China in Beijing. [Photo by Zou Hong/China Daily]
The college is set to welcome more students under a new five-year plan that will see numbers rise from the current 90 to about 120 by 2017, and to 150 by 2020.
The State Administration of Religious Affairs unveiled a national plan in June to develop an academic ranking system that will provide certificates for monks and nuns and confirm their achievements in the study of Tibetan Buddhism.
The system includes the three-year Tho Ram Pa program and the two-year program for Chi Ram Pa.
A senior monk debates during a test session at the High-level Tibetan Buddhism College of China in Beijing. [Photo by Zou Hong/China Daily]