Debate In Tibetan Buddhist Education

Debate in Tibetan Buddhist Education The practice and theory of Tibetan Buddhist logic and epistemology is the focus of this clear and thorough exposition. Debate is the investigative technique used in Tibetan education to sharpen analytical capacities and convey philosophical concepts, so it is essential to master its procedure. Using a debate manual by Pur-bu-jok Jam-ba-gya-tso (1825–1901) as his basis, Daniel Perdue covers elementary debate and demonstrates its application to a variety of secular and religious educational contexts. The translation is supplied with annotations on procedure and content drawn from Tibetan teachers expert in debate.

A clear and thorough exposition of the practice and theory of Buddhist logix and epistemology.

"Before countless audiences across the globe, the Dalai Lama has tried to refashion Tibetan Buddhism into a modern religion compatible with empirical science and founded on principles of nonviolence and "universal compassion," but how exactly has this project affected monastic education in exile? This pathbreaking study traces the career of the modern liberal subject in the Tibetan diaspora in India. Focusing on monastic debate and disciplinary practices such as reprimand and corporal punishment, MichaelLempert shows how violence makes monks into educated, moral persons but in ways that trouble Tibetans who aspire to liberal ideals like individual autonomy and natural rights. Based on ethnographic and linguistic fieldwork at monasteries in India, and with close attention to the way monks interact, Lempert details the craft of liberal mimicry. He shows how efforts to act out liberal ideals--partially, fitfully, and sometimes with acute ambivalence--are part of a broader drama of eliciting sympathy from spectators in the West and enlisting their aid in Tibet's struggle with China."--Publisher's description.

Buddhism is a wisdom tradition. It asserts that we are liberated by the power of our own understanding. The three purposes of Buddhist debate are to defeat your own and others’ misconceptions, to establish your own correct view, and to clear away objections to your view. It is like the approach of a physician—to remove what does not belong and to strengthen what does. Thus, for Buddhists, reasoning and debate are not ends in themselves or idle intellectual speculation. Rather, they are used as one path to spiritual wellness, taking practitioners closer to the health of liberation through these efforts to remove mistaken views and to understand and strengthen correct ones. Reading and memorization are not enough. Students must be able to verbalize their understanding and defend it under the pressure of cross-examination. This book teaches the basic analytical skills and procedures used in Buddhist debate. It is based on the author’s own practice and experiences gained in the debating courtyards of Tibetan monasteries in India and matured through years of leading popular university courses on the subject. Sample debate exchanges show readers how to get started with the Buddhist style of analytical thinking to challenge and defend assertions. Learning is supported by guided reflections, practical advice, and verbal exercises to be completed in practice with a partner. By the end of the course, readers will be able to engage in unscripted, full-fledged debates with a qualified partner about Buddhist characterizations and classifications of phenomena using the format and procedures of Buddhist debate. Moreover, these skills, once mastered, can then be applied to investigating the truth and falsity of views in any other subject.

Table of contents

This Book Is A Critical Study Of Buddhist Philosophy Of Education And Its Adaptation In Modern System Of Education In India, Tibet And Sri Lanka. It Also Shows The Recent Impact Of The Buddhist Philosophy In Western Education. There Is No Doubt That Buddhism Made Tremendous Contributions To The Philosophy Of Education. The Notion Of Education Entails Many Subsidiary Notions, Such As Notions Of Ignorance And Knowledge, And Of Teacher And Student. Here, We Shall Survey The Tradition Of Buddhist Education Both Monastic And Secular In India, Sri Lanka, And Tibet. We Would Also Show How These Forms Changed Under Specific Influences And In Differing Cultural Contexts, Including Modern Approaches Of The West.

Tibetan Buddhist scholar-monks have long engaged in face-to-face public philosophical debates. This original study challenges Orientalist text-based scholarship, which has overlooked these lived practices of Tibetan dialectics. Kenneth Liberman brings these dynamic disputations to life for the modern reader through a richly detailed, turn-by-turn analysis of the monks' formal philosophical reasoning. He argues that Tibetan Buddhists deliberately organize their debates into formal structures that both empower and constrain thinking, skillfully using logic as an interactional tool to organize their reflections. During his three years in residence at Tibetan monastic universities, Liberman observed and videotaped the monks' debates. He then transcribed, translated, and analyzed them using multimedia software and ethnomethodological techniques, which enabled him to scrutinize the local methods that Tibetan debaters use to keep their philosophical inquiries alive. His study shows the monks rely on such indigenous dialectical methods as extending an opponent's position to its absurd consequences, "pulling the rug out" from under an opponent, and other lively strategies. This careful investigation of the formal philosophical work of Tibetan scholars is a pathbreaking analysis of an important classical tradition.