Tibetan Buddhist Debate

Where did it came From?

• Tibet
• Buddha
Hence, The Tibetan Buddhist Debate

• Since the time of the early Buddhist kings, Tibet has enjoyed a
rich history of philosophical enquiry and carries this heritage forth
today. Buddhism is a "wisdom tradition," meaning that it is based
on the realizations or insights of the historical Buddha and that it
holds that all suffering and even the suffering of death are related
to a failure of wisdom. They hold that one is freed by wisdom, by
seeing the nature of things. Philosophical debate is part of this
effort.
Two Kinds of Tibetan Debates

• Tibetan Monastic Debate

• to defeat misconceptions, to establish a defensible view, and to
clear away objections to that view.

• Tibetan Buddhist Debate

• is not mere academics, but a way of using direct implications
from the obvious in order to generate an inference of the non-
obvious state of phenomena. It is more of a religious debate.
Purpose of Tibetan Buddhist Debate

• The profound purpose of Buddhist debate and reasoning is to clear

away a wrong conception of our own natures and thereby to
become free of suffering and even death.
Debaters

• Challenger
• Standing and asking questions
• Defender
• Sitting and answering those questions
Goal

• The debaters are seeking to understand the nature of reality

through careful analysis of the state of existence of ordinary
phenomena, the basis of reality. This is the essential purpose for
religious debate.
Forms of Argument

• Defeat wrong conceptions

• Support clear understandings
How does it work?

• The Defender gives a statement or a statement is given which the

defender ought to believe and defend.
• In the view of the Challenger, there are consequences to the
defender’s statement which results to logical implications
• The attitude is as if the Challenger is respectfully approaching the
Defender with a quandary. The dramatic clapping is done by the
standing Challenger only, and is used to punctuate the end of the
"question," which is an argument in response to the Defender's
answer.
• The Defender is limited to several answers to the Challenger's
arguments. These answers include:
• (1)"The reason is not established," which is the way of denying
the minor premise;
• (2) "There is no pervasion," which is the way of denying the major
premise; and
• (3) "I accept it," meaning that the Defender accepts the argument
and the conclusion.
• The goal for the Defender is to give a consistent set of responses
to the Challenger's arguments without contradicting what he said
earlier.
 Effect of Contradicting

• Tsa!
• When the Defender contradicts earlier claims, the Challenger will
shout, "Tsa!" meaning "Finished!" Your earlier claim is finished!
• Tsa Tsa Tsa!
• If the Defender contradicts the fundamental thesis put forth at
the first, the Challenger shouts "Tsa!" three times.
Why Clap?

• In their understanding of the gesture, the right hand represents method,

meaning especially the practice of compassion, and the left hand
represents wisdom. Bringing the two hands together represents the
joining of wisdom and compassion. At the moment of the clap, you hear
the left foot stomp down and that represents slamming shut the door to
rebirth in the lower levels. After the simultaneous clap and stomp, the
Challenger holds out the left arm of wisdom to keep shut the door to all
rebirth. Also, in that gesture, the Challenger uses his right hand to raise
up his prayer beads around his left arm. This represents the fulfillment
of the efforts of compassion, in lifting up all suffering beings out of the
round of rebirth.
QUIZ

• Identification
• 1 – 2 Two kinds of Tibetan Debate
• 3 – 4 who are the debaters in Tibetan Debate?
• 5 it is the one standing and asking questions
• 6 – 7 these are the two words represented when the two hands are
brought together.
• 8 – 9 Two words where the topic today originated from
• 10 It means finished