Karmapa – The Official Website of the 17th Karmapa Karmapa – The Official Website of the 17th Karmapa Karmapa – The Official Website of the 17th Karmapa Karmapa – The Official Website of the 17th Karmapa
  • The Karmapa
    • A Short Biography
    • The Lineage of Karmapas
    • Activities & Projects
  • Teachings
    • YouTube Archive
    • Video Library
    • Podcast
  • News
  • Schedule
  • Buddhism
    • Shakyamuni Buddha
    • Buddhism in India
    • Buddhism in Tibet
    • Kagyu Lineage
    • The Golden Rosary
  • Centers
    • North America
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • Oceania
    • Africa
    • South America
  • Office
    • Media
    • Contact
Karmapa – The Official Website of the 17th Karmapa Karmapa – The Official Website of the 17th Karmapa
  • The Karmapa
    • A Short Biography
    • The Lineage of Karmapas
    • Activities & Projects
  • Teachings
    • YouTube Archive
    • Video Library
    • Podcast
  • News
  • Schedule
  • Buddhism
    • Shakyamuni Buddha
    • Buddhism in India
    • Buddhism in Tibet
    • Kagyu Lineage
    • The Golden Rosary
  • Centers
    • North America
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • Oceania
    • Africa
    • South America
  • Office
    • Media
    • Contact
  • English
  • France
  • Germany
  • Spain
  • Italy
  • Canada
  • United Kingdom
  • Australia
  • Poland
Mar 20

The Nuns Gain Confidence: The Debate Competitions

The sharp, unhesitant and unbounded voice of a debater punctured the air in Tergar monastery one recent afternoon this March. Commanding, it webbed layer after layer of analytical reasoning, tethering other debaters to join her in unison and capturing the attention of the audience. Standing at one end of the temple, the Karmapa, hands held behind his back, lengthened his neck upwards and listened.

That tempered afternoon, a distinctive quality also arose with that young voice for the Karma Kagyu order: that a nun could deliver a sound debate in the presence of the Karmapa unlike before, and that she — along with her fellow debaters — could do so in a setting full of judges, shedra faculty, her own competitors, an assembly of nuns from nine distinctive nunneries, and anyone else who was watching.

To be sure, her own effort marked the courage of some 450 nuns, who unaccustomed to the spotlight, competed with each other in a similar setting over a period of two weeks. The topics they debated distilled the finer points of the fundamental subjects of Buddhist logic known as “Collected Topics” and “Types of Evidence”. In this, their first debate competition, the nuns demonstrate how far they have come since the Arya Kshema Winter Dharma Gathering for the nuns was established in 2014.

“It’s only been three years since they’ve been studying and there’s been an incredible improvement,” the Karmapa would laud that same evening as he awarded prizes for the best group and individual performances. Two nunneries obtained first and second places in both subjects, Thrangu Tara Abbey in Nepal, and Karma Drupdey Palmo Chokyi Dinkhang Nunnery in Bhutan. Karma Drubgyu Thargay Ling Tilokpur Nunnery in India saw one of its nuns take the first prize for the most diligent contestant, while Thrangu Tara Abbey received the overall first place, and first prizes for best debater and defender.

All of the nuns had displayed incredible diligence, the Karmapa had said that evening jubilantly while teasing the khenpos. “The khenpos were very surprised. Sometimes they get a little worried.”

Referring to the three geshemas who served as judges of the competition, he added:

“It must have been really difficult to decide who is the most diligent. If I were one of the judges, it would have been very difficult for me because they are too diligent.”

Though diligence comes easy for the nuns, it appears that confidence is less so.

Three years ago, it was a very different picture when the first group debate was held in Tergar Monastery. The nuns remained silent and overwhelmed when the Karmapa sat behind the two responders. A daunting fifteen-minute lapse of time passed and the nuns contesting could not debate nor respond very easily. To ease the pressure, some remember that the Karmapa stood up and left.

What has slowly chipped away at that shyness is the experience in debate they are gaining. Nunneries have been active to support them by reinforcing study curriculums with more debate sessions, or in some cases introducing debate for the first time. They have also invited skilled geshes and khenpos to train the shedra nuns and prepare them for their annual Arya Kshema assembly in Bodh Gaya.

Since the inception of the Arya Kshema gathering, the Karmapa has used various skillful methods to boost the nuns’ confidence and support their burgeoning wisdom. In a formal setting, he imparted teachings on Lord Gampopa’s Jewel Ornament of Liberation and performed special Dharma rituals with them, such as the three-day ceremonies for Karma Pakshi and Tseringma. At the onset of the debate competition, this year, the Karmapa told the nuns that when studying, there should be an aspect of competition because without it there would be no improvement.

In an informal manner, the Karmapa also displayed his support and affection for them. On the eve of the awards ceremony, for example, two groups of young nuns were set to performed their debates. For the first group, the start was difficult but the Karmapa tenderly laughed and the nuns did also. Though he was sitting on the throne, his gesture of covering his mouth with his sen while laughing softened any inhibition and the nuns were able to start their debate, soon enough. The first day the nuns arrived, the Karmapa summoned them to the temple and offered the nuns red monastic jackets he had specially designed for them. Sometimes on a lull day, he would select an animation film about young heroes or heroines coming into their own and announce that a movie would be shown that night at the Kagyu Monlam Pavilion.

The two-week competition also carried a historical undertone, marked by the presence of three geshema judges who presided over the results, and a fourth one who helped the nuns refine philosophical points. Though nunnery dialectic institutes are quite active throughout the Himalayan region in all mayor linages of Tibetan Buddhism, it is only until recently that nuns have been allowed to act as judges in any monastic debate contest. They needed to first be allowed to take examinations for four years in order to earn the degree of geshema. The first class graduated just months ago.

The Karmapa’s reasons for inviting a group of them to the competition, was “first, to celebrate them becoming geshemas and the second, to become a role model,” for the nuns, said Khenpo Karma Choephel.

One of them was Geshema Lobzang Chodron, originally from the Spiti valley of Himachal Pradesh and a nun from the Jamyang Choling Institute in Dharamsala. She expressed the importance of debating with different nunneries and not just one’s own.

“They are both good in logic and confidence,” she said of the nuns’ performance. “To sustain that, it’s important that we have this kind of gathering.”

Key to sparking and sustaining their confidence, she added, was receiving advice from spiritual masters at critical times.

“If you consider here, just the very fact that the Gyalwang Karmapa presided over this gathering and offered again and again advice to the nuns, this is very good.

When it becomes very hard, some nuns might want to give up. So that is why it’s important to receive advice.”

When asked about the particular significance of studying for a nun, geshema Lobzang Chodron, who studied for 21 years before receiving her degree, encapsulated the Karmapa’s intention that the Kagyu nuns should receive the full opportunity to become appropriate vessels of the three trainings.

“Right now, for example, we are studying ‘Collected Topics’ and ‘Types of Reasoning’,” she elaborated, “and within these, the extensive meaning of the texts is not fully presented, but this is wisdom. It is the wisdom that distinguishes phenomena, or that which discerns what is good and what is bad, so that you won’t easily believe what you hear.

However great this wisdom becomes, to that extent ones own discipline becomes stable. Wisdom should help discipline and disciple should help wisdom.
If we have a stable discipline, then naturally meditative concentration will also improve. And for the three trainings to become stable, we need to meditate.”

Many of the nuns vividly remember the last advice they received from the Karmapa the evening of the ceremony awards.

Some nunneries could not reach the finals but you don’t need to be discouraged, they recall him saying. We are all human, and it’s natural to have this kind of feeling of discouragement for those who lost and happiness for those who won, but this kind of feeling should help you to move forward. It should not stop you.
2017.03.19 The Nuns Gain Confidence: The Debate Competitions

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • E-Mail

Related Posts

  • Compassion in Action: The Well-Being Free Medical CampFebruary 22, 2017
  • The Gyalwang Karmapa Attends 34th KalachakraJanuary 14, 2017
  • Winter Debates End with an Historic Announcement and Great GratitudeMarch 16, 2016
  • An Announcement From The Gyalwang Karmapa About The Recent Tragic Events Concerning Two Tibetan ChildrenMarch 6, 2016

[ long read ]

MIND TRAINING TEACHING
The Gyalwang Karmapa gave an extensive teaching on the 8 Verses of Training the Mind

[ video series ]

THE PRAJNAPARAMITA
Taught over six sessions, this is a direct explanation of the Buddhist view of emptiness

[ long read ]

THE CHENREZIK PRACTICE
The Gyalwang Karmapa taught on how to practice Chenrezik and recite his mantra

[ video series ]

100 SHORT INSTRUCTIONS
Taught over nine sessions, this text by the 8th Karmapa was taught in great depth by the present Karmapa.

[ long read ]

THREE PRINCIPLE ASPECTS
A comprehensive teaching that condenses the entire Buddhist path by Tsongkhapa

 

Recent Updates

  • Approaches to Understanding the Thirty Verses of the Mind Only
  • The Inauguration of the 23rd Kagyu Gunchoe
  • The Essence of Glory: A Shakyamuni Puja in the Kadampa Style
  • The Gyalwang Karmapa’s Closing Remarks to the Mar Ngok Summer Teachings
  • Differing Perspectives on the First Council and the Compilation of the Tripiṭaka
  • Upāli – the Foremost in the Vinaya and Contemporary Analyses of the First Council  
  • Ananda’s Offenses, Arhatship, and Recitation of the Sūtras

Kagyu Office Around the World

中文 // Français // Polski // Español
The Karmapa’s website is carbon neutral. //

About the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa

His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, is the head of the 900 year old Karma Kagyu Lineage and guide to millions of Buddhists around the world.

Born in 1985, the Karmapa resides in his temporary home at Gyuto Monastery in India after making a dramatic escape from Tibet in the year 2000.

Traveling the world, the Karmapa skillfully teaches traditional Tibetan Buddhist Dharma while also advocating topics such as environmental conservation, feminism, digitization of the Dharma, and much more.

Please use the icons below to find the Karmapa on social media maintained by his office of administration.

// // // //

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. Please view our Privacy Policy. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT
Powered by CookieYes Logo