Monks here at Shar Gaden Monastery use logic and debate as a means for exploring the Dharma. Debate sharpens the capacity for reasoning and facilitates understanding of the texts they are studying. According to tradition, there are three main purposes of Buddhist debate: to defeat your own and others’ mistaken conceptions, to establish the correct view of reality, and to clarify objections to the correct view of reality. In formal debate, the challenger is standing, while the defender remains seated. The challenger poses a logical statement and claps his hands to finalize his point. The seated opponent then needs to defend his position with a logical answer. The monks debate the texts and scriptures they have been studying in class and with their personal teachers, thus they are able to probe into deeper meanings and draw out any unresolved questions they may have concerning these texts.
Posted on: Sat, 12 Jul 2014 11:25:00 +0000
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