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ALEXA PETER and writing the letters for a while. His name was little monk (Tib. grwa chung). He had to memorize books to recite according to the monastery’s custom, for instance, different kinds of prayer and the performance of rituals, many different kinds of manuals of worship in praise of the Buddha, and so on. This time his name was future novice (Tib. dge tshul gsar pa). Then, in the middle of the assembly of many monks one had to take an examination on what he had memorized. If it was completed and after learning the rules of conduct, the novice monk (Tib. dge tshul), at the age of 15-18, could give a petition to receive full ordination as a fully ordanined monk (Tib. dge slong) and begin to study the great books on philosophy from the bases at the age of 18-20.°° The philosophical education meant the study of five main fields. A monk must successfully complete a particular unit of study before being allowed to move on to the next. The five main fields were: 1. logic (Tib. tshad ma, Skt. pramäna) — 3 years 2. the perfection of transcendent wisdom (Tib. phar phyin, Skt. prajnaparamita) — 5 years 3. the middle way (Tib. dbu ma, Skt. madhyamaka) — 4 years 4. monastic discipline (Tib. ‘dul ba, Skt. vinaya) — 2 years 5. abhidharma (Tib. mngon pa mdzod, Skt. abhidharma) — 2 years. The logic was epistemology or investigation of right cognition. It had three classes (Tib. ‘dzin grwa) from elementary to highest. At first, new students read clearly and easily understable books written by Tibetan scholars to learn the basics. These include Dignaga: Compendium of Right Cognition (Tib. Tshad ma kun btus, Skt. Pramänasamuccaya) and its autocommentary; Dharmakirti: The Seven Treatises (Tib. Tshad ma ti bstan bchos sde bdun, Skt. Pramänavarttikadisapta-grantha-samgraha) and its commentaries. During the five classes on the perfection of transcendent wisdom the root text for a basis were Maitreyanatha: Ornament of Realizations (Tib. mNgon rtogs rgyan, Skt. Abhisamayalamkara) and its commentaries and subcommentaries; The Twenty Works Pertaining to Maitreya (Tib. Byams pa dang ’brel ba’i chos nyi shu) and its commentaries. In the classes on the middle way, one studied chiefly Nagarjuna’s Six Logical Works of the Madhyamaka (Tib. Rigs pa’i tshogs drug) and its commentaries; Candrakirti’s Introduction to the Middle Way (Tib. dBu ma la ‘jug pa, Skt. Madhyamakavatara) and its commentaries. At the time of learning the monastic discipline, one took principally the Vinaya scriptures The Four Sections of Statements (Tib. Lungs sde bzhi, Skt. Caturagama) and its commentaries; Gunaprabha: The Summary of Discipline (Tib. mDo rtsa ba, Skt. Agamamila) and its commentaries. 33. Sopa, Geshe Lhundup: Lectures on Tibetan Religious Culture, p. 17. 162
