Geshe

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Geshe is a Buddhist academic degree for scholars. The Geshe degree is awarded in the Sakya (Tibetan: ས་སྐྱ་; Wylie: sa skya) and Geluk (Tibetan: དགེ་ལུགས་; Wylie: dge lugs) schools of Tibetan Buddhism. However, disciples from all schools attend the huge monastic universities usually belonging to the Gelug tradition. The scholarly tradition of the Kagyü (Tibetan: བཀའ་བརྒྱུད་; Wylie: bka' brgyud) and Nyingma (Tibetan: རྙིང་མ་; Wylie: rnying ma) schools grant the title "Khenpo" (Tibetan: མཁན་པོ་; Wylie: mkhan po), which in the Gelug tradition connotes abbotship of a monastery.

The geshe title could be seen as an academic degree in Buddhist philosophy. There are four such degrees, the highest being "lharampa geshe." In order to allow all disciples to finish their studies, monks can apply also for the lesser degrees. The tantric colleges also grant a "geshe" title for scholarship in the tantras.

[edit] Lharampa Geshe education

It usually takes more than twenty years to complete the highest geshe degree, and covers five distinct subject areas, and the examination is based upon one's proficiency in dialectical debate on these areas - the core texts and commentaries are memorised by the applicant, in order to be able to refer to them as necessary.

The first Tibetan tradition to award a degree at the conclusion of the course of studies were the Sakyas which was also granted on the basis of proficiency in dialectical debate. The Sakya degree was called the Ka-shi - four subjects, or Ka-chu - ten subjects. In Tsongkhapa's time the Sakya degree was awarded at Sangphu, Kyormolung and Dewachen (later Ratö) monasteries.

Each year the there is an annual examination held for those who have completed their studies, in which their performance is evaluated by the abbot of the particular college. The topics for their dialectical examination are drawn from the whole course of study, so students are unable to do any specific preparation because the topic to be debated is selected by the abbot on the spot. Thus, it is a real test of a student's abilities and the depth of his study. At the conclusion the abbot assigns each candidate to a category of geshe according to his ability. There are four such categories, Dorampa, Lingtse, Tsorampa and Lharampa, Lharampa being the highest.

After this, in order to qualify, the geshe candidates are not allowed to miss even one of the three daily debate sessions during the subsequent eight months.

The Geshe curriculum of the "Collected Topics" (Tibetan: བསྡུས་གྲྭ་; Wylie: bsdus grwa) which were preliminary to the syllabus proper, as well as the five major topics, which form the syllabus proper.

[edit] Lama and Geshe

The geshe degree is a scholarly degree and should not be confused with the spiritual function of a "lama"; a lama is a person with spiritual insights which allow him or her to spiritually guide disciples. A geshe, on the other hand, is a keeper of the Buddhist knowledge.