[THE FOLLOWING TEXT HAS INCOMPLETE SECTIONS, WHICH ARE ON ORDER] THE LOGIC AND DEBATE TRADITION OF INDIA, TIBET, AND MONGOLIA --HISTORY, READER, RESOURCES-- BY GESHE LOBSANG THARCHIN WITH MEMBERS OF THE DEBATE STUDY GROUP: LISA ALBATAEW STEVE FOSTER CARMEN KICHIKOV ROBERT LACEY NAMSA NELSON MICHAEL ROACH THE LOGIC AND DEBATE TRADITION OF INDIA, TIBET, AND MONGOLIA Published by the Mahayana Sutra and Tantra Press 216A West 2nd Street Freewood Acres Howell, New Jersey 07731, USA Research for a large portion of this sourcebook was conducted through a grant from the Youthgrants in the Humanities Program of the National Endowment for the Humanities of the Government of the United States. The content of the sourcebook does not, however, necessarily represent the view of the Endowment. Copyright @1979 by Geshe Lobsan Tharchin All rights reserved First printing 1979 Second printing 1982 Third printing 1985 Fourth printing 1989 ISBN 0-918753-00-7 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 70-124172 R862 Printed and bound in the United States of America This work is dedicated to His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso--logician, debater, and Fourteenth Dalai Lama--on the occasion of His first visit to the United States of America Table of Contents Dedication ................................................ iii Foreword .................................................. ix HISTORY ................................................... 1 The Art of Logic: an Early History ........................ 3 Move with the Kalmuks: A Later History ................... 17 READER .................................................... 41 Logical Reasoning @ () .................................... 43 Tibetan text and translation .............................. 46 I. Definition of a Reason ................................ 47 II. Types of Reasons ..................................... 49 A. Valid Reasons ......................................... 49 1. Bases ................................................. 49 2. Definition ............................................ 65 3. Types ................................................. 77 Table of Contents (cont.): a. Reasons for Cause ...................................... 77 b. Reasons of Identity .................................... 87 c. Reasons for Negation ................................... 91 B. Invalid Reasons ........................................ 107 Notes ...................................................... 113 Outline .................................................... 119 English-Tibetan Glossary ................................... 125 Tibetan-English Glossary ................................... 133 Mind @ () .................................................. 143 Tibetan text and translation ............................... 144 Explanation of Conciousness ................................ 145 Explanation of Mental Functions ............................ 163 English-Tibetan Glossary ................................... 181 Tibetan-English Glossary ................................... 185 Indirect Proofs @ () ....................................... 189 Tibetan text and translation ............................... 190 Refuting the Other's Position .............................. 191 Establishing Our Own System ................................ 193 Dispelling any Remaining Criticism ......................... 215 Notes ...................................................... 217 Outline .................................................... 217 Table of Contents (cont.): English-Tibetan Glossary ................................... 221 Tibetan-English Glossary ................................... 225 RESOURCES .................................................. 229 Selected Regional Collections of Native Logic and Debate Material ........................... 231 Bibliography of Titles in Selected Regional Collections of Native Logic and Debate Material .................................. 237 Catalogue of Logic Selection to @Tengyur ................................................ 240 Logic Treatises in Collected Works of Je Tsongkhapa and Two Major Students ......................................... 253 Other Native Works in Regional Collections ....................................... 257 Institutions Offering Instruction in Central Asian Debate .................................... 271 Selected Institutions with Debate Instruction ......................................... 271 Debate Classes with Young People ........................... 272 Introduction to Central Asian Debating............................................... 273 Three Arguments on Cause and Effect ........................................... 277 Class on Combinations ...................................... 280 Table of Contents (cont.): Illustrations: Traditional rendering of Dignaga and Dharmakirti, two logicians from the classical period .................................. 9 Map presenting move of the logic and debate tradition with the Kalmuk people .............................................. 29 Photographs showing scenes from the Kalmuk Buddhist temples of Freewood Acres, New Jersey ................................. 33 Chart of the sixteen types of valid indiect proofs which strike up logical statements outside their own class .................................................. 203 Chart of the various classifications of indirect proofs by presentation ......................... 213 Photographs of debate instruction .......................... 275 Foreword In January of 1977, the Rev. Geshe Lobsang Tharchin began teaching students at his center in Freewood Acres, New Jersey, a traditional primer in the formal logic of Central Asia. Instruction was given in English with the class following the Tibetan; the Geshe had completed the basic text by sumer, then moving on to a study of indirect proofs before a visit that fall to monastic universities resettled in India. During the interim his students met to discuss alternative terms for the formal translation of the primer. Geshe Tharchin started instruction in the application of basic logic to actual debate the next spring, continuing into the summer of 1978. While students Steve Foster, Carmen Kichikov, and Robert Lacey worked on the preliminary translations, Namsa Nelson and Michael Roach applied in November to the Youthgrants in the Humanities program of the National Endowment for the Humanities, to gain assistance for a project entitled "Classical Asian Debate in America: History, Resources, and Prospects." In March of 1979 a youthgrant was made by the Endowment, a federal agency established by Congress "to promote research, education, and public activity in the humanities." Younger readres should note that youthgrants are one of the few sources of support for non-professionals interested in carrying out a project in the humanities; they are available on a competitive basis to persons under 30 who with the aid of qualified advisors submit an application to the youthgrants office of the Endowment (address Washington, D.C. 20506). Again, the Endowment's support for this project should not be construed as necessary approval of the contents of the present sourcebook by that agency. The project was carried out in three stages, reflected here in the organization of the sourcebook. During a phase on the history of the Central Asian tradition of logic and dbate, students began work on both the translation of a classical history and an essay on the tradition's move to the United States. Research included interviews with the people of our home community of Freewood Acres--those who immigrated from the Kalmuk land some thirty years ago--and with Tibetan scolars who havecome more recently. A photographic study of local temples completed the historical sketch. A second goal of the project, the compilation of information on resources available to an American student of this tradition of logic and debate, began with a search for native texts within private collections and major libraries in the region. A list of about 125 relevant titles was complied, along with what we believe to be the first complete catalogue to the logic section in the "Cho-ne" edition of the @Tengyur--a traditional collection of Sanskrit classics in Tibetan translation. Completed as well during this phase was a bibliography of Russian-language works on Cenral Asian logic, these done for the most part during a surge of interest some 60 years ago in St. Petersburg. The bibliography and a dictionary of examples in Tibetan for about 400 common logic and debate terms (along with page references to native logic primers) were considered too specialized for inclusion here are available to interested persons on request from the Freewood Acres, New Jersey, center. Lastly, on the availability of each regional collection to an interested scholar, as well as a representative list of institutions offering debate instruction, were compiled. The final stage of the project examined the future prospects for the debating tradition in America. Her translations for various sections of the logic primers were completed, and finished manuscripta prepared. Michael and Namsa then conducted special classes in debate and logic for younger people, during July and August of 1979. The concept of the sourcebook has been to provide information useful for readers of varying interests. General readers who wish to know more about Central Asian logic, Kalmuk history, and basic debate may refer to the history section and final resources articles. Students of philosophy and Tibetan language are directed to the translation in the reader, with their facing Tibetan and glossaries both English-Tibetan and Tibetan-English. Students with a previous background in Tibetan language and Central Asian logic will perhaps find the catalogues of logic works beneficial, as may library bibliographers whose institutions house collections of either the @Tengyur or Special Foreign Currency Program (PL 480) materials. The descriptions of regional libraries and institutions with debate instruction should aid those who would like further exposure to the logic textbooks and actual debate. Here we would like to express our thanks to the folowing persons for help not mentioned in the sourcebook itself: Dr. S.D. Atkins (professor of Sanskrit [retired], Dept. of Classics, Princeton University): project evaluator, reviewed listing of Sanskrit titles in @Tengyur catalogue and provided evaluation for Endowment Ms. ary Jo Blain (Office of Youth Programs, NEH): rendered helpful advice throughout the project and helped administer grant Dr. Richard Burgi (professor, Dept. of Slavic languages, Princeton Univ.): project evaluator, reviewed transcription for bibliography of Russian-language works and provided evaluation for Endowment Dr. William LaFleur (asst. professor specializing in Asia, Dept. of Religion, Princeton Univ.): project advisor and evaluator, arranged access to library materials, reviewed and suggested corrections for translation work, submitted evaluation for Endowment Mr. Glen Marcus (Office of Youth Programs, NEH): helped administer youthgrant Mr. Rishard Thompson (language arts specialist; principal, Land O' Pines School, Howell, N.J.): project advisor and evaluator; advised on the history phase and with classes for young people, reviewed materials and submitted evaluation for Endowment Lastly, we'd like to acknowledge a number of services not described elsewhere. Proofreading: Steve Foster, Sandra Green, Carmen Kichikov, Mrs. Edith Roach, Michael Roach Photographs: Namsa Nelson, Mrs. E. Roach Editing, typing: M. Roach Note finally that, where transcription into Roman letters appears, the respective systems used for the Sanskrit and Tibetan are--with minor modification--those of Monier-Williams and the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. Variant spellings of words to titles in the bibliography section are generally retained where they are printed thus in the original works and Library of Congress accessions listings. August, 1979 The Debate Study Group c/o Rashi Gempil Ling The First Kalmuk Buddhist Temple in America Freewood Acres Howell, New Jersey U.S.A. HISTORY THE ART OF LOGIC Here begin a pair of essays on the history of the logic and debate tradition, reprecenting first the Eastern, and then the Western, approaches. This first, adapted by Geshe Tharchin* from native sources, thus displays the Central Asian emphasis on ultimate applications and the teaching genealogies. It further addresses itself principally to the classical period of the tradition. Geshe Lobsang Tharchin was born in Lhasa, Tibet, in 1921. Entering the Gyalrong College of the city's Sera Monastic University at age eight, he first studied reading, writing, and grammar--then beginning the two-year course in basic logic and debate: the field of @pramana. This was followed by eight years in a program on @prajnya paramita, which may be called general Buddhist philosophy for students of a great capacity. During the next four years the Geshe completed the course in @madhyamika, a specialized study of the true nature of existence, and continued on to four more years in the field of ethics: @vinaya. An equal number of years were devoted to @abhidharma, general philosophy from a viewpoint of lesser capacities, and were followed by preparations for the rigid final examinations towards the dgree of Geshe--Doctor of Philosophy. After excelling in a wide variety of tests, including open debates sponsored by the government and judged by an assembly of Tibet's leading scholars, Rev. Tharchin in 1954 received the @geshe degree with highest honors (@hlarampa). He is one of the few remaining scholars to have reached this level before the loss of Tibet. Prior to his escape from the invasion by the Communist Chinese, Geshe Tharchin also completed the entire program in @tantric (esoteric) studies at the Gyumey Tantric University in Lhasa, then entering the administration there. During twelve years in India, the Geshe served as teacher and principal in the Tibetan primary and elementary schools, contributing too as a member of the government textbook numerous essays on logic, philosophy, history, grammar, and other subjects. The story of how Geshe Tharchin reached America and began his teaching career here are summarized in the introduction to his latest work, the translation @Nagarjuna's Letter (Dharamsala: Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, new ed. in press). He serves at present as parish priest of Rashi Gempil Ling, the First Kalmuk Buddhist Temple of Howell, New Jersey, and offers instruction there in language and the various subjects mentioned above. Assisting Geshe Tharchin in the following translation was his student, Michael Roach. Michael, 26, grew up in the Southwest and was one of the presidential scholars for 1970. He has been under the Geshe's tutelage for four years since completing studies at Princeton University and, under fellowships from Princeton and the Woodrow Wilson School of International Affairs, at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. Michael also helped with the reader section and contributed the resources data. The Art of Logic An Early History A great number of works by non-Buddhist teachers, such as an exposition on reasoning by the adept Lingkye and the Brahmin Akshapada's presentation of the eight major points in logic, predate the Buddhist classics on the art of logic.@(1) All of the former works are, however, mere disputation, and fall short of being meaningful methods of reasoning. A genuine science of logic reveals that superior path which leads to definite good and lasting happiness: it delineates, in a logical way, the workings to the four basic facts of existence--suffering, its cause, its stop, and the way it is stopped. In regard to this path, our own teacher has--in a scripture called @The Disclosed Meaning--made mention that The reasons are four: for ultimate nature and Dependence, process, and proof of validity. He moreover ststes the following: ...Therefore, reasons for proving validity are established as being absolutely correct--endowed with five qualities--through valid perception: those direct, deductive, and based on reliable authority.@(2) Thus does the Buddha elucidate the basic nature to the four kinds of reasons, as well as the direct and other types of valid perceptions. In short, we may moreover understand--from His express presentations on reasons--the fact that a valid, deductive percepation of an abstruse object can be generated by means of the result, identity, and negating types of reasons.@(3) Now with regard to our system of teachings, the first of the classical works on logic was the @Institution of Debate. Subsequent to this, a large scattering of logic textbooks--@An Examination of Logic and others--was composed by that great master and author of logic classics, Dignaga. Realizing that no single meber of the existing body of treatises was totally comprehensive, Dignaga condensed them all into a work incorporatig six chapters and entitled @An Anthology of the Logic Scriptures. An autocommentary was also written to the text, and explications made by Master Ishvarasena and others. That veritable Sun among teachers, Dharmakirti, opened the great reasoning tradition with his collection known as the "Seven Logic Works," written in commentary to Dignaga's @Anthology. THree treatises--the extremely extensive textbook @Commentary on the Logic, the only slightly condensed @Ascertainment of Logic, and the very condensed @A Drop of Reasoning--serve as a sort of main body to the collection. Ancillary to it are the remaining four: @An Examination of Relationships, @A Drop of Reasons, @Reasons in Disputation, and @The Proof of Other Continua. These works spread their author's fame with the great roar of a conquering lion. Dharmakirti's principal student, Devendrabuddhi, composed an explication to the @Commentary, taking up where his teacher had left off in an autocommentary. The explication itself was then commented upon by Shakyabuddhi. Master Vinitadeva composed explanations to all seven works in the collection, while both "Mentor Jewel" (Prajnyakara Gupta) and "The Brahmin" (Shankarananda) prepared explications tot the @Commentary. Beyond these, Master Dharmottara completed numerous classics, both brief and extensive: they include such works as the greater @Correct Commentary to the Ascertainment of Logic and @Commentary to the Drop of Reasoning, an Aid to Students. The two--"Jewel" and Dharmottara--were renowned as being most extremely skilled in logic. Still further are the @Compendium on Ultimate Reality by Shantarakshita, a vast commentary to the same by Kamalashila, and all the rest: a cluster of classic works both brief and extensive. Moreover, those logic textbooks into Tibetan account for just about 21 of the great volumes in the Nartang edition of the textbook portion to the Buddhist canon. Now during the earlier spread of the Buddha's teachings in Tibet, a number of works from the end of the collection of seven were translated by a Kawa Peltsek and Drenpa Namka. The later spreading saw translations of @An Anthology of the Logic Scriptures, as well as other texts, by Shama Seng-gyam--in addition to a rendering of the root text to Dharmakirti's @Commentary by one Ma Geway Lodru. Subsequently there spread, to some extent, a school of logic based on these texts. Still later the ggreat translator from Ngok, Londen Sherab, revised these earlier attempts and completed the translation of @Ascertainment of Logic, A Drop of Reasoning, and the rest. The predominant strain in the teaching tradition was that found in the works by "Jewel" and Dharmottara. That great upholder of the tradition, Chokyi Seng-ge of Chapa, next introduced the @dura genre of logic primer by composing such works as @Dispelling Mental Darkness, a compendium of the logic classics.@(4) A long and glorious tradition flourished, passing down through a number of scholars--eight of the greatest each named @Seng-ge ("lion"). So too did the illustrious Kashmiri pundit Shakyashri and that great master of actual meanings, Kunga Gyaltsen (the "Sakya Pandita," renowned throughout all of India and Tibet), undertake to translate Dharmakirti's @Commentary, setting the Tibetan down in its final form. The latter, moreover, composed a root text--and companion commentary--imparting the very essence of Dharmakirti's entire group of seven,along with the original scripture by Dignaga. With this teacher and his countless students in India and Tibet began and flourished a teaching lineage such that--though the Master Translators were many--the Ngok and Sakya traditions grew most celebrated. As holders of the tradition of the Sakya Pandita came his disciples, true lions all among scholars, in the following order: Rikpe Seng-ge of Uyuk, Kunga Pel of Nyawon, Mipam of Yak and the Rong teacher Sheja Kunsik, along with the gorampa Sonam Seng-ge and Shakya Chokden. Beyond these were Venerable Rendawa (Shonny Lodru) and the great Lord Tsongkhapa. This latter, the highest of saviors, applied the three tests of accuracy@(5) to each of the Indian and Tibetan classics on logic--thereby eliminating any undue assignments of value. Having gained a total knowledge ofthe ideas held by the two absolute lords of logic, he expounded upon Dignaga's original scripture and the collection of seven treatises by Dharmakirti, embracing the affiliate works as well. This Lord Tsongkapa did in no trifling presentation ofthe mere literal meanings of terms; rather, he set forth a surpassing instruction utilizing the methods of logic for a lucid presentation of the entire series of steps to be taken towards ultimate ends by those of both greater and lesser capacities. Therein he has created a logical method far excelling the others--a sweeping lion's roar. in succession then came a great number of absolute lords of reasoning--master scholars such as Darma Rinchen and Kedrup Gelekpel, leading princes to the Lord Tsongkhapa. A mass of cogent textbooks was produced, and individuals who had become versed in logic through learning ad reflection crowded the lands of India and Tibet like the atoms of this great earth. We may finally menrion Buton Rinpoche's @Illumination of the Meanings to Logic, as well as the @Ocean Logic Classic--which the Karmapa Chodrak Gyatso imparted spontaneously by way of recalling that past time whenhe had deigned totake birth as Dharmakirti. And here lastly we list the Bhutanese pundit Padma Karpo, who composed the logic textbook @Ornament of Manjugosha's Concepts--with an accompanying general commentary. The worksof these and certain other authors exhibit for the most part a consistency with the Ngok system of explication. Works in greater consonance with the Sakya method are those treatises such as @The Great Elucidation of Commentary on the Logic--composed subsequent to the flowering of the Ngok tradition by the conquering Mipam Gelek: that greatest of higher beings, actual embodiment of the Buddhas' wisdom, and true Sun among teachers. This Sakya system eventually spread to the Nyingma group as well. The doors of reasoning were opened ever wider, by various individuals, with their logic textbooks and deep powers of understanding. Their followers too have flourished, in unbroken line. The Art of Logic Notes 1. Precise transcriptions for names of persons, works, and places are found in an appended list. Ripresentative dates, according fot the most part to K. Potter and E. Gene Smith, are supplied there as well. 2. @"Phags-pa dgongs-pa nges-par 'grel-pa theg-pa chen-po'i mdo (Arya-sandhinirmocananama-mahayanasutra), pp.1a-87b from Vol. @Ca of @mDo-mang section to @bKa'-'gyur (Lhasa edition), p. 82a (discussion pp. 80b-83a). 3. Refer to the essay "Logical Reasoning" in this sourcebook. 4. The translations following here in the sourcebook are adapted from just such primers. 5. Checks by those valid perceptions which are direct, deductive, or based on reliable authority. The Art of Logic Precise Transcriptions @@@@[Left out pp. 14-16: all Sanskrit and Tibetan translit.]@@@@ MOVE WITH THE KALMUKS This essay describes, in Occidental fashion, the physical move of the Central Asian tradition to America by tracing its migrations with the Kalmuk people--founders of the first true institutions for this type of study in America. Namsa Melson, co-director of the NEH project, daughter and granddaughter of original Kalmuk settlers in Freewood Acres, has contributed this work. Namsa, 14, was born in Brooklyn and grew up here in New Jersey. In school she has achieved honor roll and high honor roll for six years, serving as well in student government and drama producctions. Within the community, she has participated in Kalmuk language classes and the Kalmuk Mongloian folk-dance troupe. Finally, Namsa completed during the summer of 1979 a study of the traditional primer in formal logic, composing summaries for use in the classes with younger people held under the grant provisions. The map accompanying the essay was prepared by another Kalmuk youth, Lisa Albatew, whose background is described with her contribution to the sourcebook's resources section. The Move with the Kalmuks: A Later History To see how the Central Asian tradition of logic and debate reached America, we have to start about 750 years ago, in Mongolia. How Mongols became Buddhists The Genghis Khanites Genghis Khan is famous for the battle tactics he used to form the once very powerful Mongolian Empire. When the Khan attacked the kingdom of Hsi-Hsia in 1205 and completed his conquest of it in 1209, he brought Mongols to their first taste of Buddhism, for the people of Hsi-Hsia were Tibetans who followed the Buddhist religion. Genghis Khan created a unity among his followers and saw to it thet the people of Hsi-Hsia were part ofhis union before going on to subjugate Northern China. At one point in time Genghis Khan's troops were heading toward Tibet proper. The Tibetans, knowledgeable of the Khan's strength, sent messengers to meet the army. When they did, an agreement was made to pay a tribute to the Khan annualy, if he agreed not to attack Tibet. When Genghis Khan died in 1227 the Tibetans stopped paying the annual tribute. In 1240 Prince Godan, who was Genghis Khan's grandson and the second son of Ogodai, attacked Tibet to recover the tribute. After a defeat of deaths, destruction, and disorder for Tibet, Prince Godan in 1244 sent a message to the Sakya Pandita, the wisest man known in Tibet. The letter stated: I, the most poweful and prosperous Prince Godan, wish to inform the Sakya Pandita, Kunga Gyaltsen, that we need a lama to advise my ignorant people on how to conduct themselves morally and spiritually. ...I have been pondering this problem for some time, and after much consideration, have decided that you are the only person suitable for the task. As you are the only lama I have chosen, I will not accrpt any excuse on account of your age or the rigors of the journey. The Lord Buddha gave his life for all beings. Would you not, therefore, be denying your faith if you tried to avoid this duty of yours? It would, of course, be easy for me to send a large body of troops to bring you here; but in so doing, harm and unhappiness might be brought to many innocent living beings. In the interest of the Buddhist faith and the welfare of all living creatures, I suggest that you come to us immediately. As a favor to you, I shall be very kind to those monks who are now living on the west side of the sun.(1) The Sakya Pandita graciously accepted Prince Godan's invitation. He left in 1244 towards the Mongolian camp, but was stopped quite often in order to preach to the people. The Pandita was fearful that Prince Godan would become angry at the time it was taking him to arrive, so he sent his two nephews, Phagpa and Drogon, to go ahead and reassure the Prince that he would be coming. The two nephews had become favorites of the court by the time the Sakya Pandita arrived in 1247. The place where Prince Godan and the Sakya Pandita finally met was Lan-Chou, capital of Kansu province. The Pandita, also one of the greatest logicians of Tibet, spent years teaching Prince Godan and the Mongolian people the ways of Buddhism. He taught them what to do, how to think, and how to be a Buddhist. The Sakya Pandita died at the age of 76 in 1251, at Lan-chou. Begore his death, he had passed on his wisdom to his nephew Phagpa. He taught Phagpa everything he knew and also gave the nephew his begging bowl, the symbol of his authority. Prince Godan died shortly after the Sakya Pandita, in 1252. He was succeeded by Genghis Khan's grandson Prince Kublai. Kublai wrote a letter to Phagpa in 1254 stating: As a true believer in the great Lord Buddha, the all-merciful and invincible ruler of the world, whose presence, like the sun, lights up every dark place, I have always shown special favor to the monks and monasteries of your country. Do not think the Mongols incapable of learning your religion. We learn it gradually.(2) Phagpa accepted the Prince's invitation to come and instruct the leader and his people. Phagpa taught Kublai for a number of years, becoming a very close companion to the Prince, who later became Kublai Khan. Phagpa then went back into Tibet for three years, visiting the temples and talking to the people, When he came back Phagpa "presented to Kublai a script he had devised for the Mongolian language. This script was based upon Tibetan writing."(3) The script was not used much, especially after the death of Kublai, because of its square form--which made it difficult to use. Phagpa had many honors bestowed upon him by the Prince and Khan, Kublai. The teacher passed on in 1280. The Eastern Mongols As time went on, Buddhism among the Mongols after the death of Kublai Khan was not strong--until the sixteenth century. In 1577 Sonam Gyatso, who was found to be the reincarnation of Phagpa, was invited to visit Mongolia. The invitation was sent by Altan Khan, a reincarnation of Kublai Khan. Sonam Gyatso arrived at the Mongolian capital of Koko Khotan in 1578, and it was at this time that the inauguration of the Mongolian Buddhist Church officially took place. Then Sonam Gyatso began to teach the Khan and his people religion, preaching on one occasion out of doors to the whole population. Once Altan Khan became a Buddhist, he made this declaration: We, Mongols, are powerful because our ancestral race originally descended from the sky, and [Genghis Khan] extended its empire even to China and Tibet. The Buddhist religion first came to our country in earlier times, when we gave our patronage to Sakya Pandita. Later, we had an Emperor named @Temur, during whose reign our people had no religion and our country degenerated; so thet it seemed as though an ocean of blood had flooded the land. Your visit to us has now helped the Buddhist religion to revive. Our relationship of patron and lama can be likened to that of the sun and moon. The ocean of blood has become an ocean of milk. The Tibetans, Chinese, and Mongols now living in this country should practise the Ten Priinciples of the Lord Buddha...(4) Before returning to Tibet, Sonam Gyatso received many presents, and was also given the title @Dalai Lama. "'Dalai' is the Mongolian for 'ocean' and connotes that the Lama's learning was as deep and as broad as the ocean."(5) Sonam Gyatso was the first given the title "Dalai Lama," but he is counted as the third because, after the title was given to him, two of his previous lives also received it--thus making him the third Dalai Lama. This all occurred in 1578, which was about the same time that the "living Buddha," Dongkur Manjushri Khutukhtu, was established. In 1602, a line of reincarnations called "Maitreya Khutukhtu" began. Such lines have continued up to modern times:(6) the Gegen Dilowa Khutukhtu lived for a time here in Freewood Acres, New Jersey. The Western Mongols The Western Mongols called themselves "Oirat," or "Oirad," which according to Grousset means "Confederates." The Oirat or Kalmuk domain climaxed in power during 1439-1455. It "stretched from Lake Balkhash to Lake Baikal, and from Baikal to...the Great Wall."(7) King Esen of the Oirats had defeated the tribes directly descended from Genghis Khan, and in 1449 beat the Chinese army and held the Chinese emperor prisoner. At the beginning of the seventeenth century, the Khalka of Altyn-Khan had begun to place upon the Oirat tribes certain pressures. In 1616, Khu Urluk and his tribes left Dzungaria and went west. They finally settled around Astrakhan, near the mouth of the Volga river, after defeating the tribes north of the Caspian Sea (see the accompanying map). Now Gushi Khan, known to the Chinese as "the Khan of the Tibetans," moved with a group of Oirat tribes to North Tibet, in 1636. There, in the Lake Kokonor area, he developed himself a kingdom, spreading at one time evevn to East Tibet. Around 1640, he made a number of trips into the middle of Tibet to assist the Dalai Lama, and was helped by the other Oirat princes--including Khu Urluk, who briefly returned from the Caspian Sea area. It was about this time that the Zaya Pandita, also known as Namkhay Gyamtso, returned to the Oirats to teach them Buddhism. Zaya Pandita had given up his position in Khoshot nobility at age seventeen and became a monk, travelling to Tibet for study. When he came back he perfected, at the age of 49, one of the original Mongolian writing systems. He translated some 200 Buddhist works into Mongolian, and passed away in1662. How the Kalmuks Lived Meaning of the Name "Kalmuk" What does the name "Kalmuk" mean? No one is absolutely sure, and the etymologies and definitions for the word vary greatly. Grousset states that the Turks gave the Oirats the name "Kalmuks."(8) Bormanshinov offers the following: N.N. Poppe, in his hitherto unpublished paper, is inclined to accept Gegen Dilowa Khutukhtu's explanation communicated to him orally that the name "Kalmyk"...goes back to the Mongolian verb "xalix"--"to overflow, to run over, to spread (all over the territory)." This etymology seems to be convincing because it may refer to the significant expansion of the Oirat khanate in the fifteenth and the following centuries.(9) There are many more definitions and etymologies given for the name; I will not go into them, but they deal with the history and customs of the Kalmuk tribes. Different Tribes of Kalmuks During Genghis Khan's time, a fierce tribe of forest Mongols, the Oirats, was settled on the western shore of Lake Baikal, in the Central Asian steppes. This group, forerunner of the modern Kalmuks, was made up of four distinct subtribes: the Choros, the @Dorbod, the Khoshot, and the Torghut. These distinctions continue up into recent times. Traditional Kalmuk Life At the beginning of the seventeenth century, in about 1620, religious traditions began to set in among the Kalmuks. It started when the Khoshot chief Boibeghus Ba'atur converted to Buddhism. It was because of him that three other Kalmuk princes--Khara Khula of the Choros, Dalai Taiji of the @Dorbot, and Khu Urluk of the Torghut, each sent a son to Tibet to study Buddhism according to the tradition according to Je Tsongkhapa. Connections between the Kalmuks and Tibetans then continued. The Khoshot khans continued to help Tibetan scholars and monasteriesfor a hundred years. The wetern Kalmuks also kept contact, for they often sent young men from their Caspian Sea area to Tibet for higher religious studies. Throughout this time period monastic universities were established in Kalmuk territory, such as the one founded in 1640 by the Khoshot chief, Ablai-Taiji, just north of Lake Balkash. Religious practice in Kalmuk land had become very important. The Kalmuk Khan Donduk Dashi in 1757 made new laws, several of which signifiedthe important role religion had. The following are examples: Law #3: Honor and esteem for the highly educated clergymen. #4: Obligatory instruction of Kalmyck boys until the age of 15 in Kalmyck (Mongol) grammar (reading and writing). Otherwise a fine was imposed and the boys were given to Bakshas (teachers) for instruction.(10) Yet long before they had begun their religious practice, before the start of the religious traditions, the Kalmuks had possessed distinctive customs. Actual Move of Debate and Logic Tradition to America Political Problems of the Kalmuks The Kalmuks had always been a nomadic people. Even in the Genghis-Khanite period, the Oirats lived in horse-pulled wagons with tents to make moving easy. original scripture _