31 Jan 2012
5 min 47 sec
Video Overview
Creators:
Unknown
In and interview with Profesor Jose Cabezon, Geshé Sopa discusses the various types of Geshé degrees in Lhasa.
- Sera Monastery
- Geshe Sopa: Geshe, later Geshe,
- Geshe Sopa: [indecipherable]
- Geshe Sopa: you have Lharam Geshe (Tib. Lha ram dge bshes),
- Geshe Sopa: which is the Lhasa..."Lha" means Lhasa
- Geshe Sopa: Lhasa, Lharam Geshe,
- Geshe Sopa: Sera, Drepung, Ganden, all of them together
- Geshe Sopa: Monlam Festival, during that time,
- Geshe Sopa: the one who is doing, taking the damca (Tib. dam bca') or thesis
- Geshe Sopa: that is Lharam Geshe
- Geshe Sopa: and then the next one is Tsokram (Tib. tshogs ram),
- Geshe Sopa: Tsokram is another, second month (of Tibetan calendar), smaller, shorter also in Lhasa again
- Geshe Sopa: Tsokcho (Tib. tshogs mchod) means, I think the 5th Dalai Lama when he passed,
- Geshe Sopa: and then a special prayer, ritual, something,
- Geshe Sopa: Sera, Drepung, Ganden all gathered in Lhasa ten days,
- Geshe Sopa: during that time, same this kind of, like Monlam Festival,
- Geshe Sopa: so they will, those Geshe are Tsokram
- Jose Cabezon: And that takes place at the Jokhang also?
- Geshe Sopa: Jokhang, yeah, nearby.
- Geshe Sopa: Same place, same, right?
- Geshe Sopa: Monlam Festival but that time a little smaller,
- Geshe Sopa: people, monks don't go all, because some of them choose to stay in their monastery
- Geshe Sopa: called pezam (Tib. dpe mtshams), pezam means to
- Geshe Sopa: time to memorize their kind of many many memorizations
- Geshe Sopa: at that time, quiet, there's no smells or anything
- Geshe Sopa: instead of going down to Lhasa, so sometimes choose to stay, like that way.
- Geshe Sopa: But anyway down there, there is the, most monks go down there, and the same thing,
- Geshe Sopa: at that time the geshe is Tsokram Geshe.
- Geshe Sopa: That is the second rank,
- Geshe Sopa: these are called Geshe Chewa, Cheka (Tib. che ba, che kha)
- Geshe Sopa: Cheka means bigger Geshes, because they embarked down there
- Geshe Sopa: then Geshe Chungka (Tib. chung kha) means smaller Geshe, you see,
- Geshe Sopa: monastery itself, in itself to be Geshe,
- Geshe Sopa: that is the Lingse (Tib. gling bsre) and Tsogrampa...Rikrampa (Tib. Rigs rams pa)
- Geshe Sopa: Rikrampa and Lingse that means they, in Sera Monastery itself,
- Geshe Sopa: they are now the third one is actually, Rikrampa and then Lingse.
- Geshe Sopa: So therefore,
- Jose Cabezon: They don't take their examinations in Lhasa, they take it in the monastery itself.
- Geshe Sopa: They mainly monastery itself not connected with Drepung, Ganden
- Geshe Sopa: Although Rikrampa has much bigger because
- Geshe Sopa: the raja'i?? monlam that is called Lhasa,
- Geshe Sopa: they...you know the Jowo? Ramoche Jowo and Lhasa Jowo,
- Geshe Sopa: Monlam Chenmo is all Lhasa and the main temple and Sera, Drepung, Ganden many thousands together come.
- Geshe Sopa: This Ramoche Jowo is their small place, only for Sera.
- Geshe Sopa: Sera goes there...how many?
- Geshe Sopa: Oh seven days or something, not long
- Geshe Sopa: To there, and during that time, Geshes have to,
- Geshe Sopa: Sera Je, Sera Me, these two Geshes, one Sera Je, one...several Geshes, also Tsokrampa
- Jose Cabezon: Tsokrampa, I see.
- Geshe Sopa: Tsokrampa, Lharampa, Tsokrampa, this is..still kind of middle one, right?
- Geshe Sopa: this other one, Chewa, this...not Tsokrampa, Rikrampa
- Jose Cabezon: Rikrampa, that meets at Ramoche
- Geshe Sopa: Yeah, that is the middle one,
- Geshe Sopa: and the next one, Lingse, that Lingse, "Ling" in the monastery itself
- Geshe Sopa: then you have to debate, competing with Sera Je, Sera Me,
- Geshe Sopa: that is in tshokche area, there is another situation [indecipherable]
- Geshe Sopa: so this rest of the, in this class, you know ranking,
- Geshe Sopa: good ones, Lharampa, next ones, Tsokrampa, next one, Rikrampa,
- Geshe Sopa: then the rest of them, Lingse, and some of those people who are Lingse title,
- Geshe Sopa: they have to wait and wait and wait a long time, they stay in this class many years.
- Geshe Sopa: So that happens.
- Geshe Sopa: So therefore you have priviledge if you have good scholar, you go to first,
- Geshe Sopa: then even big Geshe, competing with Drepung and Ganden,
- Geshe Sopa: and Lharampa, number one, number two, etc. those number up to five I think
- Geshe Sopa: Sera, Drepung, Ganden, whatever,
- Geshe Sopa: they debate and then finally special kind of ranking and special kind of what do you call,
- Geshe Sopa: [indecipherable] Dalai Lama, government gives these,
- Geshe Sopa: these are the government Geshes,
- Geshe Sopa: so it is much, much greater.