Scripture debate

The first to hand in his examination board was once again Namkha. This fellow really was a favored son of heaven.

In Qu Zan's experience as a student across two lifetimes, the first to hand in an exam was either a confident genius or an utter dimwit.

Namkha clearly belonged to the former category.

Qu Zan handed his in thirteenth, neither the earliest nor the latest.

Lama Nyepa announced the scores as he marked the answers.

"Namkha, your argument is well reasoned and supported, and the format is correct. Your handwriting could be neater. I'll give you eighteen points."

"Chima, why did you write Zola's name on your answer board?" Nyepa said.

"Why are your answers exactly the same as Zola's? And you idiot, you copied the explanation for visible color into the explanation for material phenomena... you can't even copy properly! Zero! Your father is the chief steward of a great estate. Is this how he keeps the accounts?!"

The Scholar Monk named Chima lowered his head, then touched his face, then looked at his cushion... he wished he could make ten gestures at once to cover his embarrassment.

"Gyatso, hmm, very good. You even quoted the Autocommentary on the Treasury of Abhidharma, and the quotation fits perfectly. It seems you really have understood it thoroughly!"

"Your esoteric script is beautifully written, too. The calligraphy is very neat! It looks as though it was carved with a knife! I'll give you twenty points!"

Another perfect score.

The other students in the classroom looked at Namkha with admiration, but regarded Qu Zan with a measure of contempt. What good was being able to memorize and write things down? He was just reading scriptures by rote.

After marking the last board, Nyepa said, "Now we'll move on to the third assessment: scripture debate."

Nyepa went over some of the requirements for the scripture debate assessment.

The scripture debate assessment was like the debate competitions of Qu Zan's previous life, where one side argued for a proposition and the other against it.

In scripture debate, however, one side attacked and the other defended.

The attacker stood, clapping his hands with each attack.

The defender sat and could only answer, "I agree," "I disagree," "On what grounds?"...

Scripture debates began with a fixed formula.

Each round of scripture debate had a set topic. Switching concepts and straying off topic were forbidden.

Everyone in the small scripture hall moved their cushions to sit along the walls, leaving only two cushions facing each other in the middle, with the teacher beside them to act as judge.

They began debating in pairs.

As Qu Zan watched, he found it to be a highly confrontational game of logic.

As everyone took their turns debating.

"Gyatso, you're up!" Nyepa said.

Everyone turned their eyes toward that unremarkable, impoverished Scholar Monk.

The Lama had angrily rebuked many of the Scholar Monks, but naturally, none of them would resent Nyepa.

Instead, openly or covertly, they all directed their fire at Qu Zan, hoping someone would go up and give him a resounding slap in the face.

"Namkha, go up and debate Gyatso."

"Lama, I think that's unfair." The Scholar Monk named Chima suddenly raised his hand.

"What is unfair?" Nyepa asked coldly.

"Senior Brother Namkha is the strongest debater among us. For Junior Brother Gyatso to face Senior Brother Namkha in his very first debate is unfair to him."

"What do you suggest, then?"

"My skills are average. Let me face Junior Brother Gyatso instead," Chima said with a smile.

Nyepa glanced at Qu Zan and said, "Gyatso, what do you think?"

"I'll leave it to your arrangement, Lama," Qu Zan said quietly.

Nyepa said, "Chima, you're up, then."

Chima immediately sat down on the attacker's cushion.

"Begin!" Nyepa said.

Chima suddenly interrupted, "Lama, I have another question. By custom, the winner of a scripture debate receives a reward from the other party. This humble monk is willing to offer Junior Brother Gyatso a reward."

As he spoke, he took twenty taels of secret silver from inside his robe and placed them on the cushion.

As a mark of respect in scripture debates, the winner was usually given a small lump of butter or a handful of tea leaves; actual silver was rarely offered. Both parties usually put up equal amounts.

Chima's lavish gesture served both to flex his muscles and to seize the initiative. He was making it clear that he intended to crush Qu Zan.

"Junior Brother Gyatso may never have seen so much money."

At the sight of the secret silver spread out on the felt, Qu Zan's eyes suddenly blazed, shooting out dazzling light.

"With such kindness from Senior Brother, I naturally wouldn't dare make excuses. I'll use this ring!" As he spoke, Qu Zan took a saddle-shaped ring from inside his robe.

Nyepa had intended to stop this farce, but when he saw the ring, astonishment showed on his face.

Others might not recognize the owner of that ring, but Nyepa did.

When Chima saw the ring and the glittering gemstone set in it, he knew it was worth no less than twenty taels of secret silver.

He had only meant to frighten the boy, but to think the boy was so easily goaded that he had brought out the treasure at the bottom of his chest.

Namkha was an earnest fellow. He tried to dissuade them. "It's only a test. Why make the stakes so high? If fellow disciples get upset with each other, it could harm our harmony."

Chima knew this was Qu Zan's first scripture debate, while he himself had debated for years. That gave him at least a fifty-percent chance of winning, and as the attacker, he could set the topic, adding another twenty percent.

Seventy percent against thirty. The advantage is mine.

"Senior Brother, money is merely an external possession. We are all followers of the Buddha. Whoever loses a few external possessions must not get angry!" Chima declared beforehand.

"All right!" Qu Zan nodded.

Chima immediately clapped his hands to signal his attack. "The whiteness of white paper must be a physical object! Do you agree?"

Qu Zan sat cross-legged and said, "I disagree."

Chima clapped and pressed him. "On what grounds? White paper can be seen and touched. It truly exists, and its whiteness adheres to the paper. How is it not a physical object?"

Qu Zan answered steadily, "White is a color, an attribute, not a physical object. The white paper is the physical object. An attribute cannot be equated with the thing itself."

A thought stirred in Chima's mind. Is this really his first scripture debate? He thinks pretty quickly.

Unwilling to give up, Chima continued to press. "I agree that whiteness is an attribute! Then let me ask you this-the whiteness of white paper must exist! Do you agree?"

Qu Zan answered, "I agree."

Chima followed through by digging a pit. "Since whiteness exists, can be seen, and is an actual visible color, it must be impermanent. Do you agree?"

"I agree."

Chima pressed him at every step. "Since you admit that whiteness is impermanent and is an actual visible color, then everything white is an impermanent visible color. Do you agree?"

Qu Zan said, "I disagree."

Chima clapped loudly and said, "On what grounds? All white things are colors seen by the eyes. They change with their surroundings, wear away, and fade. Why are they not all impermanent?"

Qu Zan said calmly, "Let me ask you-is 'the definition of white' white?"

Chima said, "Yes!"

Qu Zan said, "Then does 'the definition of white' fade? Does it break down? Is it impermanent?"

Chima hesitated a little. "A definition doesn't break down!"

Qu Zan said, "Since it is white but is not impermanent, that is enough to prove... not everything white is an impermanent visible color. Your universal claim that 'everything white is impermanent' does not hold. Your proposition is flawed."

Chima said anxiously, "That doesn't count. The white in a definition is a concept, not actual whiteness."

Qu Zan said, "You just admitted yourself that 'the definition of white is white,' but now you say that the white in a definition is not white. You contradict yourself. First you accept it, then you overturn it. Your logic is confused."

Nyepa said, "Chima, you've lost. The core of the Debate on Red and White lies in the distinction between concrete, actual colors and abstract concepts. Ordinary people can only see what lies before their naked eyes, but we monks should see deeper...

"Distinguish objects from attributes, and do not be deceived by appearances. This is precisely the source of humanity's escape from the sea of suffering."