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Samye Debate

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Samye Debate, also called Council of Lhasa, Council of Samye, Debate of Samye or Great Debate, was an eighth-century debate over whether enlightenment happened gradually or suddenly. The debate's historicity is contested, and extant accounts of the debate differ on the details of its proceedings.[1][2] The various accounts agree that the debate was hosted by Tri Songdetsen at Samye Temple and consisted of two factions: the suddenists, represented by the Chinese monk Moheyan, and the gradualists, represented by the Indian monk Kamalaśila.

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Accounts

The debate is discussed in:

  • The Testament of Ba[3]
  • The Debate on Sudden Awakening in the Great Vehicle (頓悟大乘正理決 Ch. Dunwu dasheng zhengli jue) by Wangxi 王錫[4]
  • The Chöjung Metok Nyingpo of Nyang Nyima Özer
  • Pudön's History of Buddhism[2]

Outcome

While the Debate on the Sudden Awakening in the Great Vehicle claims that Moheyan won the debate but committed suicide in disappointment upon seeing the insufficient spiritual capacities of his new students, Tibetan sources claim that Kamalaśīla won. Both Wangxi and Pudön agree that Moheyan committed suicide shortly after the debate, whether out of disappointment after winning or out of shame after losing, and that Kamalaśīla's gradualist teachings were left to flourish in Tibet.[2]

In Tibetan Buddhism, the debate is cited to explain why Tibet gravitated towards Indian Buddhism and not Chinese Buddhism.[2]

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See also

References

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