and that evening, monks from the monk’s hostel, friends and well-wishers will visit the new geshe, bringing traditional khataks and small gifts of money as token of congratulation.
The new geshe then begins to prepare for his Geshe Tongor Ceremony. “Tangor” literally means “the action of giving” and is an offering of food, tea and money to all the monks of the monastery, thanking the monastery for bestowing the title of geshe. The dates for the ceremonies are chosen by the monks themselves, consulting astrology for auspicious days. Family and friends who are able to attend are invited, and many even make the long trip from Tibet in order to be there for their relative or friend’s special day. During the ceremony, the new geshe parades with his sponsors behind the head of his hostel, who carries a long pole with 5 large white cotton balls affixed to the end. These symbolize the 5 classes of the 16-year course, and the geshe’s having mastered them. Kataks are offered to the statues of the deities in the prayer hall and protector chapel, to the abbot and finally to all the monks. All the work of the Geshe Tongor – the organizing and ordering of supplies and cooking special food to offer to the thousand-odd monks – is done by friends and roommates of the new geshe. According to the monks, it is a cycle of offerings: as one helps others to hold their geshe ceremonies, later the others will help in return.
After all the work and worry of preparing the main Geshe Tongor Ceremony is over, the geshe will also offer meals and a small gift of money to the monks of his own khangtsen a few days later. Then all that is left is to prepare for the Geshe Damcha, the final step in the geshe ceremony rituals.
“Damcha” is the term given to the answering in the debate process. During the Geshe Damcha, the date for which is chosen by the abbot, the new geshes from that year will sit in a group at the front of the prayer hall. In turn, each geshe has to answer questions in debate for a day (though the other geshes are permitted to help him answer). This system begins with the highest and most senior new geshe down to the lowest. From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m,, and again in the evening from 7 to 9 p.m., the new geshe will have to answer questions first from the older geshes, then from the lamas and tulkus, and then from the varying class levels of the other monks. The length of time permitted for questions is also determined by the abbot, who oversees the entire proceedings. In this way, the damcha, though technically an exam, is more of a demonstration or exhibition that the geshe has mastered the courses set by the monastery, a proof of graduation, in a sense.
The geshe degree tradition began during the time of the 5th Dalai Lama in the 17th century. The tradition underwent a reformation during the time of the 13th Dalai Lama, who returned from a visit to Mongolia impressed by the scholars there and determined to elevate the academic standards in the educational institutions of Tibet. Prior to this time, the geshe degree was not necessarily awarded on the basis of academic merit. The 13th Dalai Lama also established other reforms in relation to the geshe degree, including requiring those who graduated with highest honors to proceed to Tantric College to complete their educations.
If anyone has ever had the chance to watch a Geshe Damcha in progress, he or she may have noticed the geshes taking off and then putting back on their yellow Gelugpa hats periodically, for no apparent reason! The hat is removed in respect when one answers a question wrong, or one’s answer is refuted by proof from a text. It is then put back on for the next question. Another part of the ceremony amusing for onlookers to watch is when the new geshes throws handfuls of sweets or fruit into the aisles of the prayer hall, and the monks dive and grab for them! First, a handful is tossed back towards the altar and the deities, then towards the abbot, and then into the crowds of monks. This is a good omen, a sign of good fortune. Finally, the damcha closes with a dedication of all the accumulated merit, and the new geshe returns to his hostel, where the path to his room has been painted with auspicious symbols and all his friends and classmates will visit with kadags and congratulations.
For the Lharam Geshes, the process is not yet over. They still have to attend another Damcha during the Monlam prayer festival with monks from Gaden and Sera before their Geshe Ceremony rituals are complete. Following the ceremonies, and the celebrations of the New Year and Monlam, all the new geshes go to study tantra in either Gyuto or Gyumey Tantric colleges for the coming year, and the next lot of potential new geshes applies to the abbot for permission to do their geshe ceremonies.