The past 2 weeks here at Serpom have been quite busy. From 31 Aug. until 4 Sept. the Mid-Term Oral Exams were administered. At the beginning of each school year, the monks are assigned texts to be memorized. The elementary-age boys to whom I teach English are given shorter texts to memorize than the older students and get a one-day respite from the regular schedule to take their exams. Each one lasts about 30-60 minutes. The older monks are given much longer texts for memorization, usually 200-300 pages. The exams are, quite naturally, much longer lasting from 2-6 hours and taking a total of4 -5 days to complete. As the exams begin every morning and afternoon, each monk sits patiently waiting his turn. After prostrating to the master, he sits and must begin reciting the text assigned. I was very fortunate to witness this event. It has given me a much deeper insight into the rigorous nature of the monastic curriculum of Serpom Monastic College. The annual Rig-Chung Exams just recently completed are the culmination of three years of concentrated study for the monks who are nearing the end of 20 years of monastic training and are required of those who wish to take the Geshe Exams. These Mid-Term Orals occur annually and are required of every student.
The curriculum of the monastic schools of Tibetan Buddhism is rigorous and demanding. By their standards, the curriculum of most other schools systems, certainly those in the U.S. where I taught, fall seriously short. Students in the U.S. attend a school-day lasting about 6 hours of which, perhaps, they might receive 4 hours of actual instruction time, if they are lucky. Then it’s off to home to plant themselves in front of one media device or another, “diverting” themselves with some mindless video game, equally mindless social network, or spending hours with a cellphone or ipod glued to their ears. And then will spend more time complaining and whining about the dismally small amount of homework they have been assigned, usually encouraged by the commiserate whining of their parents about the unreasonable expectations that teachers have of their offspring. Many of those who do manage to graduate from high school are, perhaps, qualified to push burgers and fries through a tiny drive-through window or wield a rag at the local car wash. Only those who really excelled and constantly pushed themselves to succeed in a particular field of study have any chance of gaining entrance to college or pursuing a meaningful career.
Meanwhile, the students at Serpom Monastic School, who have been in classes since 9 AM [with a 2 hour break for lunch] are only beginning their day when the 3 o’clock dismissal bell rings. They have a two-hour break until dinner time in which to work on assignments for the next round of daytime classes or to find time for some physical activity. After dinner, there are classes from approximately 6-8 PM and then 9-11 PM. Only then are they done with their school-day and return to their quarters to complete any unfinished assignments and retire for the night. They will then rise at 5:45 AM when the gong sounds calling them to morning puja at 6 AM. This is the schedule these monks faced each day as they prepared for the Mid-Terms Orals just completed.
The photos are from the Mid-Term Oral Exams which the administrator kindly allowed me to take and post.
As Always,
The devout Shugdenpa Lozang Gyaltsan
