Tibetan Impressions: Sera Monastery

Sera Monastery sits on the southern slope of Wuzi Mountain north of Lhasa, about six kilometers from downtown, with several buses connecting it, so transport is very easy.

Among Lhasa’s three great Gelug monasteries, Sera was built a little later, founded by Tsongkhapa’s disciple Jamchen Choje (also known as Sakya Yeshe). After Emperor Yongle (Zhu Di) ascended the Ming throne, in the sixth year of his reign (1408) he sent envoys to Tibet to invite Master Tsongkhapa to the imperial court. Tsongkhapa, however, was too busy with teaching duties and sent his close disciple Jamchen Choje in his stead.

As an emissary of Tsongkhapa, Jamchen Choje first traveled to court in 1414, going first to Mount Wutai and then to Nanjing for an audience with Zhu Di. He returned several times and stayed often at Mount Wutai, helping to spread Tibetan Buddhism in inland China.

In 1419, Tsongkhapa instructed Jamchen Choje to build Sera Monastery on the mountains north of Lhasa, to house the Buddhist scriptures, statues, and treasures given by Zhu Di. That same year, Tsongkhapa passed away at Ganden Monastery and never saw Sera completed.

Covering 115,000 square meters, Sera is slightly smaller than the Drepung Monastery to the west, with three colleges and over twenty residential houses, yet it still looks imposing from a distance.

Sera treasures a set of the Kangyur (Tibetan Buddhist canon) handwritten in vermilion ink, in Tibetan and Chinese, a gift from Emperor Yongle to Jamchen Choje. The 105 volumes are now a precious historical relic.

When Jamchen Choje first reached Nanjing in December 1414 and entered the palace, Emperor Yongle showed him the highest courtesy: ‘He was admitted, an exemption from kneeling was granted, and he was given a seat in the Great Virtue Hall, answering questions to the emperor’s satisfaction, who praised him greatly.’ In 1434, during the ninth year of Xuande reign, Jamchen Choje returned to court and was honored by Emperor Xuande with the title ‘Great Mercy Dharma King.’

Sera attracts far more visitors than Drepung, partly because of its proximity to the city center, but most of all for the daily afternoon monks’ debates. The debating courtyard lies slightly west of the monastery’s center, a tree-shaded clearing enclosed by Jé College, Mé College, and Ngakpa College.

A red wall surrounds the debate ground, which is open every afternoon from 3 to 5 o’clock except weekends.

Visitors may watch from outside but may not step onto the courtyard, so as not to disturb the monks.

Debating is a fundamental training for monks studying scriptures. Pairs of monks face off—one sits as the defender, the other stands as the questioner—and they debate a philosophical topic. The questioner claps his hands, stamps his feet, and gestures dramatically with rising and falling intonation, almost dancing, a captivating sight.

Debate is a required part of a monk’s studies. The Gelug tradition maintains a rigorous degree examination system, and oral defense is an essential part of degree testing: candidates appear in the main hall to answer philosophical questions posed by examiners. Only monks who attain the Geshe degree (equivalent to a doctorate) can serve as khenpo (abbot) of a college or a midsized monastery.

When speaking of Sera, one must mention a very prominent figure in modern Tibetan history: the Fifth Reting Rinpoche, Thubten Jampel Yeshe Tenpai Gyaltsen, who hailed from Sera’s Jé College. Recognized as the reincarnation of the previous Reting Rinpoche from a serf family at Sera, he grew up in poverty and deeply understood and cared about the suffering of the lower classes, earning great respect from Thubten Gyatso.

Before Thubten Gyatso passed away in 1933, he designated the Reting Rinpoche to oversee the search for his successor’s reincarnation and to serve as regent of the Kashag during the new Dalai Lama’s youth. At the time, Tibet was in extreme turmoil; reform movements were rising internally, and after the Qing imperial representative office was abolished, the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission established by the Beiyang government proved largely ineffective.

Since the fall of the Qing, China’s interior had become increasingly fragmented. First, the Kuomintang launched the Northern Expedition against the Beiyang government, sparking civil war that tore China apart. Japan then invaded and occupied much of Chinese territory, the Nanjing government split again, Chiang Kai-shek retreated to Chongqing, and Wang Jingwei set up a separate government in Nanjing.

After Japan’s surrender and the end of World War II, large-scale civil war broke out between the Communists and the Kuomintang. The Communists overthrew the KMT regime, established the People’s Republic, and regained control over most of China’s territory. Over these decades of chaos, Outer Mongolia, manipulated by the Soviet Union, detached itself from Chinese territory. Against this backdrop, some in Tibet were also seeking independence with the help of the British Indian government.

During his regency, the Fifth Reting Rinpoche took measures to crack down on pro-British officials and approved the return of the Ninth Panchen Lama’s body for burial at Tashilhunpo Monastery. These actions split the Kashag government. Amid irreconcilable conflicts, Reting Rinpoche announced his withdrawal in 1941, temporarily handing over power to his tutor Tagdrag Ngawang Sungrab.

After the victory against Japan in 1945, with the support of the Republic of China, Reting demanded that Tagdrag return power, but was flatly refused. The Kashag government then sent troops to arrest Reting Rinpoche by force on suspicion of ‘rebellion,’ imprisoning him in the Potala Palace. He was soon declared dead, with widespread rumors of poisoning—a notorious episode in modern Tibetan history known as the ‘Reting Incident.’

With the changing times, life at Sera has seen some changes. Traditionally, when monks joined the monastery, their khangtsen offered some rice and vegetables, and they could receive extra food in compensation when taking part in college or monastery ceremonies. But there was no communal kitchen, so monks had to cook and manage their daily lives on their own. Today, Sera has set up a home for the elderly.

The seniors’ home is a separate, reasonably well-appointed courtyard, though I saw no elderly residents and cannot say what their life is truly like.

Sera Monastery was damaged twice—first during the ‘pacification’ of the 1950s and again during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s. The Sera we see today has been rebuilt and is no longer the same as before. Still, its location close to Lhasa’s urban area means it draws large numbers of tourists who come to watch the monks’ daily debates.