Tibetan monks get degrees after academic training

About 240 Tibetan Buddhist monks completed their academic training at the Tibet College of Buddhism in Lhasa, Tibet autonomous region, and participated in a graduation ceremony on Sunday. 

During the ceremony, the new graduates received various academic degrees and were presented with graduation certificates. Of the graduates, 110 received a Nyethang Tarampa degree, the basic academic degrees for Tibetan Buddhism, while 130 candidates received an intermediate degree, or Drirampa, including 33 candidates accredited with a Nyethang Ngakrampa degree — similar to a postgraduate degree in modern education — by the Tibet branch of the China Buddhist Association and the Tibet College of Buddhism.

"These disciples have passed the proper tests of teaching courses related to the five volumes of Tibetan Buddhism teachings, Dharma teachings and rituals of different schools of Tibetan Buddhism. They are qualified for graduation now," said Drukhang Thubten Khedrub, head of the Tibet College of Buddhism, who was quoted by China Tibet Online.

"Guided by the core values of the socialist society, they are on their way to truth, goodness and the beauty of Buddhism," he said.