Nuns from seven nunneries participating in the annual Jang Gonchoe—the Great Winter Debate—gathered at Theckchen Chöling temple complex in Dharamsala on Saturday to make a debate presentation before His Holiness the Dalai Lama. This year’s Jang Gonchoe is being hosted by Geden Choeling, the oldest Tibetan nunnery in Dharamsala, northern India.

Prior to the Cultural Revolution in China, monks in Tibet had for centuries held an annual month-long debating session called Jang Gonchoe as an integral part of their Buddhist practice and an essential aspect of monastic education. The Tibetan community in exile re-established the practice in India, although nuns have only recently been afforded the opportunity to participate.

Representing Geden Choeling, Dolma Ling, Jangchub Choeling, Jamyang Choeling, and the Spiti Nuns’ Institute in India, and Kopan Nunnery and Thukjey Choeling in Nepal, the nuns engaged in the debates in groups of seven. One group stood and energetically challenged another seated group, who then responded, on topics as diverse as the existence of past and future lives and how effects prove the existence of a cause.

The Dalai Lama noted that there were nuns who had almost completed their study of Buddhist philosophy and would next year undergo final examinations to qualify as Geshemas —holders of what is equivalent to a doctorate in Buddhist philosophy. Taking four years to complete, the annual Geshema examination has been held only since 2013—until 2011, the Geshe title was awarded only to monks. Requiring about 18 years of study, the degree is the highest form of training in the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism.