Buddhist spiritual leader Ogyen Trinley Dorjee at Tergar Monastery in Bodhgaya on Thursday. Picture by Suman

Gaya, Feb. 9: At least 800 Buddhist scholars and students from across the Karma Kagyu monasteries and nunneries across the Himalayas today gathered at Tergar monastery in Bodhgaya to take part in a conference as part of the three-day 15th annual Kagyu Winter Debate.

During the conference, the khenpos (senior monastic scholars) and gesheys (advanced students) focused on environment protection and vegetarianism.

The annual debate, which concluded today, was led by one of the two popular claimants for the seat of the 17th Karmapa of Kagyu sect of Buddhism, Ogyen Trinley Dorjee.

The Karmapa devoted the final session to the protection of environment and promotion of vegetarianism. He spoke on the human impact on environment and the importance on working towards protection of nature.

“By this, we can serve society today as well as that of the future generation,” the Karmapa said, outlining specific measures such as keeping water sources clean and planting trees.

The spiritual leader, who had inaugurated the three-day annual debate on February 7, said social service was a means toward getting engaged in bodhisattva activities in modern times. He said the crux of bodhisattva ethical discipline was to work for others’ welfare.

He also proposed two measures that monks and nuns could undertake to serve society: “protect environment and practise vegetarianism”.

The organisers of the event said another reason to hold the debate was to give the students a chance to interact among themselves and sharpen their knowledge skills.

Ahead of this year’s conference, leading khenpos and the Karmapa himself had spent months conducting intensive research on a wide range of Indian and Tibetan textual sources.

During the three-day event, the scholars presented their findings of their collective research to the assembly and opened the topics for general discussions and debate.

Karma Kagyu is a widely practised lineage within the Kagyu school, one of the four major institutions of Tibetan Buddhism.