Within the Gelug tradition, debate (rtsod pa) functions as the central pillar of monastic education and a crucial support for spiritual practice. It is not a peripheral exercise, but the primary method by which monks engage the great classical subjects: Prajñāpāramitā, Madhyamaka, Pramāṇa (logic and epistemology), Abhidharma, and Vinaya. Through highly structured formats, senior monks challenge juniors with precise questions and logical tests, and advancement through the curriculum depends on sustained participation in these debates over many years. This rigorous training cultivates clarity of definition, careful attention to logical consequences, and a deep familiarity with the textual tradition, thereby preventing understanding from remaining at the level of rote memorization or vague generalities.

The practice of debate also serves as a discipline of reasoning that refines valid cognition and exposes fallacious thinking. By being required to articulate and defend positions under pressure, monks learn to identify contradictions, refine their interpretations, and internalize the philosophical principles they study. Public debate builds the confidence and agility needed for those who will later teach, while at the same time fostering humility, since every view is open to challenge. In this way, debate becomes an antidote to blind acceptance, encouraging a culture in which doctrine is tested and clarified through reasoned analysis grounded in scripture.

From the perspective of spiritual practice, the analytical skills honed in debate are regarded as essential preparation for meditation, especially on emptiness. The inferential understanding that arises from careful reasoning is treated as the proper basis for later non-conceptual realization, so that contemplative practice rests on a stable and coherent view. Daily debate sessions, often conducted in a communal setting with characteristic gestures and formal roles of challenger and defender, create a shared environment in which insight is sharpened collectively. Through this combination of intellectual rigor, communal engagement, and orientation toward meditative realization, debate becomes both the hallmark of Gelug scholasticism and a vital support for the path to awakening.