The Panchem Lama’s Debate Between Wisdom and the Reifying Habit by Panchen Lobsang Chokyi Gyaltsen

Kenneth Liberman is the University of Oregon’s Professor Emeritus. He is also the author of Dialectical practice in Tibetan Philosophical Culture (Rowman & Littlefield), Husserl’s Criticism of Reason(Lexington Books), and More Studies in Ethnomethodology. He currently divides his time between Sera Jey Monastic University, Bylakuppe in India, where he is the Phd Proctor/Professor and research assignments as the Hans Christian Anderson Visiting Professor in Suddansk Universitet, Denmark, and University Research Fellow at Universita Di Trento, Italy.
The Debate Between Wisdom & the Reifying Habit is the main philosophical work of Lobsang Chokyi Gyaltsen (1570-1662). This Tibetan text is a unique masterpiece that is loved by philosophers of Tibetan Buddhism’s Gelug sect. It is described as a long debate between shes Rabs (wisdom), bdag ‘dzin (the redeeming habit) and it is an original Tibetan text. The text is a literary masterpiece. It’s structured as a philosophical comedy, which explores the tension between two protagonists. It covers the topics as well as the Tibetan philosophical culture. Its wit and dynamic structure will make it an important text in world literature.