Tibetan Monastic Debate - Mechanics, Rules and Process

[Parasamgate]

Hello,

I am looking for any information on Tibetan monastic debate. In particular, I am looking for information on the mechanics of the debate and the rules and procedures as well as the rituals involved. In other words, if one were a complete novice to this and needed to learn how to debate in the proper way... short of having a senior monk personally instruct... are there any written resources for this? What are the logical rules and the terms and so on...?

Secondly, I want to know if anyone has had experience conducting such a debate or setting one up for lay practitioners. I've found that conversations and debate I have with lay practitioners after a particular teaching can be very helpful to my deeper understanding of the topic. But often times the conversations and debate are unruly and have no focus so they meander quite a bit. Wondering if it would be possible to have a more structured debate for lay practitioners to enrich learning.

Thank you!

[JKhedrup]

http://books.google.nl/books/about/Deba ... edir_esc=y

Debate in Tibetan Buddhism by Daniel Perdue outlines all the points you touched on and more.

http://www.amazon.com/Sound-Two-Hands-C ... 0520232607

Sounds of Two Hands Clapping by Georges Dreyfus is a more autobiographical account by a Western Geshe who went through the whole debate training.