Tibetan Collected Topics (bsDus grwa)

Origin. Tibetan monastic curriculum, systematized 12th-15th c. Cha-ba Chö-kyi Seng-ge, Sakya Pandita, later dGe-lugs codification. Debate training. Collected topics (bsdus grwa) as primer. Foundation of Tibetan Buddhist logic.

Models. Definitions, divisions, illustrations. Subjects and predicates. Pervasion (khyab pa). Colors and phenomena as training examples. Rigorous debate format.

Formalism.

Three components of definition: mtshan nyid: definition mtshon bya: definiendum mtshan gzhi: illustration/instance

Example: mtshan nyid: "that which is able to perform a function" (don byed nus pa) mtshon bya: functioning thing (dngos po) mtshan gzhi: a pot

Pervasion (khyab pa): A is pervaded by B: whatever is A is necessarily B. khyab pa: pervasion khyab byed: pervader (the larger class) khyab bya: pervaded (the smaller class)

Eight relationships:

mutually inclusive (don gcig)
four possibilities (mu bzhi)
three possibilities (mu gsum) — three types
mutually exclusive (phan tshun spangs 'gal)

Four possibilities example: A = permanent (rtag pa) B = existing (yod pa) Both: space A not B: none (permanent must exist) B not A: pot Neither: none (everything exists or not)

Debate format: Challenger (rigs lam pa): poses thesis Defender (dam bca' ba): accepts, rejects, or asks reason Responses: 'dod (accept), rtags ma grub (reason not established), khyab pa ma byung (pervasion not established)

Consequences (thal 'gyur): "It follows that X, because Y" Defender must accept, reject reason, or reject pervasion.

Types of phenomena: dngos po: functioning thing (impermanent) rtag pa: permanent gzugs: form shes pa: consciousness

Symbols.

Term	Tibetan	Meaning
khyab pa	ཁྱབ་པ	Pervasion
thal 'gyur	ཐལ་འགྱུར	Consequence
mtshan nyid	མཚན་ཉིད	Definition
mu bzhi	མུ་བཞི	Four possibilities

Metatheory. Definitional rigor. Pervasion as logical core. Exhaustive classification. Pedagogical systematization.

Applies to. Tibetan monastic education. Buddhist philosophy training. Debate methodology. Logical pedagogy.

Limitations. Pedagogical orientation. Specific ontological commitments. Monastic context. Limited outside engagement.