Whatever Is A Colour Is Necessarily Red

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Overview

Location, the gravel pit. Two adolescent women debate the premise, Whatever Is A Colour Is Necessarily Red, while their contemporaries cheer and heckle their efforts. The debate, Whatever is a colour is necessarily red, is a Buddhist classic written for very young students who merely have to memorize their parts. The purpose is to set the paradigm for unscripted debating and to instill the value of discussion. There is no winner or loser, only a challenger and defender who both desire to know the truth of something as revealed through the process. In practice monastic debating is a sport performed outdoors in front of an audience who cheers, hisses and boos often at any hesitation or incorrect responses. In my representation of the monastic debating I use the metaphor of throwing and catching a ball.