Members of the exam board debate with Geshe Lharampa candidates in the annual defense exam to gain the highest degree in Tibetan Buddhism at the Jokhang Temple, Lhasa, on April 3. [Photo by Pladen Nyima/chinadaily.com.cn]

"To qualify as a candidate for the Geshe Lharampa exam," he said, "One has to take years of studies in the five major sciences, which are arts, medicine, linguistics, logic and philosophy."

He said he has been apprenticed to seven masters and high-ranking monks from different schools of Tibetan monasteries to obtain learning.

"Three of the masters — the Lamrim Rinpoche, Chophel Namgyal, Lobsang Tenzen — are my main scripture teachers," he said.

At the age of 16, Ngagwang Ziji became an ordained monk at the Drepung Monastery, one of the three key Gelukpa monasteries of Tibetan Buddhism in Lhasa.

According to the Geshe Lharampa office of Jokhang Temple — organizer of the event — this was the 10th round of exams since 2004, when the event first began at the temple.

"Obtaining this position means one already has a profound understanding of the 'Five Volumes of Tibetan Buddhist Teachings'."