Tibetan Medicine The Buddhist Way of Healing

Tibetan medicine is a traditional form of healing which basically employs natural materials (herbs, minerals, precious stones, metals, and so on) for compounding medicines. It uses a holistic approach, tackling the symptoms of disease at both the physical and emotional levels. Buddhist healing is intimately linked with Buddhist philosophy. From its initial introduction into Tibet in the 7th-8th centruies, the Dalai Lamas, Tibet's spiritual and temporal rulers since the late 17th century, gave genrous patronage to the study and propogation of medicine. Initially, monks were the initiates into the art of healing, but later family lineages developed till eventually it became a community service. Today, it is practised by a handful of authorised amcbis (doctors) only and it is in danger of losing its valuable patrimony. Teswang Dolkar Khangkar, Doctor of Tibetan Medicine, was born in Kyirong (Happey Valley) western Tibet in 1959. She studied at the Tibetan Medical and Astrological Institute (Men-Tsee Khang) in Dharamsala from 1972 to 1978. She took her apprenticeship under her late and renowned mother Dr. Lobsang Dolma Khangkar (Ama Lobsang), and today runs a clinic in Delhi and a consultancy clinic in Bombay. She travels extensively all over the world giving lectures on Tibetan medicine and also conducts annual field research in herb-picking to the higher reaches of the Himalayas.

Contents:

The Diamond Healing
The Three Humours and Their Balance
Diagnosis and Prognosis
Tears of the Bodhisattvas: Herbs, Minerals, Gemstones & Animals
The Precious Essence & the Mind of Sorrow
Home Remedies
Glossary
Further Reading & Acknowledgements