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The indigenous
people of Tibet discovered a traditional medical
system in Tibet which was closely connected to
their native spiritual system two thousand years
ago. They apply an ancient form of medicine
known as Gso-wa Rig-pa or 'The Knowledge of Healing'
whose beginning are believed to be based on the
teachings of the Buddha which is then commonly
known as the Tibetan medicine.
Tibetan medicine has
existed for over one thousand years in its
present form. Over several centuries, medical
knowledge was incorporated from the Indian
Ayurveda, the Chinese system and the medical
systems of Hellenic Greece and Persia and also
included the Buddhist thought which believes
that all suffering and hence all illness is
caused by attachment, anger and ignorance which
is known as the 'Three Interior Poisons'. The physical
manifestation of the 'Three Poisons' assume the
form of three humors which are rLung, mKhris-pa
and Bad-kan which are translated as wind, bile
and phlegm. When all three are in harmony, they
maintain a person's well being but when they are
disturbed or out of harmony, they can bring
illness. Desire corresponds to disharmony of
rlung (wind). Some symptoms of rlung disorder
are frothy urine, a rough and dry tongue or an
'jumpy' pulse.
Hatred corresponds
to disharmony of bile. Some symptoms of bile
disorder include the presence of thick or
yellowish-red urine, thick, yellowish fur on
the tongue or a 'full' pulse. Finally, phlegm
disorder is caused by ignorance whereby the
urine is odorless, thin and whitish while the
pulse is 'sluggish or heavy'. It is also stated
that the Tibetan Buddhist believes that karma
(the law of cause and effect) from one's
previous incarnations can also be responsible
for our illness in our present life.
Ignorance also
produces other negative states of mind such as
desire, hatred, jealousy and pride which adds to
our suffering. Understanding one's emotion is an
important part of the Buddhist journey to full
awakening and freedom from unwanted conditions
of all sorts. Medicines and other remedies are
often needed because usually we have very little
ability to work with our emotional energies.
Types of treatment may consists of consultations
on our lifestyle and diet, the use of mantras
and meditations, moxibustion (burning of the
herb mugwort), the use of supplements and
massage with specially formulated herbal oils
and sometimes acupuncture may also be needed.
The ultimate image of a healer in Tibetan
medicine is that of 'someone of a noble character
who is capable of immediately making the correct
diagnosis of a patient's illness without any
examination or needing the least assistance'.
So, it is not surprising that such physicians
are hard to come by and as a result, for a
physician to acquire credibility, he must at
least practice for twenty years in the tradition.
Tibetan medicine is
regarded as a holistic tradition and a lasting
cure can only take place when the whole
psychosocial environment of the patient is taken
into account whereby superficial methods which
consider only the outward symptoms of illness
are frowned upon. Tibetan medicine is getting
popular in the West as particularly successful
for patients with chronic diseases such as
hepatitis, certain kinds of mental illness,
ulcers, paralysis, gall stones, kidney stones
and arthritis. Tibetans look at well-being as a
consequence of three integrated types of medical
practices which are secular therapies such as
medicine, diet and surgery, then the spiritual
cures where Buddha is the Absolute healer and
finally the Dharma, or teachings of Sakyamuni,
the 'King of Medicine'.
Even in the
treatment of the simplest illnesses, the Tibetan
physician focuses his attention on spiritual
factors and at the same time regards medicine
and medical instruments as holy objects. Even
the pharmaceuticals which are mixtures of
vegetable, animal and mineral compounds are
prepared with careful attention to religious
ritual. A meditative ritual will be carried out
by the Tibetan physician after gathering dozens
of different ingredients that is used to make a
single small pill.
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