For the longest time the high altitudes of the Tibetan plateau guarded a well kept secret until it came to be known by the world, the science of Tibetan healing and traditional Tibetan medicines.
It is called Sowa Rigpa in Tibetan language which means the science of healing. It is an ancient medical science which is almost 2500 years old and has survived the test of time.
Apart from Ayurvedic medicine, it is one of the few medical sciences that aim to harness the power of natural medicine.
The Tibetan healing and medicine practice stresses a deeper doctor-patient relationship where the doctor not only treats the patients but also encourages them to want to get cured.
Doctors build trust with their patients and encourage them to get holistically involved in the treatment. Their approach to healing their patients is based on compassion for them. They aim to relieve the suffering of their patients.
This is basically the aim of Buddhist medicine which is closely intertwined with Tibetan medicine. The doctors intend to use the knowledge they have acquired over the years to help others.
It is a holistic practice that takes into account the overall health of an individual. Tibetan healing focuses on the role of a person’s thoughts and behaviors in influencing their health.
According to this science, how a person thinks and what behavior patterns he or she follows impact the person’s health.
The core belief of this science is that in order to be healthy individuals should be happy and that comes from perceiving life positively.
Tibetan healing works on the idea that we are all made up of energies. According to Tibetan medicine, there are three types of energies in a human being -
☀ Loong which enables the body to facilitate the circulation of blood, nervous impulses, thoughts, etc.
☀ Bad Kan facilitates functions like digestion, maintaining joint health, mental stability, etc.
☀ Tripa is responsible for functions like metabolism, liver function, etc.
It is when these energies are out of balance that we have diseases. But when these energies are balanced we are in good health. This is why it advocates maintaining a balance between these energies and that is done through the help of medicines, dietary changes, behavioral changes, and therapies.
Tibetan medicine aims to cure a person of their ailments at a deeper level by bringing changes in their thinking and actions.
The means of diagnosis applied by practitioners of Tibetan healing include in-depth questioning of the patient, checking the pulse, and urine analysis.
While checking the pulse tells about a person’s energy constitution and the imbalances in the body the urine is analyzed through its smell, color and various other factors.
Doctors work in close association with the patients by asking them about their daily practices, their thought processes, their eating habits, etc to formulate personalized treatment plans for them.
Dietary Changes - The first preference of the physician is to treat the patient by altering their eating habits. After assessing the diet of a patient the physician recommends dietary changes to them. This is done to restore the balance of energies in the body of the patient.
☀ Medicines - Tibetan medicines are made from various healing herbs, woods, saps, etc that are procured from the Himalayan region. While some of them cure the root cause of the disease the other herbs prevent the side effects.
These herbs have proven to cure many disorders like anxiety, insomnia, depression, etc. Padma 28 which is a medicine made from Tibetan formula has proven successful in treating vascular diseases. It is also capable of treating inflammatory diseases like Hepatitis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, etc.
☀ Meditation - Tibetan healing practitioners also prescribe various meditations to patients to heal the mind. Doing this helps the mind get rid of negativity which is basically the root cause of the disease. This ultimately helps in the healing of the patient. For instance, Tomo Yoga is a meditation practice that works with the Loong energy.
☀ Therapies - Tibetan healing and medicine also works with some therapies like Oil Therapy where oils made from certain herbs are massaged at specific points of the body to relieve pains and other ailments like insomnia and various other stress-related disorders.
☀ Moxibustion - involves burning herbal cones directly into the skin at certain reflex points of the body and supplying energy to these points. It is used to treat issues like dizziness, weakness, low blood pressure, etc.
There are 4 basic principles according to Tibetan medicine -
1. karma refers to the actions to perform, these actions impact your health and others around you. The impact of these actions can be seen either immediately or after some time.
2. The suffering is either physical, mental, spiritual, or emotional. It happens as a result of negative thinking.
3. Healing happens when a person thinks positively and works on their habits so their natural energies are restored in order.
4. Happiness which should be long-lasting and it can only be attained through a healthy and positive mind.
Information about Tibetan healing and medicine has been compiled in 4 tantras called the rGyud-bZhi.
The 1st tantra is the root tantra and it gives an overview of the entire compilation in 6 chapters. It explains the medical system by using an example of a tree with 9 stems which depicts the sections of medical science
47 branches which symbolize general information, and 224 leaves which depict specific details.
The explanatory tantra is the 2nd tantra and it contains the anatomy and physiology of the human body in 31 chapters. It also sheds light on what is the appropriate code of conduct for a practitioner of Tibetan healing and medicine.
The instructional tantra is the 3rd tantra and it instructs how to identify the causes and symptoms of various disorders and it also gives information about how to treat them. This information is detailed in 92 chapters.
The subsequent tantra is the 4th tantra and contains information on diagnosis and pharmacology in 25 chapters. It talks about how to prepare medicinal elements like pills, syrups, powders, etc, and how to use various therapies to treat disorders.
There are 2 additional chapters which summarize all the information in the 4 tantras.
The prestigious Men-Tsee-Khang or the Tibetan Medical and Astrological Institute was established by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama in 1961 in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh. It has a 6-year program for aspiring Tibetan healing practitioners.
While many people believe that Tibetan medicine is the same as Ayurvedic medicine it is not true. The two sciences do share some similarities but are different from one another as well.
As far as the similarities are concerned both believe that human beings are made up of energies and focus on the types of energies that make up the human body. While Tibetan medicine focuses on Loong, Bad Kan, and Tripa, Ayurveda focuses on Kapha, Vaata, and Pitta.
Apart from that both healing practices advocate that a balance in energies is the key to living a healthy life. There is a focus on maintaining a healthy mind and body for living a healthy life.
The roots of Tibetan healing can be traced to the 1st century AD. Earlier it was restricted to the Tibetan Plateau and Central Asia but now it is practiced all over the world. It is a holistic practice that believes that the mind and body are interconnected and a disturbed and unhappy mind is the root cause of suffering and disease.
It focuses on rectifying and restoring imbalances in the body in order to relieve a person of diseases. This is done through dietary changes, and a combination of natural medicines made from a variety of healing herbs, therapies like moxibustion and oil therapy, and meditations like Tomo Yoga.
As per its holistic approach, it doesn’t focus on curing just one symptom but on treating the root cause of the symptom.
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