As in Chinese medicine, the Tibetan system employs pulse diagnosis to be able to discern the condition and functions of the internal organs. This is a skill that takes many years of practice, as not only do doctors have to be able to locate and identify the pulses but also they have to determine the subtle qualities associated with the various conditions. Questioning the patient was considered most important to establish the life style, and eating habits etc. Also employed was urinalysis. It is said that “Just as one looks into a mirror and sees an image, so does a qualified physician look into a patient’s urine and from this see the disorders and illnesses”. The four general types of urinalysis would be, a person without any major illness, a person with disorders, a person on the verge of death and a person affected by spirits (negative energies) This last class of disorder, once again wifi be most alien to us in the West, we tend to thing of spirits as some sort of superstitious mumbo jumbo. To the Lamas, Yogis and Medical Doctors of Tibet this is simply a wrong understanding. They see the Universe as multi-dimensional, and therefore interdependent, this gives rise to cause and effect. There is nothing mysterious about this, for example as we create more and more damage to the environment, and as we treat animals without compassion then new problems and illnesses will arise. So if we think of an illness that is cause by a spirit, what is meant is that that natural state of balance and harmony has been disturbed, creating negative energies. B.S.C could be used as an example, there is also some growing evidence that Aids was caused by medical experiments on monkey (who carried the virus in there blood, but are not effected by it).

With regards to the latter, a sever case of anorexia was cured recently by my Tibetan Lama when approached by a family for help. The daughter of the family had been given only weeks to live. Out of desperation, and after much scepticism, a simple ritual was performed. The next day on waking, the daughter said she was hungry, and from then on recovered. Needless to say my teacher was given no credit for the cure, as needless to say this knowledge is beyond the understanding of our rational logical society, where we value intellectual knowledge not natural wisdom. I feel rather sad writing this very brief introduction to Tibetan Medicine as the news of the death of Dr. Tenzin Choedrak has just reached me. In 1985 while attending the Kalachakra Tantra initiation given by the Dalai Lama to promote would peace, I was privilege to here a series of talk by Dr. Choedrak about the Tibetan medical system. Dr. Choedrak a quiet and distinguished man who spent more than twenty years of torture and suffering as a political prisoner of the communist Chinese government, and despite incredible cruelty and squalor, he used his skill and compassion to help and attend not only his fellow prisoner but also his captors. This is typical of the altruistic qualities displayed and practiced in Tibetan Medicine. Dr Choedrak’s book The Rainbow Palace (recently published) gives an uplifting account of his life and training, as well as the harrowing details of his incarceration. Tibetan medicine has also been the unlikely subject of a full-length film called “The Knowledge of Healing” and was described by the New York Times as “This gentle, and optimistic film about the wonders of Tibetan medicine”. As important as this ancient body of medical knowledge may prove to be, the enlightened and altruistic culture from which it grew may also prove to have a beneficial effect on our confused and damaged world.

Anthony Court

(Article first published in ‘Your Life Magazine’ on 30th July 2001)