Tibetan Medicine
Practised for more than 2500 years, the Tibetan medicine, also called
gSoba Rig-pa which means “the science of the cure”, uses up to 2000 types of plants, but also about fifty minerals.
At the 8th century, Yutok Yonten Gonpo, a famous doctor, created the Four Tantras. These tantras consist of 156 chapters and are divided into 4 sections:
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Fundamental Tantra : it is composed of 6 chapters including the contents, the introduction, the presentation of the causes of the diseases, their exact diagnosis and the means to cure them.
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Explanatory Tantra : it is composed of 31 chapters treating of the growth of the organism, the anatomy and the physiology of the body, the development and the decline of the disease, the medicinal preparations and the surgery.
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Tantra of the instructions : it is composed of 92 chapters studying and classifying the causes and conditions of the appearance of the diseases and their treatments.
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Final Tantra : it is composed of 27 chapters and explains the 18 methods of diagnosis like the examination of the pulse and of the urine, the pharmacopeia and the composition of the 2800 medicinal preparations as well as external treatments. .
The Tibetan doctors, who are named “
Amchi”, treat their patients using medicinal herbs and minerals and give them advices in order to modify their behavior and their food habits. They also use other techniques like Tibetan acupuncture.
The duration of the training of medicine in Tibet is 7 years at least and the courses take place in Dharamsala, in the north of India.
To be able to understand the medical texts, the students must first master the grammar, linguistics as well as poetry.
The Tibetan Medicine is related to the Buddhist tradition, which says that any disease results from three poisons of the spirit: hate, excessive desire and ignorance.
The Tibetan Medicine is also practised in India, in Nepal, in Mongolia, in Bhutan, in China…
