"gSoba Rig-pa" Tibetan Medicine: A Healing Science

Introduction

Tibetan medicine, gSoba Rig-pa, or “The Knowledge of Healing,” is deeply rooted in Buddhist tradition, making it rich in tantric Buddhist ritual and symbolism. It is a unique medical science providing holistic health care that strives for a balance between the physical, the psychological, and the spiritual.

One of the world's oldest medical traditions still preserved intact, Tibetan medicine is threatened by political and cultural upheaval.

The root of all illness lies within the Three Poisons : desire , hatred , and ignorance . The physical manifestations of the poisons are the three main humors which control all of the body's processes: rLung , mKhris-pa , and Bad-ken . When they are in harmony, there is well-being, when they are disturbed, which can come through seasonal factors, a variety of evil spirits, improper diet, and wrong behavior patterns , there is illness. Disease is also caused by karma , or limitations from improper relationships in the past.

The Three Humors ( Nyipa sum )

Humor	Translation	Root cause	Characteristics
rLung (pron. loong)	Wind	Desire or Attachment	Creates an enormous number of functions. The best example of these functions is circulation, such as, circulation of our blood, circulation of the nervous system's impulses, circulation of thoughts in our minds, circulation of food through our digestive tract and eliminative organs.
mKhris-pa (pron. tree-pa)	Bile	Hatred or Aggression	Related to the element of fire. Keeps body temperature in balance. Controls metabolism, liver function, vision, digestion and gives a discriminating mind.
Bad-ken (pron. pay-gen)	Phlegm	Ignorance or Incomprehension	Connected to the elements of water and earth. This is not the phlegm that comes from the chest. Bad-ken sustains bodily fluids. Helps to keep joints flexible, steady the mind, good memory and creates the will.

“To show how this process works, when we eat or drink something, it goes to the stomach, where the Bad-kan will help to mix it, the mKhris-pa will help to digest it and the rLung will help to separate the essential nutrients from the waste products. The essence of the essential nutrients will then form blood, the essence of blood forms muscle tissue, the essence of muscle tissue forms fat, the essence of fat forms bones, the essence of bones forms marrow and the essence of bone marrow forms the regenerative fluid.”[From: “Introduction to Tibetan Medicine,” The Government of Tibet in Exile http://www.tibet.com/Med_Astro/tibmed.html]

Diagnosing Imbalances

In Tibetan medicine, there are 3 main methods of diagnosis: observation, palpation, and questioning.

Observation	Through urine analysis and looking at the tongue.
Palpation	Reading the pulse.
Questioning	Asking patient a variety of questions.

Treatments

Treatments, or therapies in Tibetan Medicine, address four broad areas of concern: nutrition, behavior, medicine, and external therapies. Medicines are used when treatment by diet therapy and behavior modification do not give satisfactory results.

There are two main types of medication, alleviation medication to reduce symptoms, and eliminative medication to radically cure the patient. Medications vary according to constitution and the disorder. Most medications are herbal, although the use of animal medicines and minerals, including gem remedies is noted. External treatments include massage, warm baths, application oils, fomentation, moxibustion, and acupuncture.

Since the mind is the architect of all suffering and happiness, treatments and good health are greatly enhanced by developing the mind through meditation and spiritual practices. These include the practice of mantras, prostrations, ritual prayers, and visualization.

The fundamental principles of Tibetan medicine are based on five elements: earth, fire, water, air, and space. These elements are all common to the body, the disease and the treatment. They are inextricably linked to the natural environment in which all human beings live. The five elements in harmonious balance result in good health. Any one of them out of balance, either excessively or deficiently, results in poor health.

The Five Elements

Earth	Provides the basis of physical existence; qualities of firmness and stability.
Water	Gives rise to all fluids in the body; creates moisture in all forms.
Fire	Expressed via metabolic functions; creates transformation and activity.
Wind	Correlates to circulation; creates movement.
Space	Provides the potential for existence to be created.

[From Dharma-haven web site at http://dharma-haven.org/#Medicine]

Websites

Tibetan & Himalayan Digital Library Medicine Collections

http://www.thdl.org/collections/medicine/index.html and http://www.thdl.org/collections/medicine/sman_grub/index.html
Interesting video and photos of Tibetan physicians preparing medicines and talking about various diagnosis and treatments.
http://www.thdl.org/collections/medicine/imagepresentations.html
A presentation on Tibetan Medical Thangkas -- one explores Thangka Thirty-Six, which pertains to Surgical Instruments used in Tibetan medicine for external therapy.