The inspiration for our program, and the founder is our wonderful teacher, Dr. Phuntsog Wangmo.
She is pictured here in the Library of Shang Shung institute, where she was conducting a lab on urine analysis last fall.
Tibetan Medicine is based on a text called The Four Tantras (rgyud gzhi) which took its final form in the early 12 century.


From Trapa Ngonshe the lineage passed down to Yuthog Yonten Gonpo the Younger who finalized the text into's it present form and wrote the first set of comprehensive commentaries on the medical system presented in The Four Tantras entitled The Eighteen Branches which also contains an earlier recension of The Four Tantras.
While the origins of the text of The Four Tantras is shrouded in legend, we can positively date it's official appearance on the scene with Yuthog the Younger. And so all Tibetan doctors practicing today owe a tremendous debt to this master. Yuthog was not only an amazing doctor, but he was always a highly realized yogi who revealed a profound cycle of Buddhist practice called the Yuthig Nyinthig which covered the entire path of awakening from the basic preliminaries to the most profound teachings of The Great Perfection or Dzogchen. This cycle of teachings is still practiced today by most Tibetan doctors.

Tibetan Medicine was revived by the late Troru Khenpo Tsenam and his colleagues after they were released from prison by the Chinese authorities in the 1970's. In particular, the Chinese apologized to Khenpo Tsenam for imprisoning him, explaining that they did not realize that he was a doctor. While in prison, Khenpo Tsenam [d. 2005] continued to practice and teach Tibetan medicine, and so trained an entire generation of doctors under the most difficult conditions. Traditionally, it is considered that Tibetan medicine comes from the ancient Rishis of India, and I feel that the compassion and wisdom of Khenpo Tsenam means that he was something like what these ancient Rishis must have beeen like.

In general, although the work is hard, there is always so much to learn, and it often seems like I remember nothing at the end of the day, I feel totally grateful to all of the lineage masters of Tibetan Medicine. So it is my pleasure to share my experiences of studying and practicing Tibetan Medicine. So I hope you check back soon!
Malcolm
3 comments:
Hi Malcolm,
I think it is a great idea to blog your experiences of training in Tibetan medicine.
Good luck with your site and I;ll be checking back!
Jacqueline
Glad to hear of this blog.I found you through Esangha the buddhist forum.
Can you give me any information on Tibetan medicine in regards to womens hormones and P.M.S ?
If you need more information Malcolm i can give you more information just let me know.
Thank you and good luck with your studies ~*~
Hi Malcolm,
Thanks for the information on
the "star water".I have never
heard of that one but have heard
of using the sun and moon for
charging water.Nice blog!
Aaron
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