tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15388484216760387042024-03-14T07:05:28.943-04:00BhaisajyaOne practitioner's adventure in Tibetan MedicineMalcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565211105434785983noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538848421676038704.post-80293469205801532062016-05-27T16:06:00.000-04:002016-05-27T16:06:08.768-04:00EmeraldsRecently I met Bill McGrath, a grad student at UVA, who specializes in the history of Tibetan Medicine. In recalling our conversation about the identification of the gem, vaidurya, I pointed out that in the modern Tibetan Medical tradition, this gem is identified as star sapphire rather than blue beryl, which is how Western Academic scholars have habitually identified this gem in absence of Tibetan sources upon which to rely. Spurred by our conversation, I chanced to look at the Wiki entry for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beryl">beryl</a>. The green variety of beryl is emerald. In Tibetan, emerald is called <i>margad </i>(མརྒད). This is clearly a non-Tibetan word, so from what language does it derive? The Wiki entry offers a few options, citing the <i>Precious Stones for Curative Wear</i> by W.T. Fernie M.D. Here, Fernie shares with us an entry by Dr. W. Rowland on page 127:<div>
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"' Smaragdus'....a clear transparent Gem; very beautiful, and the most brittle of all Gems. It stops (being drunk) all Fluxes whatsoever, chiefly the Dysentery, whether they come from a sharp humor, or venome ; and it cures venomous Bitings. For a Dose—six, eight, or ten grains are given. Among Amulets it is chiefly commended against the Epilepsie; it stops bleeding if held in the mouth ; it cures all bleedings, and dysenteries ; it expels fears, and the Tertian Ague, if hung about the neck. There is a' Prepared Smaragd; and a Tincture of Smaragd.' "</blockquote>
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If we turn our attention to the Online Etymology Dictionary, we find the following statement:</div>
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<dt class="highlight" style="background-color: #ddd9ca; font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0.5em 0.5em 0px;"><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=emerald&allowed_in_frame=0" style="color: #800020; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">emerald (n.)</a> <a class="dictionary" href="http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=emerald" style="color: #800020; font-size: xx-small; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; margin-left: 1em; text-decoration: none;" title="Look up emerald at Dictionary.com"><img alt="Look up emerald at Dictionary.com" height="16" src="http://www.etymonline.com/graphics/dictionary.gif" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Look up emerald at Dictionary.com" width="16" /></a></dt>
<dd class="highlight" style="background-color: #ddd9ca; font-family: Georgia, Garamond, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px 0.5em 0.5em;">"bright green precious stone," c. 1300, <span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">emeraude</span>, from Old French <span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">esmeraude</span> (12c.), from Medieval Latin <span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">esmaraldus</span>, from Latin <span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">smaragdus</span>, from Greek <span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">smaragdos</span> "green gem" (emerald or malachite), from Semitic <span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">baraq</span> "shine" (compare Hebrew <span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">bareqeth</span> "emerald," Arabic <span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">barq</span>"lightning").<br /><br />Sanskrit <span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">maragdam</span> "emerald" is from the same source, as is Persian <span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">zumurrud</span>, whence Turkish <span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">zümrüd</span>, source of Russian <span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">izumrud</span> "emerald." For the excrescent <span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">e-</span>, see <a class="crossreference" href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=e-&allowed_in_frame=0" style="color: #800020; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">e-</a>.<blockquote>
In early examples the word, like most other names of precious stones, is of vague meaning; the mediæval references to the stone are often based upon the descriptions given by classical writers of the <span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">smaragdus</span>, the identity of which with our emerald is doubtful. [OED]</blockquote>
<span class="foreign" style="font-style: italic;">Emerald Isle</span> for "Ireland" is from 1795.</dd></div>
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http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=emerald</div>
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We can be certain that the Tibetan source of the term is Sanskrit. And it seems ultimately the Sanskrit term derives from the Greek. Interestingly, the Tibetans also identify a "stone"<i> margad</i> as malachite. </div>
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And this in turn raises the question— from what language is the name <i>mu men</i> (མུ་མེན)? This is the Tibetan name for lapis lazuli, a gem frequently misidentified as vaidurya by translators. </div>
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Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565211105434785983noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538848421676038704.post-73779647498756867072015-02-08T14:44:00.000-05:002015-02-08T14:44:29.297-05:00The Buddhist theory of the causes of illnessesThe Vimalakīrtinirdeśa Sutra states:<br />
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Mañjuśrī, illness does not exist from the beginning, [384/a] but arises from being activated through improper activities and arises from the affliction of false conceptuality. Ultimately, here there is no phenomena at all to call an “ailment.” If it is asked why, there is no owner or creator for these elements of this body that arises from the four great elements. There is no self in the body. Ultimately, there is no illness that can be perceived that is not included in clinging to a self. That being the case, there is no self to which to cling and the root of disease exists in all consciousnesses.</blockquote>
Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565211105434785983noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538848421676038704.post-65087096929609362872013-03-08T14:05:00.000-05:002013-03-08T14:09:55.972-05:00It's A Matter of TasteIt came to my attention yesterday that there is a difference in the way Indian Ayurvedic treatises list the six tastes in terms of how they remove the three doṣas and the manner in which the Explanatory Tantra lists them.<br />
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To summarize the two systems, the six tastes are made up of the following combination of elements according to the Carakasamhitā [Sūtrasthana, 26:40]:<br />
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earth and water = sweet<br />
fire and earth = sour<br />
water and fire = salty<br />
air and fire = hot/pungent<br />
air and space = bitter<br />
air and earth = astringent<br />
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The list in the Explanatory Tantra, chapter 19:<br />
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earth and water = sweet<br />
fire and earth = sour<br />
water and fire = salty<br />
water and air = bitter<br />
air and fire = hot/pungent<br />
air and earth = astringent<br />
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Here we can see a slight difference in the presentation: bitter is constituted of air and space according to Carak, but according to the Explanatory Tantra, it is constituted of water and air. This is not a major difference, but it is noteworthy, since it should and does affect the principles of the application of tastes to the different doṣas in each system.<br />
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This brings us to another, more important difference. In the Aṣṭāṇga Samgrahā, [Sūtrasthana 18: 5 onwards] it is stated that:<br />
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Sweet removes vata and pitta<br />
Sour removes vata<br />
Salty removes vata<br />
Bitter removes pitta and kapha<br />
Hot/Pungent removes kapha<br />
Astringent removes kapha and pitta<br />
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Further, Suśruta states [Sūtrasthana chp. 42]:<br />
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Sweet, sour and salty mitigate vata; sweet, bitter and astringent mitigate pitta; hot, bitter and astringent mitigate kapha.</blockquote>
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However, in the Explanatory Tantra, the following explanation is given:<br />
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Sweet, sour, salty and hot subdue vata;<br />
bitter, sweet and astringent removes pitta;<br />
hot, sour and salty removes kappa. </blockquote>
So the observant reader will note that there is a significant difference between the lists presented in the two Indian texts and the Tibetan text. In reviewing the tastes with a colleague, this difference sparked my curiosity.<br />
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Naturally since there is a discrepancy between the Indian Acaryas and the Tibetan system, such a difference would hardly go unnoticed.<br />
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Is there in fact a real difference between these two lists? As it turns out, this issue is addressed in a<i> </i>commentary by Sum ston ye shes gzungs on the Explanatory Tantra called the<i> 'bum chung gsal sgron nor bu'i 'phreng mdzes. </i> First, to give context to his subsequent comments, he states:<br />
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Through the combination of the four elements, earth, water, fire and air, sweet comes from the combination of earth and water. Sour comes from earth and water. Astringent comes from earth and air. Three tastes come from earth combinations. Then, leaving aside earth; salty comes from water and fire. Bitter comes from water and air i.e. two come from a water combination and thus the addition of two more gives rise to five tastes. Then, leaving water aside, the combination of fire and air produces hot...</blockquote>
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After addressing other issues connected with the tastes and so on, he addresses the very point I introduce above -- the fact that there is a discrepancy between the Indian texts and the Explanatory Tantra. In the context of writing about the post digestive tastes, he comments:<br />
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For example, it is like the difference between India and Tibet. Since India is a dry place afflicted with heat, bitter and astringent tastes are said to remove kapha; but since Tibet is very cold, bitter and astringent are harmful to kapha. Also in India, the hot taste is harmful to vata; but since Tibet is a cool country, the warming effect of the hot taste is stronger than its light and rough effects. Since the cold of vata is subdued through its warmth, hot is beneficial for vata. In India, salty is harmful to kapha; but in Tibet, since the action of generating digestive heat exists in salt is stronger than the oily effect [sneha] of salt, it is likewise beneficial for kapha. </blockquote>
I think there is an extraordinary lesson here. Despite the apparent differences between the formulation of tastes and their properties in removing the three doṣas, in reality the underlying theory of these two systems is identical.<br />
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We are taught in both Ayurveda and Tibetan Medicine that we must take into account the environment we find out patients in and so on. In many popular books on Tibetan Medicine and Ayurveda, these lists of tastes, the foods that bear them and what they are purported to be good for are recommended uncritically irrespective of season and local. For example, in New England, where I live, we have very cold winters, and very hot summers. It suggests that the range of tastes we recommend for a patient will change <i>seasonally</i>. It supposes that a patient we treat in Arizona or Southern California will be prescribed a different matrix of tastes than a person who lives in Oregon or Seattle for the same doṣa condition.<br />
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People often select for salads and so on to lose weight. In Ayurveda especially, you can see diet books that mark bitter, astringent and hot dishes as kaphahara i.e. kapha removing. But if a patient actually consumes these bitter and astringent foods in the middle of winter in New England, it could be harmful to them. But if, following a Tibetan doctor's advice, they eat sour and salty foods in the middle of a hot summer to alleviate a kapha condition, likewise they could experience vitiation of their kapha doṣa instead. Likewise, if a kapha-afflicted or vata afflicted person in Latin America chooses to eat based on the recommendations found in the Explanatory Tantra, they could likewise experience doṣa vitiation.<br />
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So the lesson is that we need to be careful in what we recommend to our patients. We need to understand that Ayurveda and Tibetan Medicine recommendations were formulated for specific regions and not generalize to all regions. If we keep this principle in mind, then our dietary recommendations will be more effective. So it behooves us to understand in more detail the function of taste in relationship to our outer environments and seasons, both for our own health and that of our clients.<br />
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As students of these systems, we need to go deeper into the underlying theoretical beauty of the six tastes, the eight effects and seventeen properties connected and really analyze what kind of food is good for what patients, in what climate, and so on, and not leave our understanding in a partial state.<br />
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<br />Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565211105434785983noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538848421676038704.post-45121952788599423852012-06-27T11:22:00.000-04:002012-06-27T11:22:00.421-04:00Nagpo Gujor Pouches<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRfFut0mVh2k7THnaKlxlFikXEs-Hxtdayk73tjfn7vqnuz96zIg7W-ouET53xG0scsyjvTjCVUxz3MOU5nI98CCqNf-iMpLCrX10Kgemts3_kPOcw3xQPK52_9Erc_PgvSyiXrpWsa-YW/s1600/IMG_0274.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRfFut0mVh2k7THnaKlxlFikXEs-Hxtdayk73tjfn7vqnuz96zIg7W-ouET53xG0scsyjvTjCVUxz3MOU5nI98CCqNf-iMpLCrX10Kgemts3_kPOcw3xQPK52_9Erc_PgvSyiXrpWsa-YW/s320/IMG_0274.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
One of the most famous preventative formulas in Tibetan Medicine is a sachet or pill called Nagpo Gujor, "the preparation of the nine blacks". <br />
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During the SARS outbreak in China, pouches and pills containing this formula were distributed by the millions.<br />
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Sudarshana Mandala has just brought over a number of these attractive brocade pouches containing the formula in powder form prepared by the pharmaceutical department at the Tsoṅön Tibetan Medical Hospital in Xining, Qinghai Province, China.<br />
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Traditionally, during the flu/cold season one sniffs the pouch three times with each nostril in the early morning; one wears it for the rest of the day for protection against such infections.<br />
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This powder is not for internal use. It it is strictly a sachet. If it is made wet, it will be ruined. If it is treated well, it should retain its potency for at least three years. It should be kept out of the reach of children.<br />
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This item is being sold strictly as a decorative object. No warranty for its effectiveness is being implied or asserted.<br />
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The ingrediants are:<br />
Terminalia Chebulam; Aconitum richardsonianum; Ox gall stone; Commiphora wightii; Musk; Acorus Calamus; Ferula assafoetida; Sulphur; Chinese Black Ink.<br />
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The cost of for one of these pouches is $25.00 plus $5.00 shipping and handling:<br />
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<br />Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565211105434785983noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538848421676038704.post-44921384945362974712011-09-06T16:17:00.002-04:002011-09-06T16:19:53.787-04:00Vimala and VataIn this day and age of high technology and fast living, we are constantly exposed to historically unprecedented levels of environmental and social stress. The climate is becoming unstable because of human activity, the seasons are becoming unbalanced, and many parts of the world today are experiencing all kinds of social, economic, environmental, and spiritual disturbances. One result of all of these disturbances is imbalance in our vata dośa, known in Tibetan as "nyes pa rlung".<br />
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Vata disturbances are difficult to manage because people become accustomed to them under the name of "stress" -- spending billions of dollars a year on therapy, sleep aids, and so on. Stress-related illnesses are so pervasive in Western culture that many traditonal physicians in both Ayruveda and Tibetan Medicine see vata-related conditions as being the number one acute health problem facing those in the West. It is not a coincidence that the cause of vata in the human body is the affliction of desire. There is direct link between our consumerist society, the stimulation of desire, and the resultant vata imbalances that so many people experience.<br />
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The seasons also play a role in vata-imbalances. Though the fall season is traditionally considered to be the season in which pitta dośa [nyes pa mkhris pa] accumulated during the summer manifests as a disease in both classical Ayurveda and Tibetan Medicine, we lack a late summer rainy season in the northern hemisphere, followed by an intensely hot autumn. In our climate, the late summer is when the days are hot but the nights are cool. This produces the manifestation of many dual vata-pitta disorders, and so we commonly observe the increase of vata imbalances combined with pitta imbalances in the form of rampant colds and flues, and so on, that afflict the northern hemisphere every year.<br />
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From the perspective of Ayurveda and Tibetan Medicine, one of the main reasons our immunity becomes compromised is that our constant level of stress directly degrades and damages ojas (mdangs), the subtle life-sustaining fluid that permeates our entire body and supports our life-force. Therefore, the we need to reduce our overall levels of stress in order to reduce damage the damage to ojas which directly supports our vitality, our health, and our wellbeing. <br />
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Fortunately, there are a number of inexpensive alternatives for the management and alleviation of vata imabalances. Yoga, proper exercise, massage and self-massage with a high quality traditionally-crafted Ayurvedic massage oil suited to your individual constitution, praṇāyāma, and meditation are important methods of reducing stress and controlling vata imbalances. Diet is also important: eating with the seasons, eating regularly, eating whole foods in proper combinations and so on. All of these factors contribute to the management of vata related symptoms. In addition, we may occaisonally need to resort to herbal supplements to assist in bringing our three dośas back into balance.<br />
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For persons of general good health, one of the best formulas for controlling vata disturbances is Vimala. Vimala (Dza ti 20) is special formula developed by the great Indian Pandita and Dzogchen master, Vimalamitra in the eighth century. The traditional uses of Vimala are described in Vimalamitra's <i>Eighty-Four Thousand Healing Therapies</i>:<br />
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A special therapy for vata (rlung) in the heart:<br />
when the nine wicked spirit siblings are rampant,<br />
no one will be unaffected by this disease.<br />
The symptoms are depression<br />
mental instability, disturbed thinking,<br />
pain and tightness in front and back of the upper body,<br />
lack of mental clarity, poor memory,<br />
being sad for no reason, restlessness,<br />
hostility, lethargy and agitation, shortness of breath,<br />
acute fainting. Because various illnesses<br />
arise, the method of healing them with medicine is demonstrated.</blockquote>
Vimala is a balanced formula, the basis of which is Nutmeg, Terminalia chebulam, Boswellia serrata and Aquilaria malaccensis. Nutmeg and Boswellia serrata are warming; Terminalia Chebula and Aquilaria malaccensis are cooling, and all are used in controlling wind. In particular, the function of nutmeg is to regulate wind in the central channel and heart cakra. In addition to these four herbs, Vimala has a number of other supporting herbs which control wind and support the heart cakra.<br />
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Vimala might be described as the meditator's formula of choice. Vimala is an excellent herbal support for those who are embarking in meditation retreats where vata or "rlung" disturbances are a constant issue. In addition to this, since Vimala assists the regulation of the praṇāvāyu in the heart cakra, it is an excellent aid for supporting calm and restful sleep. For an anupāna (sman rta, foods and drinks to enhance the effect of the medicine), Vimala may be combined with warmed milk sweetened with sucanet or a small portion of high quality aged alcohol such as 10-year old tawny port or brandy. When used in combination with a vata-reducing diet, regular massage, and light exercise such as yoga or walking, Vimala plays a role supporting calmness and a positive mood.<br />
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Why should one choose Vimala over Agar 35? Agar 35 is considered to be the heaviest and coolest of all the Agar preparations. Agar 35 is classified as a heat-removing formula recommended for general vata (rlung) disorders, especially those combined with heat. Agar 35 is contra-indicated where there is a heat condition in the upper body and a cold condition in the lower body (i.e. below the diaphragm), when there is an unproductive cough, arthritis, and so on.
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In the past, Tibetan formulas such as Vimala have been hard to find. This formula can be obtained from <a href="http://www.siddhienergetics.com/?utm_source=Bhaisajya&utm_medium=Banner&utm_content=SE%2BName&utm_campaign=Affiliate">Siddhi Energetics</a>.<br />
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<br />Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565211105434785983noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538848421676038704.post-37602013828380328232011-03-23T13:33:00.000-04:002011-03-23T13:33:14.961-04:00Tibetan Medicine legalized in IndiaThis news comes to me belatedly, and I am sure that many readers of this may know already. In August, 2010, The Government of India has officially recognized Tibetan Medicine as "a system of Indian Medicine."<br />
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This is excellent news for Tibetan Medicine internationally.<br />
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Hopefully this development will help Tibetan Medicine spread more widely and gain more attention.Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565211105434785983noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538848421676038704.post-68415966967052215452010-10-21T10:15:00.008-04:002014-01-15T14:03:05.880-05:00Bad HumorsOften translators struggle with the proper way to translated the nyes pa gsum, the so called "three humors". They also struggle with nyes pa.<br />
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Well, I have a suggestion: instead of trying to preserve the clumsy terminology of transliterated Tibetan like "Loong" and so on -- we just ought to use the three words from which the Tibetan terms are derived, which are easy to say, and are more widely known and used in English.<br />
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Those three words are vata, pita and kapha, known to us from Ayurveda.<br />
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Everyone also complains about the term "humor" in English as being an inaccurate term for nyes pa -- itself based on the Sanskrit term "doṣa". Since this term, doṣa, is also widely used now in English, let's just call a doṣa a doṣa. Let's face it, the term "humor" is inaccurate for the terms doṣa and nyes pa. Doṣa is a perfectly good Buddhist word too, and is widely used in the Vipassana community when its practitioners are experiencing emotional afflictions or kleṣas.<br />
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Tibetan Medicine is not going to lose its identity if we use the medical terms from the mother language of Tibetan medicine, Sanskrit, no more than Tibetan Buddhism loses its identity when we use Sanskrit terms when back-translating Tibetan terms like chos sku as dharmakāya and so on.<br />
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For example, there are many Tibetan medical terms that don't mean anything in Tibetan, since they are corrupted pronunciations of Sanskrit words. For example, asafetida is called shing kun in Tibetan. If we were to translate this it would literally mean "all trees". But when you understand how certain syllables are mispronounced in Tibetan, it becomes immediately obvious that asafetida (an imported herb), which is called hing gu in Sanskrit, was called "shing kun" in Tibet because Tibetans have a hard time pronouncing the "hi" phoneme and variation, "hri" without adding a "sh" sound to it. Hence in Tibetan Medicine, hing gu was transformed in shing kun. There are many other examples of this. So, Tibetan medicine is in no danger of losing its identity if we call "shing kun nyer lnga" "hing 25".<br />
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Back to my main point: Tibetan Medicine is structured on the basis of the Indian Buddhist medical tradition embodied in the Aṣṭāñga hridāya samhita of Ācarya Vagbhata. It does not matter if you believe that the rgyud bzhi was translated by Vairocana Lotsawa in the eighth century or composed by Yuthog in the 12th, this is an undeniable fact to anyone apart from those Tibetan scholars of nationalist persuasion who adhere to the narrative proposed in the colophon of the rtsa ba thugs 'bum of the Bon recension of the rgyud bzhi, the 'bum bzhi.<br />
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If we recognize the predominantly Indian Buddhist origin of Tibetan Medicine then we can make available to ourselves the whole host and range of technical terms with which important medical concepts are already being communicated in English via Ayurveda.Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565211105434785983noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538848421676038704.post-74841101282917243292010-08-08T09:22:00.001-04:002010-08-08T09:52:16.969-04:00Another Tragedy for Tibetan Medicine and Tibetan CultureToday I learned, via a friend's post on Facebook, that the major portion of the surviving collected works of Nyala Chanchub Dorje has been destroyed "in a fire" in connection with the July 3, 2010, conviction of Rinchen Samdrup, the elder brother of the recently convicted Karma Samdrup.<br />
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Woeser does not indicate what day the raid occurred, but only that the major collection of collected works of Chanchub Dorje has now been destroyed. Hopefully there exists other copies, apart from the several volumes I saw in Norbu Rinpoche's library in Merigar.<br />
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Among these collected works were several volumes of original works on Tibetan Medicine.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Gentium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; font-style: normal; line-height: normal;">http://www.highpeakspureearth.com/2010/07/rinchen-samdrup-sentenced-to-5-years.html</span></span></i></span></span>Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565211105434785983noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538848421676038704.post-65948460076863079142010-06-23T15:53:00.011-04:002010-06-23T21:33:47.042-04:00The Devil Made Me Do it...Demons, Spirits, and Tibetan Medicine<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKRYvs9gZbMQjyjZ9vpQsnbLBhrvSreKKeWx7JXXXCm6UJPRrYc9CW-HvwvkkoNrBBVS_A4G3pJqaDBe5P4juujZRytbpgUjJG-5koymnhoROl9PkBYe45SypeTtRql1DIIp_WY_XEjI3t/s1600/hcho.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKRYvs9gZbMQjyjZ9vpQsnbLBhrvSreKKeWx7JXXXCm6UJPRrYc9CW-HvwvkkoNrBBVS_A4G3pJqaDBe5P4juujZRytbpgUjJG-5koymnhoROl9PkBYe45SypeTtRql1DIIp_WY_XEjI3t/s320/hcho.jpg" /></a></div>Recently I assisted one of my principal teachers, Lama Migmar Tseten, in the performance of a two day Healing Chö ceremony at Kripalu, in Lennox, Ma.<br />
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The fundamental method in the Healing Chö is that a patient comes and lies down in front of the Chöpa, who recites the Chö liturgy in addition to using some autochthonic rites grouped under the term <i>gto</i>. The use of the these rites can be complicated or simple, depending on the choice of the ritual master and requirements of the situation. During the recitation of the liturgy, the Chöpa performs the visualization of Chö on behalf of the participants in the rite.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://palyulmedia.smugmug.com/Lineage-Lamas/Ngagpa-Yeshe-Dorje/KW-176-5a-Ngagpa-Yeshe-Dorje/371352881_ghdYA-L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://palyulmedia.smugmug.com/Lineage-Lamas/Ngagpa-Yeshe-Dorje/KW-176-5a-Ngagpa-Yeshe-Dorje/371352881_ghdYA-L.jpg" width="256" /></a></div><br />
My first contact with Healing Chö came on the occasion of meeting my precious root guru, the late Mantradhara Yeshe Dorje for the first time in 1992. The first evening he was there, he performed a Healing Chö in order to remove obstacles of the people present. I had no idea what he was doing, and he did not explain anything. But we all lay down, and he performed the ceremony of Chö on our behalf.<br />
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One can easily read more about Chö. Since it is easy to receive instructions on the practice Chö these days, I won't go into any more detail about Chö here, apart from saying that a critical part of Chö is about paying back karmic debts one has incurred to negative spirits who act as obstacles and cause illness.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.tribe.net/tribe/upload/photo/17c/247/17c2470b-89a0-47e8-b0ef-e305e9ecccbb" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://images.tribe.net/tribe/upload/photo/17c/247/17c2470b-89a0-47e8-b0ef-e305e9ecccbb" width="206" /></a></div>Of the four hundred and four illnesses classified in Tibetan Medicine, one hundred and one of them are caused explicitly by demonic entities called <i>gdon</i>. The term gdon, according to Chogyal Namkhai Norbu, also carries the meaning of doubt as in the common phrase <i>gdon mi za ba "</i>without doubt". In general, these diseases cannot be cured with medicine alone, though there are many herbal preparations which can assist controlling their negative effects, for example, the famous Vimala preparation was originally created by Master Vimalamitra to control the effects of Gyalpo spirits (pictured being trampled by Dorje Drollo's mount, to the right). Also, the incense known as gugul is burnt in order to repel negative spirits from one's space.<br />
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Now then, why all this bother about demons? I read an interesting article on delirium in the NY Times yesterday and saw this statement:<br />
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<blockquote>No one who knows Justin Kaplan would ever have expected this. A Pulitzer Prize-winning historian with a razor intellect, Mr. Kaplan, 84, became profoundly delirious while hospitalized for pneumonia last year. For hours in the hospital, he said, he imagined despotic aliens, and he struck a nurse and threatened to kill his wife and daughter.<br />
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"Thousands of tiny little creatures,” he said, “some on horseback, waving arms, carrying weapons like some grand Renaissance battle,” were trying to turn people “into zombies.” Their leader was a woman “with no mouth but a very precisely cut hole in her throat<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/21/science/21delirium.html?src=me&ref=general">(link)</a>.</blockquote><br />
It is well known in the Ayurveda and Tibetan Medicine that fevers, especially contagious fevers, are caused by the actions of spirits. The general fever chapter of the Upadesha Tantra discusses gdon as one of the four causal conditions of fevers:<br />
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<blockquote>Spirits: [fevers] are caused by arising from the central eye of Shiva and from the cursing and fighting between matrikas and ḍākinīs (two types of female spirits).</blockquote><br />
There are many other gdon which are indicated in a whole range of illnesses. From the perspective of Tibetan Medicine many people are afflicted by gdon and are never treated for it properly, nor are they protected against it. In the article above, it states that many folks who are struck by the kind of delirium described above, never completely recover.<br />
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In most instances, from our perspective, many of these conditions could be alleviated with proper rituals done correctly. At our Healing Chö, people reported amazing results, such as the vanishing of long-term persistent physical pains from injuries, lifting of depression, enhanced feelings of well-being and so on. It is said that while such rites seem like child's play, they are extremely effective. My intent here is not to advertise our Healing Chö ceremonies, but to point out to people that ritual plays an extremely important role in Tibetan Medicine, and should be used to address and remedy that part of illness that is often left unattended i.e. the role of spirits in causing or prolonging illnesses. It is tempting to write off the hallucinations of delirious persons as purely being caused by the heat of fever. But from our perspective, such experiences as those reported above in the news article, prove the vital need for people to look at deeper spiritual causes for their states of disease.Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565211105434785983noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538848421676038704.post-56356696107501815102010-05-21T14:31:00.000-04:002010-05-21T14:31:09.438-04:00The Role of Elemental Calculation ('byung rtsi) in Tibetan Medicine<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This post is the first of two posts. As I was writing the original post from which the following two posts derive, I realized that you, the readers, would be better served by two separate posts. </span></i><div><br />
</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Often referred to by the misnomer "Tibetan Astrology", "Prognostic" Calculation (rtsi) pervades every aspect of Tibetan social and religious culture. Calculation is used for rendering yearly calendars, matchmaking, for funerary arrangements, determination of what sort of rituals one should use on a yearly basis for removing obstacles and so on.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Calculation is generally divided into two categories: "<i>dkar rtsi</i>", deriving from the<i> Kalacakra Tantra</i> and its commentary, the <i>Vimalaprabha</i>; and "<i>nag rtsi"</i>, "black" calculation, also known as "<i>'byung rtsi</i>", which is traditionally held to derive from China, but contains what appear to be many Tibetan innovations. There are other systems of rtsi besides these two, such as the system of martial calculation called <i>dbyang 'char</i>, which derives from a non-Buddhist tantra, the <i>Yuddhajayārnava Tantrarāja Svarodayanāma </i>first translated into Tibetan in the 13th century by Lowo Lotsawa, Sherab Rinchen, but they exceed the range of these posts.</span><br />
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</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The magnum opus of calculation is undoubtedly Desid Sangye Gyatso's</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Bai dur ya dkar po</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. The Lhasa block prints, made available in book form in 1972, consists of two volumes amounting to 350 folios, primarily written in dense 7 and 9-syllable verses. Beykar, as it is known amongst Tibetans, is an encyclopedia of information related to the science of calculation, covering diverse topics from the origins of the Kalacakra tantra and the location of Shambhala to a detailed exposition of various types of bhumipatis, sa bdags or landlords. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Other important authors concerning the broad range of calculation topics are Tagtsang Lotsawa, Kongtrul, Mipham, Lochen Dharmashri, just to name a few of the most well-known Tibetan polymaths who devoted themselves to aspects of the subject.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The presence of elemental calculation in the sequel or uttaratantra of the four tantras has long been a source of controversy among Tibetans, causing authors such as Zurkar Lodo Gyalpo and Thukwan to cast doubt on the Indian origins of the Four Tantras as a whole. Irrespective of the ultimate origins of elemental calculation, (also a controversial topic about which there are numerous Tibetan opinions) it plays a key role in the diagnosis of illness within the rGyud bZhi tradition, respectively, in the pulse and urine diagnosis chapters.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In Tibetan Medicine, there is slippage around the use of the term "</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">khams</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">": used both for the Chinese system of five "elements" and the Indian Buddhist term </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">dhātu</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> which can lead to confusion. In Buddhist texts there is the notion of the </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">catvāri mahābhūtāni</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> (</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">'byung ba chen po bzhi</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">), the four primary elements i.e. earth, water, fire and air. To this a further scheme is added, the </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">pañcadhātu </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">(</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">khams lnga</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">) earth, water, fire, air and space. Finally, we have the scheme of the </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">saḍadhātu</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> (</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">khams drug</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">) with the addition of consciousness. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Calculation and Diagnosis:</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In the pulse chapter, we find that the sites of the pulse of the functional organs, such as the liver, heart, lungs, kidneys and spleen are governed respectively by the wood, fire, metal, water and earth elements familiar to us from Chinese traditional medicine, and depend upon it. As such, this grouping of five elements, or phases (Ch. </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">wu </span></i><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">hsing</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">) as the historian of Chinese Medicine, Paul Unschuld (</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Medicine In China: A History of Ideas; Berkeley, 1985</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">), terms them, have ancient roots in Chinese culture dating from well before the beginning of the common era.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The five elements are used in pulse diagnosis primarily to differentiate the dominant organ in a given season. For example, for the first 72 days of spring, it is held that the liver pulse will be the most active, and that the healthy pulse in general will be thin and tight. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Another use of the five elements is the calculation of the mother/son enemy/friend cycle which is used in the so called "seven amazing pulses". These seven pulses are a type of prognostication which is performed on a healthy person, used to discover the health of a distant person, where a traveller related to a person is on their journey, and so on. Needless to say, these amazing pulses are the domain only of the most skilled physicians. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The second main place where the system of elemental calculation appears is in the urine chapter. In this chapter, the principle element of elemental calculation used is that of the cosmic tortoise [srid pa'i rus sbal] used as a basis for the divination of spirit attacks. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www2.bremen.de/info/nepal/Medic/Pic00065.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www2.bremen.de/info/nepal/Medic/Pic00065.jpg" width="271" /></span></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The tortoise is divided into nine sections. The head of the tortoise faces to the south, the tail to the north. The column to the right (the west) represents the location of gods, humans, and spirits from top to bottom (south to north), the column on the left (the east) represents the location of the cemetery, house and fields. The central column represents one's parents and grandparents, oneself, and one's children and grandchildren. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Using this schematic, one divides the porcelain bowl into nine sections accordingly. Then one observes various omens from the urine such as sudden color change in a given region, no change, the formation of shapes in the film of the urine, and so on, to divine what type of provocation the patient, his family or his property might be suffering from. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">One thing of interest is that there is no mention of the seven amazing pulses in the </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">rgyud chung bdud rtsi snying po (</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">found in cha lag bco brgyad), undoubtedly the source the uttaratantra and the upadesha tantra of the four tantras. Spirit divination with urine is present in this text. However, a similar type of prognostication with pulse, as well as spirit divination with urine can be found in the earlier </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">sman dpyad zla ba'i rgyal po.</span></i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Calculation, Illness and Ritual:</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A further role that elemental calculation plays in Tibetan medicine is the direct diagnosis of illness. Desid states in the introduction to the section on diagnostics through calculation:</span></div><blockquote><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The straight tree of calculation for understanding the production of</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">the four hundred and four diseases formed from the five elements (bhūta),</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">in the illusory bodies of migrating beings, the nature of the five elements,</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">through power of the elemental spirits (bhūtas) and past conditions will be explained.</span></div></blockquote><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This type of calculation is a very serious business. To begin with, Desid advises the calculator to avoid alcohol and immoderate conduct. In the virtuous hour of the early morning (meaning around 7:00 am), in an unpolluted place, with a clean (lit. white) floor, on a comfortable seat, with a compassionate mind, take refuge. Also one must resolve to speak very truthfully about the years, months, days, hours, the trigrams, magic squares, planets, stars, bhūmipatis and local spirits (gzhi bdag). Otherwise, he says that one's mind will be "robbed" by the god that governs the hour, and one's prognostication will go awry. Therefore one must perform the calculations in a completely undistracted manner. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">However, it should be pointed out that all of the remedies provided in this chapter are ritual remedies, rituals to supplement the actual medical remedies which one can find in the four tantras. Thus, the primary focus of elemental calculation here is on the usage of </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">gto</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> rites and others kinds of rituals to eliminate illnesses, prolong longevity and so on. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Apart from of which pulse corresponds with which season, and the corresponding elemental attribution to the internal organs, we can see from the above that the principle role of calculation in Tibetan Medicine is the diagnosis of the so called <i>kun btags gdon</i> i.e. imputed, invisible, formless spirits, which play in integral roles in the causation of disease. </span></div></span></div>Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565211105434785983noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538848421676038704.post-62935384474521168502009-12-15T20:25:00.000-05:002009-12-15T20:25:25.713-05:00Yogi Tea UpdateHi Folks:<br />
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Just a quick update: I happened to come across a local source of true cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum), also known as Ceylonese Cinnamon, and used to this to make Yogi Tea instead of cassia (Cinnamomum aromaticum).<br />
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A qualitative difference exists between these two kinds of Cinnamon. Tea made from the latter is more warming, as well as possessing an oilier, more pungent and more aromatic quality -- its aroma fills the whole room. Tea made with the former is more delicate, lighter, not as warming, not as aromatic and less pungent.<br />
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While either can be used, I find that I tend to favor cassia as an ingredient for this tea over true cinnamon because of cassia's more robust flavor and aroma.<br />
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An advantage of true cinnamon however is that it is soft and crumbly, and has an undeniably more delicate and sweeter flavor, so perhaps I will reserve my small supply of true cinnamon for my various culinary adventures, and keep the cassia for the tea.Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565211105434785983noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538848421676038704.post-87863210953604313612009-12-10T12:08:00.003-05:002009-12-13T21:52:36.944-05:00Got Juice? A Greek Loan Word in Tibetan.I was working on a translation today and confronted with the ever unsatisfactory rendering of dwangs ma into english. Generally, I translate it as "extract" because dwangs ma has the sense of something being refined, as opposed to snyigs ma, which means waste product or residue which is left over after processeing. Of course in Ayurveda they have a similar problem, having to translate rasa in similar ways. For example, some have translated it as "plasma", others as "chyle", still others as "chyme", and yet others as "nutriment"-- none of which hit the mark, IMO, and of the first three, chyme is the best. But this post is not about rasa/dwangs ma.<br />
<br />
So what's it about? Well it's about "khu ba" and "ku ya". The first word means juice, broth, or semen, depending on context. The second word refers to the sediment observed in urine during its lukewarm phase. At first glance, the first word, khu ba, seems perfectly content as a native Tibetan word....but is it? The second word is most definitely a loan word since only appears in that context, and according to an oral communication by Gen Yang Ga, most likely comes from Greek -- but he was not sure of which greek word it might be from.<br />
<br />
I don't have much proof of my following speculations, but I feel compelled to belabor my faithful readers with them anyway. While reviewing possible choices for the ever pesky "dwangs ma" this morning, I noticed something I had not noticed before - chyle and chyme respectively come from the Greek khūlos and khūmos meaning respectively raw juice, and juice produced by digestion. These two words come from the Proto Indo-European root gheu-, which means to pour out, of which the word "ghee" is also a derivative. We seem to have a serendipitous correlation with the Tibetan word khu ba, the substance which in Tibetan medicine is the product of final stage of digestion, sukra or semen. In terms of pure phonetic resemblance, I think ku ya cannot help but be derived from Greek as well.<br />
<br />
Well, this is all highly speculative, but food, or rather juice, for thought...Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565211105434785983noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538848421676038704.post-52489038720188245432009-11-08T09:50:00.007-05:002009-11-19T07:47:17.392-05:00Yogi TeaThese days I regularly have a pot of Yogi Tea boiling on the stove to be stored and taken out when needed. While this herbal formula is called a “tea”, it is more properly considered a decoction. The herbs are boiled up to three hours and the liquid is then strained and the herbs thrown away.<br />
<br />
Yogi Tea is a famous recipe that was introduced to this country by Yogi Bhajan. Apparently in Northern India, it is a widespread remedy given especially to children in the flu season. It is often served in yoga studios to replenish the body and maintain its metabolic heat after a vigorous workout. This prevents the body from cooling down too fast which can lead to toxic states of indigestion (Sans. ama, Tib. ma zhu ba) which would be stored in the body’s tissues.<br />
<br />
The first two of these herbs, Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum: bitter/hot; warming) and Clove (Syzygium aromaticum: hot, warming) are materia medica from the division of so called “essence medicines” (rtsi sman), medicines so named, according to Tenzin Phuntsok (the famed author of the definitive 18th century Tibetan pharmacopeia, Dri Med Shel Phreng or Mālā of Stainless Crystal) because they “...destroy illness and restore the physical constituents.”<br />
<br />
The twenty-fourth chapter of the explanatory tantra states:<br />
<blockquote>Cardamom removes all cold kidney diseases.<br />
</blockquote><br />
In the winter season, the heat of the kidneys is especially vulnerable to the cold. Since the kidneys are an important site of water and kapha (Tib. bad kan) in the body, adding cardamom to one’s diet protects the heat of the kidneys and supports their function of eliminating wastes from the body. It also supports the metabolic heat of the stomach, aiding digestion overall.<br />
<br />
The next on the list is cloves, about which it is said:<br />
<blockquote>Clove removes diseases of the aorta and cold wind.<br />
</blockquote><br />
The action of clove focuses specifically on the arterial system of the body, especially the aorta. Its warming action balances the prāṇavāyu (srog ‘dzin rlung) which rests in the aorta and serves to calm and balance one’s vāta throughout the whole body after heavy effort. It also acts to support the function of the metabolic heat of the stomach. Further, clove balances the action of the udāna vāyu (gyen rgyu rlung), the upward-moving wind, thus aiding in relieving congestion of the lungs in colds and old flus.<br />
<br />
Cinnamon (Cinnamomum aromaticum: sweet/hot; warming), the stuff we find in stores, which is not true Cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum), but rather Cassia, is up next. It is listed as a tree medicine, about which it is said:<br />
<blockquote>Cassia removes cold in the stomach and the liver.<br />
</blockquote><br />
The main function of Cassia is to support digestion and stimulate the appetite (which it does through its enticing aroma). Not only does it have this function but Cassia supports the digestive heat in the liver, aiding the transformation of rasa (dwangs ma), the nutritional extract of food, into blood. It also controls vāta, which is the most important of the three humors to be on guard against, especially in cold seasons. Together with the clove, it controls vāta that can be a problem in the late fall and winter season when the cold temperatures outside aggravate the cold, rough and hard qualities of vāta and the reduced hours of sunlight often lead people to experience symptoms of cabin fever or SAD. Its expectorating functions are also excellent in combination with clove.<br />
<br />
Ginger (Zingiber officinale:Hot; warming) is used in nearly every culture, about which it is said:<br />
<blockquote>Ginger removes phlegm combined with wind, and breaks up and dissolves [unhealthy] blood.<br />
</blockquote><br />
When I make this tea, I use the fresh form of ginger, which is cooling rather than warming, according to the principle found in Indo-Tibetan medicine that in medicines, substance takes precedence over taste. In its fresh form, ginger is used as a kind of inner lubricant, aiding the overall digestion but acting as a balance against the heat of the other four herbs. It helps cleanse the channels from the small intestine to the liver that take up the rasa, and generally speaking, aids the other herbs in their metabolism-enhancing function. However, in the commercial form of Yogi Tea, the ginger present in it is dried and so adds more heat to the formula. From my point of view, this makes it more imperative to add milk or something else to balance the heat of the whole decoction.<br />
<br />
The final herb in the list is Black Pepper (Piper Nigrum: hot; warming and hot), about which it is said:<br />
<blockquote>Black pepper removes cold phlegm.<br />
</blockquote><br />
Black pepper, which is a fruit from a shrub (ldum bu), stimulates the appetite and improves one’s metabolic heat. But Acharya Vagbhata states that black pepper increases bile and is sharp, and if overused continuously can cause vāta imbalance because of its rough nature. In this formula however, the addition of clove and cinnamon balance the roughness of black pepper, along with the raw milk (if it can be gotten) and one’s sweetener of choice. Pepper prevents the accumulation of kapha, especially in the winter season.<br />
<br />
Boiled raw cow’s milk is sweet, light and warming, reduces frequent urination, sharpens the mind, increases ojas [mdangs], removes bile and enhances potency. It cures persistent flus and colds. Raw milk is also excellent for those with so-called lactose intolerance, and seems to reduce allergies in those people who switch to its use. Otherwise, one can use Soymilk, Almond milk and so on.<br />
<br />
Black Tea is added in a very small portion. The effect of adding tea balances the decoction with its cooling bitterness. It also offsets and balances the richness and sweetness of the milk.<br />
<br />
Sweeteners: Maple syrup for those with excess vāta. Rock candy or sugar for those with excess pitta. Honey for those with excess kapha. If these “spoonfuls of sugar” are used, one can increase the beneficial effect of this decoction.<br />
<br />
The recipe is as follows:<br />
<br />
Eight cups of water<br />
20 whole cloves<br />
20 green cardamom pods, crushed<br />
20 pepper corns,<br />
eight slices of ginger<br />
three or four sticks of Cinnamon<br />
Milk and sweeteners to taste<br />
<br />
Boil the cloves until one can smell their fragrance (about a minute). Add the other four ingredients, boil for half an hour. Simmer on low for another two or three hours. Strain, add milk and sweetener, store the rest for later.<br />
<br />
The nice thing about this recipe is that it combines diet and behavior (in other words, get out there and do some yoga) and medicine in one preparation.<br />
<br />
So cook up a pot of Yogi Tea on your stove and enjoy -- I guarantee that you will like it more than the poor substitute you will find in a teabag.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span></span><br />
</div></div>Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565211105434785983noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538848421676038704.post-63487049842180442362009-11-06T09:57:00.008-05:002009-11-19T07:53:20.712-05:00The Basis of Therapeutic KnowledgeThe Buddha summarized the elements of all existence into six categories or dhātus: earth, water, fire air, space and consciousness, apart from which there are no other phenomena that can be known or described by anyone. In general, the spiritual systems of the world primarily focus on explaining the function the health and illness of the last category, consciousness. Our focus here is primarily on the function and health of the material body, which is composed of the first four categories on the list.<br />
<br />
The twenty seventh chapter of the sequel tantra of the <i>Four Tantras</i> states:<br />
<blockquote>This body of a living being is formed from the four elements, the illness to be healed is created by the four elements, and the nature of the medicinal remedy is the four elements: thus the body, illness, and remedy are integrally connected.<br />
</blockquote><br />
The four elements here being referred to are the four mahābhutas, as they are known in Sanskrit, i.e. earth, water, fire and air. The English term "element" does not really cover the range of the term "bhūta" (Tibetan 'byung ba), which carries the meaning of "having been produced". In this context, the four elements are considered to be the primary components of all material things.<br />
<br />
When considering the external four elements, the most coarse aspect of physical reality, we need to understand their characteristics. The characteristic of earth is solidity; water is liquidity, moistness; fire is heat; and wind is motility. All material objects possess all four of these qualities in some measure. The function of these four elements is symbolized by the colors gold, white, red and green respectively (space is symbolized as blue since it represents the immutability of the sky). Earth (Sans. pṛthvi, Tib. sa) is symbolized by gold because it is heavy, hard, shiny, and so on, like gold. Water (ap, chu) is symbolized by white because the color of clouds in the sky which are its source. Fire (agni, me) is symbolized by red is because of the red glow of burning materials. Air (vāyu, rlung) is symbolized as green because of it's activity of moving leaves and plants which do not move on their own.<br />
<br />
These four elements go into the make of the human body, but not directly. The bodies of living beings are made up of the refined form of the four elements. We consume other life forms, especially plants, that are capable of transforming the raw elements into refined elements which are suitable for us to eat.<br />
<br />
Not only that, but also when we consider the winds that course through the body and regulate sensory functions, the elements are present in those winds in an even more refined manner. And finally, we can understand that since the winds and the mind are inseparable, the four or five elements are even present in consciousness. Based in this understanding, if we are advanced yogins and understand the principles of jn̄ānavāyu, wisdom winds, we can directly sustain our bodies by drawing the most refined nature of the five elements directly from our breath. Every thirty third breath that we take is a so-called "wisdom breath" and through this breath we directly absorb the most refined essence of the five elements. This means that out of the 21,000 breaths that we absorb daily, 636 of those breaths are wisdom breaths. If we develop the capacity to hold our breaths in a yogic practice called Kumbhakha or vase-breathing, we can maximize the absorption of the pure five elements, directly support our life-sustaining fluid known in Sanskrit as ojas (Tib. mdangs or gzi can mdangs) and extend our lifespan.<br />
<br />
To understand this, we need to examine the exoteric as well as the esoteric accounts of the conception of humans beings according to both the <i>Four Tantras</i> and the tantras of Secret Mantra (Francis M. Garret has written an <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Embryology-History-Tibetan-Medicine-Routledge/dp/0415441153/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1257361156&sr=8-1">excellent book</a> covering the vast majority of conception schemes current in Tibetan Buddhism). When we understand how the human body is formed, we are then in a position to understand how the four or five elements contribute to states of health and illnesses in the human body, and what type of medicine and therapy may be used to either maintain the body in a state of constant health or remedy any of the treatable illnesses that may arise in the body.<br />
<br />
To begin with, the second chapter of the explanatory tantra states:<br />
<blockquote>First, a man and women’s non-defective semen and blood and a consciousness having been driven action and affliction, the cause of conception in the womb.<br />
</blockquote><br />
To clarify this, non-defective means that both mother's blood and the father's sperm contain a full complement of the five elements in a balanced fashion, otherwise the reproductive material in question will be defective. However, the presentation of the elements is not complete with this explanation. Acharya Vagbhata states in the first chapter of the Foundation of the Body (Śārīra śthana) of the <i>The Autocommentary</i> (<i>Aṣṭāṇgahridayavaiduryaka-bhaṣyaṃ</i>):<br />
<blockquote>If it is asked how sentient beings are born, first, the semen and blood of the father and mother lacking defects of air and so on, and consciousness possessing action and affliction (simultaneously occurring with which are the very subtle components of the five primary elements, space and so forth which is an object for yogins beyond objects of the senses) assemble and collect in the womb in an instant...<br />
</blockquote><br />
Therefore, we can understand that these very subtle primary elements are the five elements associated with srog chen po rlung (*mahāprāṇavāyu) i.e. great life wind, which, Professor Tamdrin Gyal explains, is the basis upon which the ālayavijñāna, the all basis consciousness (ālayavijñāna), is mounted.<br />
<br />
All of these elements are refined elements in the sense that they are not in their primary or coarse form. The material elements that come from the father and mother are refined out of the food that they ate during the seven stage process of digestion which results in the reproductive substances formed from the body, as well as the element winds that are innate within the life wind.<br />
<br />
<i>The Heart of the Ḍākinī </i>states:<br />
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Gentium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-indent: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
</div><blockquote>...the non-defective material of the father and mother and the grasper of that mix into one, is enclosed by the womb, and becomes tangible. Since the wind/mind that appropriates the body mixes with egg in the bindu of the father and the mother, those causes and conditions become the functions of the relative four elements (earth, water, fire and air). The wind and mind become the function of the four ultimate elements (earth, water, fire and air).<br />
</blockquote><br />
Now then, refined matter is not just confined to sentient living beings, but also the matter which makes up plant life is also refined matter i..e matter that is taken up and transformed in a process of plant metabolism as well.<br />
<br />
In general, as noted above, we human beings have very little capacity to incorporate the five elements directly, especially earth and fire. Nevertheless, in order to maintain the health of our bodies, we need to replenish the balance of the elements within our bodies otherwise we become ill. When we are hungry, we have an imbalance of wind in our bodies; when we are thirsty, we have an imbalance of fire. To correct that imbalance, we need to eat food for the earth element and drink beverages for the water element. When the elements of the body become pathologically imbalanced, we experience diseases of various kinds, depending upon what elements are thrown out of balance by the four causal conditions that lead to illness i.e. insufficient, excess or incorrect diet, behavior, and seasons, and harmful influences from other beings.<br />
<br />
In order to express how the four elements function in the human body, we condense the four elements in three active principles (doṣa, nyes pa) that function within the body: air that functions in the body is termed vata (Tib. rlung); fire, pitta (mkhris pa), and water and earth combined form kapha (bad kan). Now, there is an important point here: the four elements are listed in the order that they form when the this present universe arose i.e. wind, fire, water, and earth. At the time of conception, the second chapter of the explanatory tantra states:<br />
<blockquote>No formation without earth, no cohesion without water, no maturation without fire, no development without air, and no room for development without space.<br />
</blockquote><br />
In the order of conception, the first element, space can be considered the antarābhava or bardo; the element of air is present accompanying the consciousness seeking rebirth. The element of fire is found in the passion of the conceiving couple. The element of water is present within their reproductive fluids. The element of earth is present in the formation of the embryo. At this point, the five elements are fully active and present within the nascent human body and each then plays the role described in the explanatory tantra citation above. Again, when we die, as the seventh chapter of the explanatory tantra explains:<br />
<blockquote>Since the function of earth dissolves into water, one cannot see form. Since the function of water dissolves into fire, the cavities dry out. Since the function of fire dissolves into air, warmth collects [into the heart]. Since the function of air dissolves into space, external breath ceases.<br />
</blockquote><br />
The elements of body dissolve into one another just as the elements dissolve finally at the end of the universe, solidity vanishes, then liquidity, then heat, then motility and all dissolves into a state of rest and separation in unobstructed space until the movement of the minds of sentient beings stir the air element into action again and the whole process of samsara manifests once more on a cosmic scale. This relationship between the outer universe and the inner body is termed a "melathesia" i.e. drawing a correspondence between functions and organs of the inner body with cosmic bodies or processes.<br />
<br />
Therefore, in this respect, the three doṣa of vata, pitta and kapha are ordered in the same order as the creation of the elements in the universe.<br />
<br />
The most elementary definition of health and disease in Indo-Tibetan Medicine is therefore defined as the unaltered (avikrita, rnam par ma gyur) or altered state of the doṣa (vikrita, rnam par gyur ba), as the <span style="font-style: italic;">Aṣṭāṇgahridayasamgraha<span style="font-style: normal;"> states:</span></span><br />
<blockquote>Through those being altered or unaltered, the body is destroyed or persists.<br />
</blockquote><br />
Candrananda defines "altered" and "unaltered" in <i>Moonrays (</i><i>Pādarthacandrakaprabhāvatināma- aṣṭāṇgahridayavritti):</i><br />
<blockquote>Vāta and so on shift and move elsewhere from their own nature because they are altered, destroying and harming the body. Since [they] are unaltered and remain normally balanced in their own nature, the body persists and is given life.<br />
</blockquote><br />
And the second chapter of the root tantra further explains:<br />
<blockquote><span style="font-style: normal;">The cause of the body's persistence or destruction comes from the non-alteration or alteration of the trio of the humors, physical constituents, and wastes.</span><br />
</blockquote><i><br />
</i>Having understood that health or disease of the body is a function of the balance or imbalance of the three doṣa, and ultimately, the balance or imbalance of the five elements, we then need to understand how to apply remedies based upon the five elements.<br />
<br />
In general, the simplest approach to therapeutic remedies is divide all diseases into hot and cold, understanding that fire is the basis of all diseases of heat; and earth, water and wind are the basis of all diseases of cold. But this is not sufficient for understanding diseases and their cure, and for this reason, in Indo-Tibetan Medicine, we try to treat the three humors and their fifteen subdivisions and bring them all back into a state of harmonious balance.<br />
<br />
When we condense everything in Indo-Tibetan Medicine, therefore, ultimately, we find the root of health and illness can be found in the five elements that make up the human body.<br />
<br />
If we extend our analysis a little further, we can include the role consciousness plays in health and illness. The reason for this is that the action of the three doṣa is governed and comes from the three afflictions that accompany the mind stream and keep us with the cycles of rebirth in samsara. And as we saw above, since the mind and the wind that serves as its mount are inseparable, the mind/wind also possess the function of the five elements. In this fashion then, we can understand how all the elements defined by the Buddha above play a role in health and illness. The ultimate key to health and well-being is the eradication of the three afflictions (kleśas) desire, hatred and confusion, but that discussion will be left for another day.<br />
<br />
MMalcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565211105434785983noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538848421676038704.post-49754064280225107422009-11-01T12:39:00.000-05:002009-11-01T12:39:55.156-05:00UpdatesHi Folks, <br />
<br />
Just to let you know, I cleaned house around here a little bit, changed the name of the blog, got a domain name for it (www.bhaisajya.net), and generally gussied things up. I have added a translation tool from Google to encourage non-English speakers, a list of resources that I think are useful, and so on. <br />
<br />
I have also been promoting this blog a bit on facebook, and we are topping sixty readers from there -- so thanks to everyone for your interest. <br />
<br />
MMalcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565211105434785983noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538848421676038704.post-22235753267635546822009-10-28T11:17:00.016-04:002009-10-29T16:18:46.845-04:00The smell of herbsToday I received a new batch of herbs. I open the bags of each one, and inhale the fresh clean scent of Tibetan herbal medicines manufactured in Tibet. The scent of Tibetan medicine seems to have all smells, sweet, sour, bitter, musky and so on. <br />
<div><br />
</div><div>I open up a bag of <i>skyu ru nyer lnga</i> (emblica officinalis twenty five). This one has many uses and is made of twenty five ingredients, it's primary ingredient is what is known famously as amla or amalaki. It is a blood purifier and can be used as a substitute medicine when one cannot do bloodletting. It is used for pain in the upper body, disturbed blood, and heat which has developed in the upper body. It is an medicine used frequently in so called "combination diseases" i.e. when the three humors along with blood have disrupted or are in the process of seriously disrupting the digestive system. In particular, it can be used for the hot form of a disease call <i>bad kan smug po</i>, when the constituent of blood that was not properly transformed into healthy blood begins to invade other organs from the liver. <br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div>I open up another bag and inhale the perfume of Vimala, or <i>dza ti nyer lng</i>a (Myristica fragrans twenty five). This famous formula is traditionally credited to the Dzogchen master Vimalamitra who is said to have compounded Vimala in order to combat disorders caused by the class of spirits known as gongpo. One of its main functions is to control the <i>prana vayu</i>, or the vital wind (<i>srog 'dzin rlung</i>) in the aorta and thus is often used as a sleep aid, but may also be taken before breakfast in the early morning. It has an interesting story related by the <i>Yang ti sman sbyor 'chi med bdud rtsi'i bcud len:</i><br />
</div><div><blockquote>The Indian, Vimalamitra's <i>Eighty Four Thousand Therapeutic Treatments</i> has a special treatment for wind that has invaded the heart. When the nine evil spirit siblings are wide spread, no one will be unaffected by this disease. The symptoms are unhappiness, mental instability, agitated thinking, pain and tightness in the upper torso in the front and the back, unclear memory, great forgetfulness, depression, inability to stay still, anger, lethargy and agitation, and short breathing through the nostrils. It produces eight serious diseases and minor diseases...<br />
</blockquote><div><br />
</div>Another medicine, this one for severe mental illness, is <i>sems kyi bde skyid</i>, <i>Blissful and Happy Mind</i>, the main ingredient being <i>go yu</i> (Areca catechu) or betel. Betel is mainly used for kidney diseases, but in this medicine, betel is being combined with agar (another important medicine used for mental illness in such formulas as <i>agar so lnga</i> and <i>agar rbgyad pa</i>), nutmeg, clove, hing, and so on. The function of this medicine is place wind back into the aorta. It is to be given either in the evening or the morning, depending on when the disease manifests the strongest. <br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div>Turning our attention to women's health, another interesting medicine is <i>'ol mo se nyer lnga</i> (Podophyllum hexandrum twenty five)-- this is the primary medicine used for the conditions called <i>khrag tshab</i>s and <i>rlung tshabs</i>, which is best described by its symptoms. "<i>Tshabs</i>"means "severe" -- <i>khrag tshabs</i> is the acute form of the condition, caused primarily by menstruation and featuring burning pain below the waist, the lower belly is hot, the upper back and diaphragm are painful; the pulse is hot, fast; blisters and small pimples form, blood flows from the uterus, or pools and becomes purulent. The second, <i>rlung tshabs,</i> is the form of the chronic condition, and has the following symptoms: the bones feel boiled, and depressed, dizziness, the whole body is cold and there is pain in the lower muscles, the flesh is puffy, bloated and numb, vision is unclear, one feels crazy, loses consciousness and memory, the urethra and the lower belly are cramped, menstruation does not stop and flows continuously. This medicine also is used alongside some of the wind medicines mentioned above. <br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div>To mention one final medicine -- this one is definitely one of the most useful and helpful herbal medicines of all for a condition that drives a lot of people crazy but who can't seem to find a good solution, a condition that pharmaceutical companies make millions off of not treating effectively -- constipation. I am talking about <i>zhi byed drug pa</i>, Pacifier Six. This sweet little formula is made from the root of inula racemosa, a very pretty garden flower, ginger, arura (the kind known as "bird nose"), the malva seed, a calcite mineral called congshi and bul tog, better known as sodium carbonate. I have used this herb with several patients and they have universally reported good success. Not only does this herb act to soften blocked feces and expel them, but it also stimulates the metabolic heat, balances the wind in the colon, and digests undigested food that is caught in the small intestine and colon. <br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div>This is where the smell of herbs led me today. One important thing to remember about Tibetan medicine and other herbal traditions is that they grew out of a deep sense of the sacredness of all that lives and breathes. My commitment to Tibetan medicine grew out of my desire to learn herbal medicines in order for people to take back control over their health. Medicine is fundamentally elitist, while herbalism is fundamentally egalitarian. The elitism of medicine grows out of the need for people to learn a comprehensive theory which is then applied to healing techniques. But it is important for those of us who term ourselves "doctors" to recall that the art of healing preceded all the sciences of medicine. So in the rich earthy smell of wild-crafted Tibetan herbs formulated according to theoretical principles originally taught by the rishis of ancient India we can hear an echo of the day when human beings walked in the richness of the earth and plumbed her wisdom to find health-giving and life-saving plants. <br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div>If anyone is the owner of Tibetan Medicine, all human beings are the owner of Tibetan Medicine, just as they are the owners of Classical Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda, Unani and so on. These medicines should not be kept secret, their formulas locked in obscurity. The best way to protect Tibetan medicine is to place Tibetan Medicine and its texts in the public domain, as public knowledge to which everyone is entitled. <br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div>Our responsibility, those of us westerners who are practitioners of Tibetan Medicine, as western guardians of the tradition of Tibetan Medicine is to see Tibetan medicine in the wider context of the human family, and seek to make connections with other traditional medicine systems, to broaden our relationships as human beings with other human beings, to live with honor, integrity, respect and compassion, to go beyond the boundaries of religion, sect, politics, economics and borders. In the end, Tibetan Medicine is not about being Tibetan, nor is it about Medicine; it is about:<br />
</div><div><blockquote>...remaining without illness, being cured of illness, and accomplishing longevity, Dharma, wealth and happiness.<br />
</blockquote><div><br />
</div>The actual name of Tibetan Medicine is <i>bso ba rig pa</i>, <i>cikitsavidya</i> i.e. the science of therapeutics or healing, which is ultimately the internal medicine branch of Ayurveda (<i>tshe'i rig pa</i>) or the Science of Life. So the ultimate goal of Tibetan medicine is to properly sustain what is healthy, to cure what is unhealthy, so that we can all enjoy the benefits of longevity, right living, wealth in things that make life meaningful and happiness through the application of therapeutic diet, behavior, medicinal herbs and treatments. As the famed Desri Sangye Gyatso says:<br />
</div><div><div></div><blockquote><div>Spilling from the mouth of Brahma, Ayurveda<br />
</div><div>is the primary science that renders the life force of beings indestructible<br />
</div></blockquote></div>Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565211105434785983noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538848421676038704.post-67291601391651383342009-10-01T09:38:00.009-04:002009-10-23T11:24:29.516-04:00Aku Nyima is coming to the United States!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmzEQVGrSEmtX1c9Q7ByKrwrGNQAEYSC2t5kxHtATrnGnmK7QnQqNtj0YDkpqW6pKCKryFC8rBT7xeAneEoUrIS0gQvK1RfnGeE1qmeHvu8a6nq6B2TkKuSlfAH8BJE6OHlQKT632N0n0Q/s1600-h/IMG_1418.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmzEQVGrSEmtX1c9Q7ByKrwrGNQAEYSC2t5kxHtATrnGnmK7QnQqNtj0YDkpqW6pKCKryFC8rBT7xeAneEoUrIS0gQvK1RfnGeE1qmeHvu8a6nq6B2TkKuSlfAH8BJE6OHlQKT632N0n0Q/s200/IMG_1418.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387625865426320418" /></a>Pictured to the left is Aku Nyima, who is the most famous doctor in Amdo, and is possibly the most senior doctor living today in Tibet. Aku Nyima started studying medicine when he was 13, and he is 78 today; this means he has an astounding total of 65 years of experience with Tibetan Medicine. <div><br /></div><div>The Explantory Tantra explains in chapter 31, The Activities of a Physician: </div><div><blockquote>[Someone] of good family, intelligent, committed, expert in the meaning of the texts, hitting the points of the intimate instructions, well practiced, primarily concerned with Dharma, avoids desires, disciplined, expert in technical arts, with great thoughts of loving kindness, not lazy, thinks of others benefit as his own benefit and unconfused regarding all treatments is the best doctor. The sole protector of living beings who are ill, the lineage holder of the rishis and vidyadharas, is said to be an emanation of the King of Life-Giving Physicians.</blockquote></div><div><br /></div><div>Aku Nyima is exactly this sort of physician, and we are gifted to have such masters of healing with us today in the world. He is the very expression of humility and kindness. He donates his entire salary to the maintenance of his small monastery in Amdo. He sees patients constantly, and never seems to tire of seeing them. He leads students on medicine plant identification tours several times over the summer months, and in general leads a life of service to others which any one who aspires to be any kind of healer should emulate. He is actively interested in learning more about medicine, and is keen to restore advanced surgical methods to the corpus of Tibetan Medicine. In short, he is one of the very few pure masters of Tibetan Medicine left alive in the world today. </div><div><br /></div><div>In the photo above, Aku Nyima is pictured on the last day of bestowing the reading transmission for the rgyud bzhi. This reading transmission (lung) took place over the three months that we were in Amdo last summer. There are very few doctors alive today in Tibet who are qualified to bestow this transmission, and we were very fortunate that Gen Phuntsog Wangmo arranged for us to receive this transmission from Aku Nyima. We are more fortunate in that this lung is given very infrequently, and many Tibetan Doctors in Tibet do not have the fortune of having the complete reading transmission of the Four Tantras. </div><div><br /></div><div>Even more to the point, there are very, very few westerners who have received this reading transmission in its entirety, and those of us who attended this event are, at this point, the majority of them. As Gen Phuntsog pointed out recently, we are fortunate in that we have the lineage of instruction, from her; the lineage of the reading transmission from Aku Nyima, and the lineage of empowerment from Chogyal Namkhai Norbu and other masters that from whom we have received Medicine Buddha empowerments, initiations and other Vajrayana transmissions specifically related to the Yuthok Lineage of Tibetan Medicine. So hopefully, with the birth of trained Doctors of Tibetan Medicine in the United States, we will be able to follow the footsteps of such masters as Aku Nyima.</div><div><br /></div><div>Aku Nyima is coming to attend our Shang Shung graduation ceremony (yes, another one), which will take place on October 17th, at 10:00 am on the grounds of Amherst College at Plano Hall. He will also be giving a public talk in Amherst on Friday the 16th. Not only is Aku Nyima coming, but also Gen Lusham Gyal, the Dean of the Qinghai Tibetan Medical College, Dr. Thubten Phuntsog, who is presently in residence at the University of Virginia, Dr. Lobsang Tenzin, Gen Konchog, Gyaltsen, Gen Yanga, and others. </div>Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565211105434785983noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538848421676038704.post-18410621768090547332009-09-03T10:16:00.005-04:002009-10-16T22:20:09.092-04:00I graduated...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJJW9mijEY0obt6QhVP67WMAGSoHK7xzQtyBTBcBNr-utZ1mXo_xVt09PhRthxTBPOv5zN5Ozl4_iCfliUS2s1xu0bDOmRk4q8hk9aG5AuRHmLwUyJHTTV30vKhZlfU4r8zZkZG1ooB7UA/s1600-h/IMG_1471.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJJW9mijEY0obt6QhVP67WMAGSoHK7xzQtyBTBcBNr-utZ1mXo_xVt09PhRthxTBPOv5zN5Ozl4_iCfliUS2s1xu0bDOmRk4q8hk9aG5AuRHmLwUyJHTTV30vKhZlfU4r8zZkZG1ooB7UA/s200/IMG_1471.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377245494480586434" /></a>A momentous event for us, the Shang Shung Institute's class of 2009, the first class of western Doctors of Tibetan Medicine to ever graduate from a formal four year program. That's me, the blond fat guy third in from the left. <div><br /></div><div>Our graduation ceremony was the culmination of a three month trip to Qinghai Province as students and interns at the Qinghai College of Tibetan Medicine, and the Qinghai Tibetan Medical Hospital. </div><div><br /></div><div>At this time, I am seeing a few patients, and working on translations-- that's all for now...</div>Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565211105434785983noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538848421676038704.post-52907287103136992512009-02-09T21:54:00.014-05:002009-09-27T23:15:19.476-04:00Jivaka Kumara, Cuckoos, and DzogchenOne of the seminal texts of the rDzog chen tradition is the famed Rig pa khu byug, versions of which are found in the various editions of the Collected Tantras of the Old School (rnying ma rgyud 'bum). <div><br /></div><div>In one commentary called <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">The Wheel that Outlines the View of the Cuckoo</span> (khu byug gi lta ba gcod (spyod) pa'i 'khor lo bzhugs, Bairo rgyud 'bum, nga, ppg. 341-351), at the beginning of the commentary we find an interesting explanation of the name of the text for the best type of student. Within this section, there is an explanation through a simile for the word "cuckoo" in the title of the rig pa khu byug:</div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote>For example, just as when the physician, Jivaka Kumara touches the inner pulse, to begin with, he knows as soon as the illness attacks, and where the illnesses is at present, and what to do; the person of best or medium faculties knows, to begin with, that the basis divided into samsara and nirvana though it is single, how there is the fetter of both concepts at present, and how there will be liberation after turning back in the end.</blockquote></div><div><br /></div><div>This metaphor and its meaning presents a whole host of interesting resonating metaphors going back to the Buddha as a great physician. Closer to home however, is the imagery of the separation of samsara and nirvana as a key feature of the Tibetan medicinal system. This concept finds another expression in a text in the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Eighteen Sections</span> (cha lag cho brgyad, Beijing, 2005, a group of important texts that preserve writings by Yuthog the younger and his immediate disciples, Ye shes bzung, and so on), the seminal <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">The Historical Outline, the Soaring Great Eagle</span> (khog dbug khyung chen lding ba, ppg. 4-5):</div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote>...long ago when Buddhas had not developed, and also sentient beings had not become deluded, since the empty mind which had formed spontaneously without depending on any cause, was not established as a thing or a characteristic. Since knowing (rig pa) appeared without ceasing it was not threatened with murder or interruption by any remedy, did not fall into one-sidedness, having always existed from time without beginning. The meaning of that is that dharmakaya Samtabhadra is designated from basis' original self-recognition and liberation i.e. omniscient in all respects, buddhahood. The mind was empty and without activity for a long time, and because of being subtle and hard to identify, it did not recognize itself and wind piled up on its own wind, and light illuminated itself with light, and since it was not able to remain within its own location, the sentient beings of three realms arose from delusion and wandered in samsara. </blockquote></div><div><br /></div><div>Here we have an expression of the basic difference between health as Buddhahood and illness as the state of being a sentient being. The explanatory tantra states: </div><div> <blockquote>There is a single cause of all disease i.e. called ‘ignorance’ because of not understanding the meaning of absence of identity.</blockquote><div><br /></div>The state of health in Tibetan medicine is termed "unaltered" (rnam par mi gyur, avikrita), the state of unhealth is termed "altered" (rnam par rgyur, vikrita). When we discuss the simile of the three roots of the mnemonic tree of Tibetan medicine, the first root is gnas lugs, or state of existence, being one root that has two trunks, unaltered or healthy; and altered, or unhealthy. So as in the khu byug commentary, health and unhealth are shown as polar choices on the basis of a single thing that is either affected or not affected by the knowledge obscuration of ignorance.</div><div><br /></div><div>The metaphor here can drawn out further, for just as we are generally unaware of our bodies until they become ill, likewise, we are generally unaware of the separation of the states of samsara and nirvana until we suffer. Likewise, we need a diagnosis to understand this condition, and further we need to do something i.e. use a treatment, we need to know what to do so that we can return in the end to that state of health. And finally, the metaphor is tied up with the fact that the basis is the mind, which is either in a state of knowledge or delusion. Likewise, the body, being the gross expression of the ripening of the actions instigated by the mind, is in a state of health or illness depending on the three humors that ultimately arise from the knowledge obscuration of ignorance.</div><div><br /></div>Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565211105434785983noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538848421676038704.post-19807174619091802602009-01-24T14:32:00.015-05:002009-01-24T19:18:49.435-05:00Tara's Herbal: Fresh Lion's Milk in a Golden Rhino Horn Pitcher<div>Today I received a copy of a recently published and very interesting collection of Tibetan materia medica texts included in the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">sngo 'bum sman gyi gter mdzo</span>d i.e. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">The Herbal, a Treasury of Medicine, </span>attributed to the elder Yutok (Beijing, 2005). The texts in this volume run from ancient to modern, concluding with a contribution from the last principal of Mentsi Khang in Tibet, the very famous physician and astrologer, Khyenrab Norbu.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>One of the most interesting texts is one said in the colophon to have been translated by one Indian, Shantigarbha. The text in question is nicknamed the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">sGrol ma sngo 'bum</span> i.e. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Tara's Herbal</span>. It is a companion of another text, purporting to be translation by Vairocana called the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">'Jam byangs sngo 'bum</span> i.e. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Manjushri's Herbal</span>. </div><div><br /></div><div>The actual name of <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Tara's Herbal</span> is given in an Indian language as <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">tsa sha pe du na ra sa 'jha sa ra u pa ni spa ra ta na na ma</span>. This is rendered in Tibetan as <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">gso dbyad sngo sna tshogs gyi man ngag rin po che'i 'khrungs dpe bstan pa zhes bya ba</span> i.e. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> The I</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">ntimate Instruction of Various Therapeutic Herbs called The Precious Demonstration of Source and Identification.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div>The term " 'khrungs dpe" is a widely used term in Tibetan medicine that refers to a text that describes sources ('khrung) and identifications (dpe) of materia medica. The current modern one in use in Tibetan medical colleges is authored by dGa' ba rDo rje, called <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">'khrungs dpe dri med shel kyi me long</span>, i.e. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">The Stainless Crystal Mirror of Source and Identification (</span>. My introduction to this literature was through this text, and it is the main textbook we use for the Herbal Identification course at Shang Shung Institute. </div><div><br /></div><div>A few words on the purported origin of the text is warranted here. The colophon states that the text was translated by the great scholar Shantigarbha and the seven royal physicians ( I will be writing another post about these seven gentleman) by royal command. Khenpo Troru Tsenam adds that it was translated in order to prolong the life of King Trisrong Detsen. Shantigarbha himself is listed as the translator or author of several texts in the bstan 'gyur, including a commentary on <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">The Recitation of Manjushri's Names</span> and is connected in <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">Blue Annals</span> (Roerich, pg. 106) to the introduction of the sadhana cycle of Manjushri in the Eight Transmitted Sadhana cycles.</div><div><br /></div><div>The text itself claims to be an an excerpt from a much longer text of one hundred and twenty chapters concerning herbal medicines (sngo sman) and medicines derived from trees (shing sman), which the text identifies as chapters eight and twenty. Of crucial import is the fact that text identifies itself as a tantra of therapeutics. While it is unlikely that this text is an actual Indian composition for obvious reasons (theoretically concerning only materia medica that grow in Tibet), since it is associated with the Yuthok corpus, it shows a clear continuity with the tradition in India that begins with the ur-Ayurvedic text, the Agnivesha Tantra that is embedded within the Carak Samhita. </div><div><br /></div><div>The text is, for the most part, composed in standard seven syllable verses, two of which generally would represent one line of Sanskrit verse in a corresponding meter. It is arranged in four chapters, a preamble introducing the text; a summary of the contents, the main portion of the text on the identification of herbs and trees, and a conclusion. </div><div><br /></div><div>It begins naturally with the title, a homage to the Buddha Bhaisajyaguru Vaiduryaprabharaja, our famous Buddha, the Guru of Physicians, The King of Sapphire Light; homages to three main bodhisattvas, medicine goddesses, and to the Indian seers (rishi). </div><div><br /></div><div>After the standard homages the text launches directly into its subject matter:</div><blockquote><div>Thus have I heard at one time: The Bhagavan Bhaishajyaguru Vaiduryaprabharaja was seated in the samadhi called "Demonstrating the Meaning of Amrita" in the palace of the Nirmitavashavartin Heaven seated with an assembly of innumerable gods and goddesses, the lord of the god, Brahma, Indra, together with clairvoyant seers, and medicine goddesses.</div><div><br /></div><div>At that time, the Bhagavan explained the herbal medicines growing in the land of Tibet. </div><div><br /></div><div>After that, when the clairvoyant seer, "Lha yi rgyal", included in that retinue was blessed by all the Sugata, he comprehended all phenomena, and was granted a prediction by the goddess Venerable Tara:</div><div><br /></div><div>"You, Lha yi Wangpo,</div><div>who have been blessed by the Sugatas,</div><div>the profound concise essential meaning</div><div>of all divisions of the therapeutic tantras</div><div>is this <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Tantra of Precious Sources and Identifications,</span></div><div>pay it homage with devotion. </div><div>Request this <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Tantra of Precious Sources and Indentifications<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; ">in order to benefit sentient beings."</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div>As that was said, the Seer Lha yi rgyal</div><div>prostrated with devotion to the goddess, venerable Tara, and requested:</div><div><br /></div><div>"Venerable lady who removes the illnesses of migrating beings,</div><div>in order to fulfill the hopes of sentient beings, </div><div>teach the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Tantra of Precious Sources and Identifications</span>,</div><div>we, the whole retinue shall listen!"</div><div><br /></div><div>After that, the Buddha Bhaishajyaguru blessed the venerable Tara and said:</div><div><br /></div><div>"Mother who gave birth to the Buddhas of three times,</div><div>in order to remove the illnesses of sentient beings,</div><div>you must explain the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Tantra of Precious Sources and Identifications</span>,</div><div>I give you my blessing!"</div></blockquote><div><br /></div>The text then explains in great detail the whole range of Tibetan tree and herbal materia medica, describing the locations where these plants grow, their characteristics, their taste and their effect, as well as the illnesses for which they should be administered. <div><div><br /></div><div>The colophon to <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Yuthog's Herbal</span> states:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>This herbal that liberates upon seeing </div><div>was compiled by Yuthog Gonpo in dependence upon</div><div>the devata Noble Manjushri's herbal,</div><div>and Venerable Tara's herbal,</div><div>and the oral tradition of the Great Seers.</div></blockquote><div><br /></div><div>Thus the importance of <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Tara's Herba</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">l</span> for Tibetan medicine cannot be overrated. It and the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Manjushri's Herbal</span> stand at the head of the 'khrung pde literature of Tibet. The conclusion of <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Tara's Herbal</span> states:</div><div></div><blockquote><div>Such an precious instruction as this</div><div>is like fresh lion's milk</div><div>in a golden rhino horn pitcher.</div><div>For the purpose of protecting the bodies of fortunate yogis</div><div>living the rough rocky snow ranges</div><div>of the border countries in the final five hundred years,</div><div>having hardened their bodies like vajras,</div><div>therefore, freed from harm,</div><div>may they have the good fortune of the illusory body!</div></blockquote><div></div><div><br /></div><div>I hope that thorough study of this subject of materia medica we who live in the "rough rocky snow ranges" of the post-industrial era will be able to take advantage of this advice as well, as chapter twelve of the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">phyi ma rgyud</span> states:</div><div><div> </div><blockquote><div>Keep this intimate instruction of herbal preparations for the border lands in mind </div><div>and use it with loving-kindness for the benefit of migrating beings.</div></blockquote><div><br /></div></div></div>Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565211105434785983noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538848421676038704.post-73594080699515576492008-10-23T10:59:00.009-04:002009-01-28T12:31:23.353-05:00Time in Tibetan MedicineThe explanation of how diseases occur, behavior, diet and so on depend largely upon seasonal change. Time therefore plays are very important role in Tibetan Medicine. <div><br /></div><div>However, the basis of time is covered only very briefly in the seasonal conduct chapter of the explanatory tantra:</div><div><br /></div><blockquote>A kṣana, and so on, become a lava, a muhūrta, ahorata, a month, a season, and a year...</blockquote><div><br /></div><div>Here, I have chosen to give the Sanskrit terms rather than attempting to represent first four items in English because there are no precise English equivalents.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, what is the basis of measuring of the most basic unit of time in Buddhism, the kṣana? The basis of measuring the kṣana is the duration of a single mental concept. A kṣana equals 0.0013 seconds. How do we know this? 120 kṣanas equals on tatkṣana; 60 tatkṣanas equal a lava; 30 lava equal a muhurta; 30 muhurtas equal an ahorata, which is a single 24 hour period of time. So, according to Buddhist principles then, a moment of thought has a duration of 0.0013 seconds.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>What is more interesting, however, is that this length of a mental concept, a kṣana, is held to be the basic unit by which all other units of time are measured. </div>Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565211105434785983noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538848421676038704.post-52563605100083734662008-09-13T17:49:00.012-04:002009-10-03T09:00:57.853-04:00Bon Origins of Tibetan Medicine<div><br />These days it is common to find people claiming Tibetan Medicine originated with Tonpa Shenrab (ston pa gshen rab) and his son, Chebu Trishe (dbyad bu khri shes). </div><div><br /></div><div>We have no texts about Shenrab that can be dated earlier than the tenth century, when the Bonpos began to reconstruct their own history prior to the Imperial period. Our main sources for information about Tonpa Shenrab come from three texts, the <span style="font-style:italic;">gZi brjid</span>, the <span style="font-style:italic;">gZer mig</span>, and a third text, the <span style="font-style:italic;">mDo 'dus</span>.</div><br />Our source of information about the relation between Tibetan Medicine and Tonpa Shenrab comes from the latest of these three texts, the <span style="font-style:italic;">gZi brjid,</span> which was composed in the 14th century.<br /><br />According to the standard modern text book on the history of medicine[<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">gso rig lo rgyus</span> Beijing, 2004] used presently in Tibet, the ancient scholar Shenton Yeshe Lodo (gshen ston ye shes blo gro) asserts that Shenrab was born in 1957 BCE i.e. 3,975 years ago. Some modern historians assert he was born 1917 BCE (this is Chogyal Namkhai Norbu's conclusion), i.e. in a male rat year, 3,925 years ago. It is based on these approximate dates, that one often hears the assertion that Tibetan Medicine is tradition that dates back 4,000 years.<br /><br />The book also includes the interesting statement by the famed Zurkhar Lodo Gyalpo (zur mkhar blo gros rgyal po) in his <span style="font-style:italic;">shes bya khog dbubs</span> or <span style="font-style:italic;">Encyclopedic Outline</span>:<br /><blockquote>At the same time that Bhagavan Shakyamuni arrived in the world, the one called Shenrab Miwoche arrived in Purang (in Western Tibet).</blockquote>Now, with this statement, there is a bit of an issue, if we accept Zurkhar's statement, we have to date the Buddha to date Shenrab. Our textbook continues by mentioning several dates for the birth of the Buddha: Atisha's date, 2,215 BCE; Sapan's dates, 2,213 BCE; the dates of the Phug Lug (phugs lugs) system of astrology, 961 BCE. The most recent, according to our textbook, would be the 2500 anniversary of the birth of the Buddha set by the Japanese as 1938 i.e. 562 BCE.<br /><br />To these dates we should add the traditional Theravadin dates, 624 BCE, which is supported by the "traditional long chronology" based on the <span style="font-style:italic;">Dipavamsa</span>, and so on, which holds that Buddha passed away 218 years prior to the coronation of Ashoka. Finally, on top of this are two more dates, that of "corrected long chronology" i.e. the traditional Pali account corrected by relying on Greek Historical records, which push this date up to the Japanese date given above. Finally, there is the so called "short chronology"(gaining currency because it is supported by much archaeology, Jain accounts of birth of Mahavira and so on forth) which put the passing of the Buddha a mere 100 years prior to the coronation of Ashoka, and this range of date now seems to be something the range of 484 BCE, but even here there are many options which can be seen on this paper on the issue: <a href="http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic138396.files/Buddha-Dates.pdf">Notes on the Dates of the Buddha Shakyamuni</a>.<div><br /></div><div>It is difficult say when exactly Zurkhar thought the Buddha lived, as I have not been able to find a reference to a date in his works. So until further research, this is left undone. The main point is that he clearly thought the Buddha's dates set the dates for Shenrab. </div><div><br /></div><div>So what does the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">gZi brjid</span> say about Tonpa Shenrab and Medicine? It is as difficult to take the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">gZi rbjid</span> seriously as a work on the purported life of Tonpa Shenrab as it is to take the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Morte D'Arthur</span> as serious history of King Arthur. The text contains the term Vaidurya i.e. in beturya 'od gyi rgyal po, Vaiduryaprabharaja, the eight Medicine Buddha siblings and so on that certainly cannot have entered Tibet any earlier that the eighth century. As it is represented to be an oral history of Tonpa Shenrab's career, and as it is a huge text, there is much work needed on this text before we can have an absolutely clear picture of it. One thing is certain though, it is a post-Buddhist text and uses all the conventional Buddhist terms for Buddhas imported from India. </div><div><br /></div><div>The section on medicine in the chapter of phyva gshen is just a very brief summary of the most basic principles of sman dbyad, or medical therapy. One feature of this text is an unusual presentation of the humors: hot, cold, phlegm, bile and combination. The text goes on to say:</div><div><br /><blockquote>All heat is tamed by cool. All cold is tamed by warmth. All phlegm is divided by separation, all bile is extracted by collecting.<br /><br />If there is a disturbance of the components (<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">'du ba</span> i.e. humors), it is tamed with balance. The affliction of ignorance is pulled out from the root by applying the twenty one thousand medical preparations to the twenty one thousand components.<br /><br />There are four types of healing: healing of medicinal nectar; the healing of medicines that cure the body; the healing of skillful behavior, and neutral healing.<br /><br />There are four treatments: pacifying with medicine, bloodletting, moxabustion, and the skillful mantras.<br /><br />Apply whatever is necessary to the illness. Medicine's taste, effect, and post-digestive taste; those are warmth of taste, the intensity of effect, and the smoothness of post-digestive taste.<br /><br />For illness, there is emetics, laxatives, and traces. Draw out with emetics, cleanse with laxatives, and pacify the traces for happiness. </blockquote><br />There is no mention of Shenrab's son Chebu Trishe in this text. He first seems to appear in the Bon version of the Four Tantras, the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">gSo rig 'bum bzhi</span> i.e. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">The Four Volumes of Healing Science</span>. Virtually word for word identical with the Four Tantras apart from the introduction, it seems that this is the text that introduces Chebu Trishe. Further research is required to see if he appears in other Bon texts and from what era. </div><div><br /></div><div>In general, Chebu Trishe is considered something like the Bonpo Jivakakumara, and Bonpos, as well as some Tibetan historians, would like the trace the history of Tibetan medicine from this personage. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yeshe Lodo, mentioned above, composed a text on wounds, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">The Instructional Water that Revives the Dying, Healing Wounds</span> asserting that Chebu Trishe condensed many medical instructions and so on about repairing cuts. The famed herbalist Tenzin Phuntsog (de'u dmar sge bshes bstan 'dzin phun tshogs) later repeats the same assertion in the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Crystal Rosary</span> (<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">'khrungs dpe shel phreng</span>). Also in his <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Deep and Clear Heart Essence</span> (zab gsal snying thig), a text on the method of preparing bezoars he cites a text attributed to Chebu Trishe called <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">The Whirling Swastika, Treating Poison</span> (<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">dug bcos gyung drung 'khyil</span>). Other Tibetan physicians who have mentioned Chebu Trishe are Gong men Konchog Deleg (gong sman dkon mchog bde legs). </div><div><br /></div><div>Whatever the truth of the matter, because of a rich cache of Bonpo medical literature, which for the most part has not been examined by western scholars, including this one, Tibetan physicians after the 14th century, the approximate date of the appearance of altered Bon version of the Four Tantras, paid respect to the Bon tradition of medicine because of the existence of texts atttributed to this perhaps mythological personage. But like everything with Tibetan history and medicine, indeed Buddhist history in general, there is lots more work to be done.</div><div><br /></div>Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565211105434785983noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538848421676038704.post-42053203419743627902008-09-04T12:46:00.000-04:002008-09-05T13:05:13.301-04:00Who wrote the Four Tantras?If you ask most Tibetan doctors who wrote the Four Tantras (rgyud bzhi), you are likely to receive the answer "Medicine Buddha". Some will say Yuthok Yonten Gonpo the elder, others might even say Tonpa Shenrab, the legendary founder of the Bon religion. However they may respond, the history of the literature around the composition of the Four Tantras is still shrouded in mystery. <br /><br />In general, the official history of the four tantras is that they were taught by the medicine Buddha, passed on by Jivakakumara, through Nagarjuna, Vagbhata, and his grandson, Candra-ananda, who taught to them to Vairocana in the eighth century. Vairocana translated them into Tibetan, and they were concealed by King Trisrong Detsen in a pillar at Samye. Three hundred years later, they were revealed by the eleventh century treasure finder Trapa Ngonshe, and finally wound up in the hands of the twelfth century physician, Yuthog Yonten Gonpo, the author of the earliest commentaries on the Four Tantras. <br /><br />However, when we examine the history of the Four Tantras, we find that it's authorship was shrouded in controversy from the very beginning. <br /><br />The first historical works we have related to the Four Tantras are two texts found in the famed collection of early medical texts, called the <span style="font-style:italic;">cha lag bco brgyad</span> i.e. <span style="font-style:italic;">The Eighteen Sections</span>: the first is a text called the <span style="font-style:italic;">khog dbub khyung chen lding ba</span> i..e <span style="font-style:italic;">The Historical Outline, Soaring Great Eagle</span>, ascribed to Yuthog the younger. This text is of somewhat doubtful authenticity according to some scholars, but regardless of its provenance, seems to have set the tone for the later khog dbubs literature. The second text is a anonymous visionary account of the teaching of tantra and its entrustment to Atreya and Jivakakumara called the <span style="font-style:italic;">brgyud pa'i rnam thar med thabs med pa</span> i.e. <span style="font-style:italic;">The Indispensable Liberation Account of the Lineage</span>. <br /><br />These two texts are critical for understanding how the group of 12th century doctors who edited the Four Tantras and their students viewed the formation of their lineage and are critical to latter khog dbubs literature by the sixteen century doctor and historian Zurkhar Lodo Gyalpo (Zur mkhar blo gros rgyal po) and Desri Sangye Gyatso (sde srid sang rgya rgya mtsho), the famed regent of the Fifth Dalai Lama. <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The Great Eagle</span> is the source for one of clearest articulations of the uniqueness of the Tibetan Medical traditions. It lists eleven points detailing the superiority of the Four Tantra tradition over other medical traditions:<br /><br /><blockquote>1) The superiority of being the pinnacle of all vehicles of healing science because all the Buddhaword and treatises of medical science is clearly shown in this text.<br />2) The superiority of being the king of tantras since it overwhelms the all other tantras of medical therapy<br />3) The superiority of being a general commentary upon all therapies of medical science since it clearly comments on all medical treatments without confusion.<br />4) The superiority of being the foundation of all medical science since all illnesses, symptoms and methods of treatment are completely covered.<br />5) The superiority of being the source of all medical science since all the divisions of systems of medical treatment spread from this. <br />6) The superiority of being the mirror of medical science because all illness are clearly seen without obstruction.<br />7) The superiority of being concise summary of all topics medical science because of gathering the essentials of medical treatment. <br />8) The superiority of being a stream of nectar because of remove the torment of illness.<br />9) The superiority of being the bestower of fearlessness and safety, protecting from the demon of death. <br />10) The superiority of being the crown jewel of all migrating beings since the hopes of all patients are fulfilled impartially. <br />11) The superiority of staying healthy, preventing illness, balancing the humors of the patient, lengthening life, and fame and longevity in this life.</blockquote><br /><br />After the introduction, <span style="font-style:italic;">The Great Eagle</span> contains an account of the liberation of Dharmakaya Samantabhadra, and the formation of samsara. This arrangement sets the tone for later examples of medical khog dbubs literature, with Zurkhar following suit, albeit with a more sutra-based cosmogony. <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The Indispensable Liberation Account of the Lineage</span> is probably the earliest clear location where we have the assertion that the Four Tantras were a terma revealed by Trapa Nonshe. <br /><br />Within the <span style="font-style:italic;">Great Origins of Treasures</span>, (gter 'byung chen mo), the earliest systematic account of the terma traditon, the famed terton, Guru Chowang (chos kyi dbang phyug, 1212-1270) wrote in 1264:<br /><br /><blockquote>The tantras of medicine were concealed in the mind, and revealed as Buddha word: eighteen major tantras were taught, rTsa ra ka's <span style="font-style:italic;">Tantra of Eight Divisions</span>; <span style="font-style:italic;">The Tantra of the Crystal Mirror</span>; <span style="font-style:italic;">The Tantra of the Drop of Nectar</span>; and so on, The Great Seer Dungi Thorsug and Khe'u Kunjod Yiley Kye and so on gathered the teachings together and spread the teachings. Afterwards, in order to make them safe, concealed them as treasures in boxes of rhinoceros hide in India at the Sandal Groves of Vajrasana, the Sapphire Stupa of Oddiyana, the Asura Cave, and all the forests of Nepal, in the Go'u Deshan Cave of China, and so on. <br /><br />Later on, Padma of Oddiyana and Nagarjunagarbha, and Muteg Thubgyal, and so on revealed these treasures and acted on behalf of sentient beings. In the end, having spread them in the country of Tibet, there were many discoveries of tantras concealed in many treasure caches. <br /><br />In the later translation period, within the treasure cycles of dhakini medicine treatments, the omniscient revealed many treasures in the countries of Indian, China, the border lands, and the demon lands, and so on, many scriptures of Buddhaword, the tantra of the eigth limbs and so on; and many scriptures of treatises, the eight limb treatises and so on, and various intimate instructions, the eight limbs of intimate instructions and so on. [<span style="font-style:italic;">The Autobiography and Instructions of Gu-ru Chos-kyi-dbang-phyug</span>, Voll II, page. 85]</blockquote><br /><br />A clear picture emerges that by latter half of the 13th century, Nyingma scholars were firmly asserting that systems of Tibetan Medicine depended on the gter ma tradition and that the ultimate origin of Tibetan Medicine was bka', vacana, or Buddhaword. <span style="font-style:italic;">The Great Eagle</span> origin accounts are heavily grounded in Dzogchen cosmology, and that Four Tantras, whatever their ultimate origin, where being propagated in the 12th and 13th century by doctors with strong Nyingma connections. There are a number of features of the root tantra, undoubtedly the latest layer in the composition of the Four Tantras, which show clear influence of earlier Dzogchen tantras. <br /><br />Now then, how were such claims received? Without going into the whole question of treasures and their authenticity, the ideas espoused in <span style="font-style:italic;">The Great Eagle</span> and the <span style="font-style:italic;">Great History of Treasures</span> were immediately rejected by another group of doctors, who were following the Indian tradition of the Ashtangahridayasamhita. These 13th century conservatives are well represented by Chomdan Rigpey Raltri (bcom ldan rig pa'i ral gri, 1227-1305), a famous Kadampa master. In his <span style="font-style:italic;">Flower Ornament of Medical Science</span> (gso ba rig pa rgyan gyi me tog) he states quite unambiguously:<br /><br /><blockquote>Some others claim that within the texts of medical practice, there are non-Buddhist and Buddhist i.e. non-Buddhist tantras and both Buddhist sutras and tantras. Within tantras, there is a root tantra, an explanatory tantra, an intimate instruction tantra, and a continuation tantra and so on. All of them are treatises written by Tibetans. Sutras and tantras are the discourses of the Tathagatas, medical science [texts] are treatises composed by persons.</blockquote><br /><br />One interesting facet that has not received much attention is the conflation of the term <span style="font-style:italic;">tantra</span> as used in medicine and the term as used in Buddhist literature. Perhaps the earliest use of the term <span style="font-style:italic;">tantra</span> is applied to the original text of which the Caraka Samhita is a commentary i.e. the Agniveshatantra. In Chowang's citation we see a clear reference to this text, "...rTsa ra ka's <span style="font-style:italic;">Tantra of Eight Divisions</span>". Because of this incidental usage of the term tantra, the doctors who were involved in composing the Four Tantras, or so it seems, sought the opportunity to elevate their system of medicine over the competing, Indian system of Ayurveda which was then current and wide spread in Central Tibet. <br /><br />Among Tibetans, the debate over the origins of the Four Tantras has continued right up to the present day, and there is voluminous literature on both sides of issues. I do not think that any serious text critical scholar can deny the fact however that the Tibetan scholars who argued for indigenous composition were completely correct in their assessments of the text as it stood in front of them. <br /><br />Much more research is needed before we can say for certain by whom or when the Four Tantras were composed, but it is definite that they took their final form in the late 12th century, and that the adherents of this text began to make claims for its special status as bka' or vacana, Buddhaword nearly from the beginning.Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565211105434785983noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538848421676038704.post-46236745878687716092008-08-20T18:41:00.000-04:002008-08-20T18:45:10.879-04:00School starts up again soonIt's been a busy summer, with many courses and things to do. We just finished an intensive course on Torso Wounds, which is something more or less like tenth century medieval battle medicine. <br /><br />The instructor for our course was Gen Yang Ga, a cheerful and energetic man, who is doing his PhD at Harvard. He was a joy to study with-- one of the world's leading experts on the textual history of the Four Tantras. <br /><br />Well, it's back to school again in two weeks.Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565211105434785983noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1538848421676038704.post-30168479908254580362008-01-29T16:08:00.000-05:002008-01-29T16:41:54.959-05:00Star water and RishisThis year, Thursday, February 7th, 2008 marks Losar, Tibetan New Year. Traditionally, Tibetan families wash and clean on losar with star water very, very early in the morning before beginning the new year with auspicious prayers and long life practices. and a day of festive celebrations, complete with singing, dancing and feasting.<br /><br />Star water is made by taking pure water and leaving it outside in an open container so it can become imbued with starlight. <br /><br />Star water also has medical uses which are described in the chapter on compresses from the sequel tantra . <br /><br />Star water is used for pain caused by spreading and disturbed heat conditions, in which one splashes the fever patient with the water, or alternately pours it on their belly. Another use of star water is for contagious fevers, disturbed fevers, scattered fevers and old fevers, one sprinkles star water on the patient.<br /><br />In Tibet, when the star Canopus is visible in the southern sky during the eighth lunar month for seven days, all rivers are considered blessed water that will restore virility, health, vitality, strength and so on. Everyone in Tibet bathes in the rivers and streams during this time.<br /><br />This custom of the Tibetans comes from an interesting legend which concerns Canopus [skar ma ri shi], identified with the rishi Agasthya, who figures in both Hindu and Buddhist sources. Agasthya is best known in Hindu mythology for having swallowed the ocean. He is also connected with rain-making.<br /><br />In the version of the legend we are concerned with, at a time when an epidemic had spread over the whole land, Agasthya went to the top of a tree, and the rain which fell upon him entered into the rivers and pacified the epidemic everywhere.Malcolmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565211105434785983noreply@blogger.com0