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Tibetan Medicine is the oldest integrative medicine system in the world having been successfully used for over 1000 years. The system was started in the eight century by King Tritson Detsen when he ordered the first international conference on medicine in the history ever. The meeting of Greek, Indian, Nepalese, Persian and Chinese minds lasted for fifty years. Even the Chinese, who invaded Tibet in the 1950’s have actively tried to preserve the medical system whilst destroying monasteries and temples.
Like the traditional Indian and Chinese medical systems, Tibetan Medicine views health as a question of balance. Circumstances such as diet, lifestyle, seasonal and mental conditions can disturb this natural balance which gives rise to different kinds of disorders. A Tibetan Doctor employs his open senses to examine the individual's general balance of health. Treatment involves dietary and behavioural advice and medications derived from natural sources such as herbs, minerals, and organic products. As this system is imbued throughout with Buddhism it is perhaps the greatest medical healing system in the world with its capacity to address not just the body but also the mind and spirit.
According to The Buddha all sickness begins from a false assumption that an independent autonomous self exists and by not having an understanding of emptiness, devoid of self or shunyata. This belief in a self is called marigpa. This wrong view ultimately produces 84, 000 afflictive emotions. All diseases according to this system arise from the three mind poisons arising from this ignorance, desire (wishes, passions, and attachments), anger (irritation, rage and hatred) and stupidity (closed mindedness or apathy). Basically wrong thinking and beliefs make you sick.
These three mind poisons are regulated by three energies in the body called Lung (wind), Tripa (bile) and Bekan (phlegm). If a person has too much of any of the mind poisons, diseases from an imbalance in the energies occurs. Tibetan Medicine is based on maintaining these energies to be in harmony with one another. Every one has one of these constitutions more predominant that the other and sometimes a mixture of two of them. The Lung type person is very mentally active, all psychosomatic diseases are Lung, these people generally have a cold constitution, physically they are slim build, problems with sleep affects them, they can be very talkative. When they are out of balance their digestion is first hit often with a feeling of no appetite which causes sleeping problems. They are cured by anything that earths them makes them heavier and warms.
Tripa types tend to be more rounded often hungry and thirsty with a healthy appetite. They sweat easily and have strong body odours. Their week points are liver gall bladder and small intestine. They are quick on the uptake and very convincing with anger and jealousy surfacing. Generally the suffer from hot diseases.
Bekan is very strong build with and cool body and thick skin. They can endure hunger and thirst and love their sleep. In fact sleep is the answer to all their ills. Their digestion is sluggish which creates their susceptibility to mucus diseases. They tend to be shy.
Full article by Ralph Quinlan Forde here * The teachings on the five elements – Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether - constitute the heart of Tibetan medicine. The human microcosm, just as the macrocosm, is made of these five fundamental energies which monitor the vitality of the mind and the body. The whole world, the human body, but also illnesses and medicaments are in communication with one another. The five elements are represented in us by the three body energies: Lung (the principle of motion), Tripa (the principle of warmth) and Beken (the stabilizing and cooling principle). In a healthy body these three principles are balanced. This balance - and, therefore, health -depends on the mind as on the mental level disharmony leads to an imbalance of these energies which then manifest as illness in the physical body. Ignorance is the cause of illness. Ignorance provokes the illusion of being separated from the environment. The perception of “I” and “Mine” creates the Three Interior Poisons: Hatred, Ignorance and Desire which lead to an imbalance in the three body energies Lung, Tripa and Beken. Furthermore, health depends on the individual behaviour and habits, especially also on the diet, the environment and the climatic conditions. Thus the Lung energy increases in cold, dry and windy places; Tripa energy in dry and hot places, whereas Beken energy increases in humid, sultry or cold regions or periods. Source * |
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