a land of Tibet

We're in our coracle on our way to the Minyak Chandra Chorten! Our Footprint Tibet handbook doesn't say what the name of the river is that we are on but I saw an indication of it there. The Tibetan medical system is as amazing as the chorten itself! I spent a bit of time reading more about the Tibetan medical system. We know something about it from our reading in Art Perry's and the Dalai lama's book but the site www.tararokpa.org provides a fuller description of it. Much of the Tibetan medicine was of course shamanic prior to King Songsten Gampo and his Queens who brought the medical traditions of India,China and Persia to Tibet which in combination with the native traditions became the complex system of Tibetan medicine. During the reign of Trisong Detsen and his Queens it continued to be developed. One of it's main sources was a set of writings called the Fourfold treatise which were essentially notes taken from the words of the medical buddha himself! Yeshe Tsogyel Padmasambhava actually had these writings hidden in a pillar on the rooftop of the Samye because they felt , as with some of the other sacred texts, that Tibet was not ready to receive it at that time. As I understand it, essentially Tibetan medicine is based upon an understanding of the fundamental energies of the universe and the importance of keeping them in balance. Healing is accomplished by using various practices and substances to do this. The Chuzi gangdruk is a good place to learn of this since actually many of the herbs come from here as well as from the neighboring Sichuan province of China. The medicines are created by the physician and can have as many as thirty different substances in them! In some cases the ingredients would be considered toxic and are can't be used in the west; this is because the physician transforms them in certain ways during the compounding to render them harmless. Since the medical system as with all shamanic techniques is about creating balance different ingredients can be used to accomplish the same thing. Tibetans will often give the same name to plants of different species because it is being named for the effect it has or what it is used for. The pulse diagnosis technique mentioned in Art Perry's book is equally complex. The Tibetan physician is using three fingers to take the pulse and is using both sides of each finger! So in one brief session they are taking twelve different pulses! It's said that the practitioner needs to take at least ten thousand pulses to develop a feel for the technique. Rather awesome! There's a lot more to add but as usual two as one we'll add to the notes later beautiful one!


	Through My Eyes * We're in our coracle on our way to the Minyak Chandra Chorten! Our Footprint Tibet handbook doesn't say what the name of the river is that we are on but I saw an indication of it there. The Tibetan medical system is as amazing as the chorten itself! I spent a bit of time reading more about the Tibetan medical system. We know something about it from our reading in Art Perry's and the Dalai lama's book but the site www.tararokpa.org provides a fuller description of it. Much of the Tibetan medicine was of course shamanic prior to King Songsten Gampo and his Queens who brought the medical traditions of India,China and Persia to Tibet which in combination with the native traditions became the complex system of Tibetan medicine. During the reign of Trisong Detsen and his Queens it continued to be developed. One of it's main sources was a set of writings called the Fourfold treatise which were essentially notes taken from the words of the medical buddha himself! Yeshe Tsogyel Padmasambhava actually had these writings hidden in a pillar on the rooftop of the Samye because they felt , as with some of the other sacred texts, that Tibet was not ready to receive it at that time. As I understand it, essentially Tibetan medicine is based upon an understanding of the fundamental energies of the universe and the importance of keeping them in balance. Healing is accomplished by using various practices and substances to do this. The Chuzi gangdruk is a good place to learn of this since actually many of the herbs come from here as well as from the neighboring Sichuan province of China. The medicines are created by the physician and can have as many as thirty different substances in them! In some cases the ingredients would be considered toxic and are can't be used in the west; this is because the physician transforms them in certain ways during the compounding to render them harmless. Since the medical system as with all shamanic techniques is about creating balance different ingredients can be used to accomplish the same thing. Tibetans will often give the same name to plants of different species because it is being named for the effect it has or what it is used for. The pulse diagnosis technique mentioned in Art Perry's book is equally complex. The Tibetan physician is using three fingers to take the pulse and is using both sides of each finger! So in one brief session they are taking twelve different pulses! It's said that the practitioner needs to take at least ten thousand pulses to develop a feel for the technique. Rather awesome! There's a lot more to add but as usual two as one we'll add to the notes later beautiful one! * courtesy of A Luminous Diamond (Bright) Crystal Show productions. The information for the sketches is courtesy of the Footprint Tibet handbook by Gyurme Dorje. ( please click here to return to my spinning for you!)