Tibetan medicine is 5000 years old, yet its wisdom is still very relevant to our lives today.  The ancient texts teach us that true health is achieved when there is a balance between three energetic principles (or humours) in the body, namely rlung (pronounced loong), tripa and péken.  These humours are similar to the three doshas in the Ayurvedic tradition.  If there is an increase, decrease or disturbance of a humour from its rightful place in the body we experience disease.  

The humours can be disturbed by physical factors such as stress or diet, as well as certain thought patterns.  Since Tibetan Medicine is based on Buddhism, it makes no distinction between body and mind, a positive mental attitude is as important as a healthy lifestyle for good health.  Those that strive to achieve can be prone to rlung disorders, and those who anger easily tend to suffer from an imbalance of tripa.  People who are ‘laid back’ and do not like to compete, are more likely to suffer from péken disorders.

We are all different and we have our own constitutional balance of the three humours.  It is very useful to learn what works for us, and what tends to make us ill.  Tibetan Medicine can give us an insight into how we can promote balance in our lives and maintain optimal health.

Tibetan Diagnostic Techniques

Tibetan diagnosis involves a combination of techniques.  Pulse palpation enables the doctor to understand the nature of a patient’s imbalance, as well as the specific effects on different organs of the body.  Three fingers are placed on each wrist, and each of the doctor’s fingers palpates two particular organ pulses.   In order to get a good pulse reading it is preferable for the patient to avoid stimulants and unusually stressful situations for 24 hours before the consultation.  Ideally one should have a ‘normal day’ free of any uncharacteristic events or behaviour patterns. 

Tongue diagnosis simply involves the doctor looking at the patient’s tongue.  One can glean a lot of information about the health of a patient from the colour of the tongue, the presence and nature of any coating, and the appearance of the underside.

Urine analysis is traditionally used by Tibetan doctors as an important diagnostic tool.  A patient’s urine is stirred in a white container and the characteristics of any bubbles that are created are noted.    This information as well as the colour and any sediment can reveal a great deal about the patient’s state of health.  Urine taken first thing in the morning will give the best information. 

Finally, the questioning of the patient by the doctor will help to ascertain the cause of the current imbalance.  The doctor will ask about diet and behaviour as well as symptoms.

Tibetan Treatment

Once a diagnosis has been made, the doctor will prescribe a programme of treatment which takes into account the exact nature of the imbalance present.  Usually the first port of call is to adjust the patient’s diet and behaviour, but if more help is needed to restore the balance, a carefully blended herbal prescription will be used.  If yet more help is needed there are a range of ‘external treatments’ which may be prescribed, including massage, moxibustion and hydrotherapy.

The classification of illnesses and their remedies by the concepts of heat and cold is one of the most fundamental principles of Tibetan medicine.  Cold illnesses require hot or warming medicines and treatments; and hot illnesses require cooling medicines and treatments.  In practice most disorders are considered to be a combination of hot and cold, and all three humours may be out of balance.  Tibetan physicians pay great attention to the careful balancing of heating and cooling herbs in their prescriptions in order to avoid further unbalancing of the patient.

Learning Tibetan Medicine: An Incredible Journey

In 1994 a small group of students,  including Lucy Jones, was given the opportunity to study Tibetan Medicine with Khenpo Truro Tsenum, one of the world’s foremost teachers of the subject.  Khenpo was the professor of the Lhasa Menzikhang, and despite his weighty teaching commitments and responsibilities, he was given permission by the Chinese Government to travel to the UK with his nephew, Sonam Chime.   These two highly respected teachers were assisted by Dr Thupten Phuntsok, an acknowledged specialist in Tibetan Astrology and history.  The lucky western students studied together at Samye Ling Tibetan Centre, for two months each year during the next four years. 

All teaching was done through a translator, although the students were expected to study Tibetan in order to improve their understanding of the subject.  The medical texts are written in a particular type of verse which is perhaps the equivalent to Chaucerian English compared to conversational language, and this made the translator’s (and the student’s) task much more complicated.   Luckily the group had available one of the foremost translators of Tibetan in the world, Katia Holmes, who put in hours of hard work on the students' behalf.

Daily formal lectures were interspersed with practical demonstrations of diagnostic techniques, medicine making and external treatments such as moxibustion.  Students also immersed themselves in the Tibetan spiritual tradition which is on going at Samye Ling Tibetan Centre.  Spiritual practice and understanding is inseparable from Tibetan Medical practice.

These four years of study were incredibly enriching and fascinating.  The small group were bonded by a joint commitment to bring the knowledge of Tibetan Medicine into their western practices, for the benefit of their patients.