Traditional Tibetan Medicine

Tibetan medicine is one of the three great Eastern healing systems. Its roots extend back 4,000 years to the Himalayan Bön shamanic tradition. The current form of Tibetan medicine was born in the twelfth century from the spiritual insight of the Tibetan physician Yuthok Yonten Gonpo. His transpersonal wisdom is considered a manifestation of the Medicine Buddha in human form. Tibetan medicine has been taught continuously since then. Its diagnostic and therapeutic procedures are as valid and effective today as they were hundreds of years ago.

The Tibetan name for “Tibetan medicine” is “Sowa Rigpa,” which can be translated as both “science of healing” and “nourishment of mind.” This dual meaning points to the holistic effect of Tibetan medicine, whose aim is to induce and maintain balance at physical, energetic, and mental levels.

In Tibetan medicine, health is understood as a multi-level state of balance between mind, energy, and body. Within these three aspects, energy plays a significant role as it serves as the connection between body and mind. Illness develops at the physical level when energetic balance is disrupted. This can occur due to internal psychological factors, which are disturbing emotions, or external factors such as improper diet, lifestyle, influence of negative energies, and climate.

Generally, ignorance, or the lack of knowledge about the mind’s true nature, is considered the primary cause of all diseases. This statement aligns with Buddhist philosophy, according to which ignorance of the true nature of mind is the cause of all suffering, including physical or psychological illness. Through working with the mind, we can achieve a state of lasting happiness and health.

Tibetan medicine – Sowa Rigpa – is a unique scientific discipline. It encompasses deep knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and pathology, and includes a system of philosophy, cosmology, subtle anatomy, and spiritual practice. Within Tibetan medicine, special procedures have developed for determining the causes of illness and a treatment system that includes herbal remedies, massages, wraps, acupuncture, and numerous other therapeutic approaches.