What is Tibetan Medicine?

Tibetan Medicine is one of the world's oldest healing traditions, that has been practiced for more than five thousand years in Tibet and the Himalayan region. It is a unique medical science that provides holistic health care to the body, mind and soul. Tibetan medicine is commonly known as gSowa Rigpa in Tibetan. gSowa means to heal or restore and Rigpa means the knowledge or science. Tibetan medicine is also a science, art and philosophy that provides a holistic health care to mankind.

It is a science because its principles are enumerated in a systematic and logical framework based on an understanding of the body and the mind’s relationship to the environment. It is an art because the Tibetan healers use diagnostic techniques based on the creativity, insight, subtlety, love and compassion of the medical practitioner. And it is a philosophy because it explains the key Buddhist principles of impermanence, altruism, karma and ethics.

Introduction to Tibetan Medicine

The major goals of Tibetan Medicine are maintaining a healthy constitution through balance as an overall preventative approach, providing treatment methods for sick people, aiding in longevity, and assisting those who want to be successful in their physical body and spiritual fields. Tibetan medicine laid high emphasis on the importance of having love and compassion.

In fact, many illnesses can be cured by the one medicine of love and compassion. These qualities are the ultimate source of human happiness, and our need for them lies at the very core of our being.

Tibetan medicine is much deeper than what it appears to be. Beyond treating symptoms, Tibetan Medicine concentrates on treating the patient as a whole to promote peace and healing through diet, physical exercise, herbal formulas, and spiritual practice. When Tibetan physicians treat a patient, they focus equally on both the mental and physical states because they believe that the mind and body are inseparable. They address the three poisons as the fundamental cause of emotional disturbances and mental disorders. Tibetan physicians also consider how diet, behavior, and daily habits affect each individual patient. Therefore, Tibetan Medicine can be best described as a holistic approach to tackle illness because it is designed to prevent and treat all diseases of our living being.