RESOURCE GUIDE FOR TIBETAN MEDICINE

Link: RESOURCE GUIDE FOR TIBETAN MEDICINE.

RESOURCE GUIDE FOR TIBETAN MEDICINE by Subhuti Dharmananda, Ph.D., Director, Institute for Traditional Medicine, Portland, Oregon The practice of Tibetan medicine has hovered near extinction for the past forty years, though there are increasing efforts under way now to preserve it, with some success. This active tradition was suddenly disrupted in the 1950’s with the Chinese communist invasion of Tibet, followed by destruction of the monasteries, the killing of the Tibetan monks and professionals, and forced exile of the leadership. The main medical school, founded in 1696 A.D., was built on Iron Hill (Chakpori) opposite the Potala Palace in Lhasa; it was reduced to dust by the shelling of the Chinese army when rebellious monks took refuge there in 1959. A second school, Men-Tsee-Khang, was built in Lhasa in 1916, founded by Kyenrab Norbu (1883–1962), on the plains nearby the Potala. It was intended to adapt Tibetan medical education to the demands of the 20th Century. The school has not been destroyed and continues to operate, though only a few remaining elderly Tibetan doctors are available to provide the original teachings. A combination of Tibetan and Chinese medicine is now taught and practiced, but due to limitations of resources, new doctors graduate with less training than in earlier decades, as they readily admit.