tibet - spiritual land's traditional system of medicine
we have heard about traditional medicinal systems - ayurveda, siddha, unaani, yoga, homeopathy, naturopathy & many healing systems. i wanted to share with you about the traditional tibetan system of medicine, which i heard & learnt about it when i travelled to kailash manasarovar.
it’s sowa-rigpa.
sowa-rigpa is very similar to our ayurveda and siddha. one thing is true any traditional system is based on 5 elements.
they call pancha mahaboothas as jung-wa-nga and they call the tridosha – (vata, pitta & kapha) as ngepa-sum
though sowa-rigpa was originated in tibet, is practiced even today in india, nepal, bhutan, mongolia, russia…
sowa-rigpa means – science of healing.
there’s also a discussion that because of buddha being from india, tibetians had good access to the ayurvedic texts & was translated to the tibetan language. and this was enriched with their own native & neighbouring countries knowledge & hence the robust system of healing – sowa-rigpa was created & evolved. there’s enough & good traces of indian, chinese & greek medicines in sowa-rigpa
they belive the imbalance of the 5 elements are the causes for disorders & these disorders when not treated for long becomes diseases. and, just like our traditional systems, the medicine and diet used for the treatment of disorders and diseases are also composed of the same five basic elements.
the stark similarity with our systesm is that this tibetan medicine system was also taught only through guru-sishya parampara and with intense practices. mostly the knowledge is transferred in family tradition. heard it used to take 15+ years for a person to become a trustworthy skilful practitioner. and, the tradition was to become an individual practitioner in a ceremony in a community
like we call our ayurveda & siddha doctors as vaidhya, they call the sowa-rigpa practitioners as smenpa.
now a days after school education, there are some institutes who impart degrees in sowa-rigpa. this institutes are mostly in himalayan regions.
in traditional tibetan families, sowa rigpa is still practised in order to better take care of self & family and improve quality of life. understanding one’s own constitution, basics of nutrition and lifestyle, basic herbal remedies using kitchen herbs, and massage and simple external therapies are still practised.
so, like paati vaidhyam, daadi ki nushke, tibetan mothers & grandmothers also have a plenty preventive lifestyle tips & tricks
happy to share what i learn & know & hoping to read your views & thoughts
wishing you health & happiness in abundance
krithika
