Talking to Tibetan doctors, pharmacists and factory staff one quickly notes that GMP (‘good manufacturing practice’) stands for much more than just a set of rules and regulations. It has become a symbol of the entire industrialisation of Tibetan medicine. In this context, the phrasera mgo lug la sbyar ba(literally ‘to stick a goat’s head on a sheep’) is sometimes used in relation to GMP (see, for example, Kalden Nyima 2006:366). It is a reference to the Tibetan expressionra ma lug, rather like the English ‘neither fish nor fowl’, meaning neither here nor there, a mixture, often
In June 2000, an article entitled ‘Counterfeit Pills’ was published by the Tibetan Astro-Medical Institute (Mentsikhang) in Dharamsala. It warned of a crisis in the production of traditional Tibetan ‘precious pills’ (rinchen rilbu): Counterfeited Rinchen Rilbu (Precious Pills) are being sold by some unscrupulous people. In the public interest, we are sticking holograms of our logo on our packaging to distinguish our Rinchen Rilbu from the pretenders. If viewed in adequate light, our 3-D hologram depicts our registered logo with the word ‘Mentsikhang’ inscribed in Tibetan & English. So, look for the shiny and silvery sticker on our Rinchen Rilbu.¹
Tibetanness generates value. Consider Cheezheng’s spiritual and vegetarian take on Tibetan spas, Arura’s record-breaking museum, the magic sage in the TV commercial, or Aku Jinpa’s school mentioned in the Introduction (the one not meant to be profitable but ‘good for Tibetan culture’) — be it as a product or service to be sold, as a technology of enchantment in advertising, or in Aku Jinpa’s case as the basis for a successful fundraising application submitted to an American NGO — Tibetanness serves as a commodity or asset in each of these cases. All the actors engage, willingly or not, in the economy of
When Dr Tsering casually made this remark in a conversation about Tibetan medicine, it was almost fifteen years since he had crossed, as a teenager, the mountainous border between Tibet and Nepal, and made his way to Dharamsala in India. His brother was already a monk there, and his letters, promising good schools and the opportunity to learn English, had convinced Tsering to go and try his luck. While visiting Tsering in the Tibetan clinic in the hills of northeastern India,² where he worked as the resident physician oramchi, I was struck by the change in outlook represented by
It is early September 2008. The high-altitude air is tinged with autumn. I walk through the alleys of Lo Monthang, the largest settlement in northern Mustang District, Nepal. This is the time before animals have been let out to graze, before children have gone off to the new local day care,¹ to school, or to help gather dung and tend animals. I pass whitewashed homes decorated with protective door hangings above the threshold: colored yarn webs holding sheep skulls, repelling nefarious spirits and gossip. I hear the muffled sounds of cymbals, bells, and the resonant drone of Tibetan Buddhist monks
In the same way that the forefathers of Tibetan medicine collected all the best practices of other medical systems of their time¹ to enrich their own knowledge and practice, we, the researchers of today, must use whatever suitable testing techniques are available to assess the benefits of Tibetan medicine and its remedies through methods of internationally accepted investigation. This is of utmost importance for the future of this medical system. The first step in this process, however, is to recognize the uniqueness and preciousness of our medical tradition. From this basis, we should strive to develop research methods that will
‘Channel breaths’ ortsalung¹ and ‘magical movement’ ortrülkhorare distinctive Tibetan mind-body practices in which breath and concentration of the mind are integrated with particular body movements. They have been part of spiritual training in Tibet since at least the tenth century ce. The globalization of the twentieth century has not only allowed many of the Eastern mind-body practices to take root in the West, but some practitioners have also adopted what anthropologist Joseph Alter calls practices of ‘modern medical yoga’ (2005). At the turn of the twenty-first century, a randomized controlled clinical trial using channel breaths and magical
Modernity has been a powerful notion for more than a century, in anthropology as in many other fields. Early diffusion theories have taken it for granted that Western modernity slowly penetrates and takes over every region on this planet, and social scientists such as Durkheim, Weber, Parsons and Elias saw the conflict of tradition versus modernity as critical for the evolution of humanity. The idea that modernization inevitably and effectively destroys cultural diversity lies at the heart of many anthropologists’ endeavours, from Bronislaw Malinowski (1922) to Margaret Mead (1995) and Claude Lévi-Strauss (1965). In the perspective of modernization theories from
In a world where the visible and tangible rewards of a surgically-based, antibiotically-driven ‘Western scientific’ medicine or ‘biomedicine’ always seem to supplant indigenous methods of healing, it is important to remember that moments of encounter always work in both directions. Many have noted the intrinsically integrative and syncretic character of Tibetan medicine, dating back to its inception (Meyer 1992, Dummer 1988, Clark 1995) and, as others have noted (McKay and Saxer, in this volume), encounters between Tibetan medicine and biomedicine and/or modern science date back at least a hundred years.¹ Tibetan medicine today contains elements that reflect these encounters. Nevertheless,
In July 2011 the International Dzogchen Community celebrated its 30th Anniversary. In 1981, near Arcidosso in Tuscany (Italy), Master Chögyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche founded the first community or Gar of the International Dzogchen Community. He named it “Meri-gar”, the “Community of the Mountain-of-Fire”. In the 70s Chögyal Namkhai Norbu began to teach Dzogchen to his first students. Interest soon became widespread and having received invitations from all continents, Chögyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche began to travel and teach throughout the world. These last thirty years the Dzogchen Community has grown and now has thousands of members in over 40 countries and all continents. The main objective of the Community is to preserve and develop understanding of Dzogchen, as well as preserving Tibet's extraordinary cultural patrimony. The International Shang Shung Institute for Tibetan Studies was founded by Chögyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche with this aim and it was inaugurated by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama in 1990. It has a rich collections of Tibetan books and manuscripts and publishes the teachings of Chögyal Namkhai Norbu. This article draws on Chögyal Namkhai Norbu’s work and legacy to describe the Dzogchen Lineage and Tibetan Tradition from the very origin of the Shang Shung Culture.
Demonstrates an understanding of the need to teach students social-emotional skills and an understanding of the five dimensions of SEL and how they relate to instruction.
The present work offers a renewed perspective on natural-kind classification in the field of ethnobiology, one that focuses on analyzing higher-order classifications as a form of narrative. By examining changes in classification of materia medica in three main medical/pharmacological texts from three time periods of the Tibetan medicine tradition, we see an overarching shift in classification from a focus on medical efficacy to one on material substance and morphology, thus suggesting influence from pre-twenty-first century western, Linnaean science. The work then links this historical narrative to the complexities of classification of materia medica among contemporary doctors of Tibetan medicine in the People's Republic of China, who utilize several classificatory schemata. The work encourages continued research in the area of diachronic classification, particularly in terms of what can be gleaned about cultural, political, and social changes in a tradition.
<i>Closer to Truth</i> is a series on PBS television looking at some of the most challenging and important advances and discoveries in science. Hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn, the show brings in prominent scientists from various disciplines to explain and offer a range of opinions on key issues to a general audience. Topics such as the future of biology, the science of complexity, our current understanding of the cosmos, how consciousness might be explained, the relationship between religion and science, life elsewhere in the universe, and many other active areas of discussion and research within the science. The website includes clips from each show, short interviews with the show's participants, definitions of technical scientific terms, more in depth discussion of the issues, and links to outside sources where viewers can learn more about the issues. (Zach Rowinski 2004-08-01)
Buddhist scholar B. Alan Wallace and contemporary philosopher of mind John Searle join for a discussion and debate on Buddhist and Western approaches to a science of consciousness. Wallace, who's approach is drawn both from the inspiration of William James as well as his own background in the Buddhist contemplative tradition, addresses issues involved in both theory and practice of studying consciousness directly using introspection. Searle also agrees that subjectivity can be studied. He makes the distinction between two uses of the word "subjective," one epistemic and one ontological. He argues that as long as subjectivity is approached according to its ontological sense, there should be no reason why there can not be a science of consciousness. While both thinkers are similar in acknowledging the irreducibility of the first-person perspective for understanding consciousness, on closer inspection the two strongly disagree on the fundamental distinction of whether consciousness is ultimately irreducible to the brain or whether instrospection is a valuable means for investigating consciousness. (Zach Rowinski 2005-03-24)
Under Article 9 of the Bhutanese Constitution, all 20 districts of Bhutan have implemented the integration of both modern medicine (allopathic) with traditional medicine (sowa rigpa). They are required to provide both services to all patients, at their request, for free. This report will examine the medical structure that is in place in Bhutan. The intention is to study how Bhutan has implemented both Traditional Bhutanese Medicine with Primary Health Care series, and how this came about. This research will also examine how and why patients utilize the different health services available to them, and how they feel about the healthcare system in Bhutan. Through the use of a number of in depth interviews this research will present different opinions directly from the source of Bhutanese patients, and medical personnel. In addition, this report will examine how traditional medicine is being preserved as modern medicine continues to become more advanced. Ultimately, the hope is that this research can be useful to the country of Bhutan as they continue to improve their healthcare system.
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