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B. Alan Wallace, Ph. D. (Lecturer, Department of Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara) presented a case for the complimentarity of Tibetan medicine with Western medicine. Dr. Wallace traced the history and foundational principles of Tibetan medicine including contemplative practice, mental perception, and the balancing of the three humors (wind, bile, and phlegm which also resemble the humors in Indian Ayurvedic medicine). Leslie J. Blackhall, M.D., M.T.S. (Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Southern California) focused on a few areas (such as explaining the "Why me?" of a cancer patient) where Western medical system has great difficulty. Dr. Blackhall discussed how Tibetan medicine's desire to physically heal is to allow the person to obtain a mental state conducive to obtaining "enlightenment."
In the 3-S program, the concepts of "self-schema," "path," and "highway" are regarded as useful metaphors for the purpose of personal transformation. They do not, of course, reflect the complexity of the concepts of "the self" or "spirituality" as psychologists, philosophers, and theologians might discuss them (the interested reader is referred to the literature cited in the References). In the 3-S program, a Spiritual self-schema (i.e., the individual's Spiritual path) is viewed as a cognitive structure which, when carefully and elaborately constructed and maintained, provides the individual access to the experience and expression of what will be referred to in the 3-S program as, Spiritual nature. The 3-S program makes no attempt to define Spiritual nature for the individual. Qualities and characteristics attributed to it, such as a sense of interconnection with all living things and/or with a Supreme Being or Higher Power, will vary widely. However, in seeking some common ground, the program does begin with the proposition that individuals who seek to understand their Spiritual nature will, at the very least, view this intrinsic aspect of their being as wholly compatible with compassion, and wholly incompatible with causing harm to self or others.