Fundamentals of Tibetan Medicine

The first edition of the Fundamentals of Tibetan Medicine, published in 1981, has remained one of the most popular and widely used publications on Tibetan Medicine available in English. In 1995, a second revised edition was published in response to an increasing interest in Tibetan medicine and a greater demand for literature on the subject.

The need for a third revised edition was again felt and in 1996, the Director of Men-Tsee-Khang appointed us to expand and revise the book. However, due to our other Institutional responsibilities, we could not begin work on the project until the summer of 1997. We are pleased to bring out this book, started initially during the Directorship of Mr. Tsering Tashi, and completed with the encouragement of our current Director, Mr. Pema Dadhul Arya. The support of both Directors has been invaluable.

In this Third Edition, as in the Second, alterations, additions and deletions have been made to material from the edition preceding it. The material in Part One has been divided into four distinct chapters, with the addition of an introductory section on the history of Tibetan medicine. Where new information has been added from the rGyud-bZhi or its commentary Vaidurya sNgon-po and the original text was too complicated or technical for the purposes of an introductory book such as this, we have attempted to simplify the material without sacrificing the essential points. In doing so, errors or omissions may have occurred, for which we take full responsibility. When it seemed useful, we have condensed material into tables. We have updated some photos from the previous edition and also have added a pronunciation guide to Tibetan medical terms.

It is our sincere desire that all who read this book will benefit from it and experience good health.

Back of the Book

“Tibetan medicine is far more advanced in the understanding of the nature of mind than Western medicine. In matters of understanding the physical functioning of the human body, the Tibetan medicine…is less advanced than the Western medicine. Without mixing the two approaches, and without saying one is better than the other, both schools should work together in order to find ways of understanding each other and thus boost the effectiveness of the two healing techniques.”