Tibetan Medicine and You: A Path to Wellbeing, Better Health, and Joy

by Miriam E. Cameron, Tenzin Namdul, The Dalai Lama (Foreword by)

Overview

All of us want to be happy and avoid suffering. So why are many of us anxious, angry, depressed? We suffer from pain, hypertension, inflammation, indigestion, insomnia, and addictions. Yet, too often we make choices that sabotage us rather than reverse what’s wrong. Tibetan medicine, Tibet’s ancient, comprehensive science of healing, offers effective tools for transforming suffering into health and happiness.

Tibetan medicine teaches that the purpose of life is to be happy, and that after our basic needs are met, happiness results primarily from our own thinking. When challenges arise, we can wallow in negativity and get sick - or even sicker - in mind and body. Or we can decide to create health and happiness. Making positive choices won’t solve every problem but will produce better results than poor or thoughtless decisions do.

This unique book explains in everyday English how to use Tibetan medicine for self-care and as a complement to modern medicine. Tibetan medicine sheds light on the intricate relationship between mind and body. Each of us is born with a unique combination of energies called our constitution. Understanding our constitution empowers us to make conscious, informed decisions about our thoughts, diet, and behavior to keep our energies in balance. We learn to reduce stress, create health, prepare for death, and be happy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538135020
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	01/28/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	296
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Miriam E. Cameron, PhD, MS, MA, RN is Lead Faculty, Yoga & Tibetan Medicine Focus Area and Graduate Faculty, Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing University of Minnesota. Since 1994, she has studied, conducted research, and taught graduate courses about Tibetan medicine, yoga, nursing, and ethics. She has published over 65 journal articles, nine book chapters, three monographs, three Internet modules, and three other books including Karma & Happiness: A Tibetan Odyssey in Ethics, Spirituality, & Healing, with the foreword by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. She lives in Minneapolis.

Tenzin Namdul, PhD, TMD, is a Tibetan medical doctor and medical anthropologist. He is a Clinical and Translational Science Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Public Health, and Graduate Faculty, Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing, University of Minnesota. Tenzin’s research focuses on the intersection of biological and sociocultural factors in the study of aging and end-of-life care. Besides conducting funded research studies, he has published articles, a book, a book chapter, and an internet module about Tibetan medicine. For over 20 years, he has collaborated with Dr. Cameron on teaching, research, publishing, and other work involving Tibetan medicine. He lives in Minneapolis.

Table of Contents

Blessing by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

Photo of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, the authors, and their students

Notes: Converting Tibetan Script to Roman Script

Introduction


Tibetan Medicine: Self-Care and Integrative Care by Miriam E. Cameron

The Practice and Relevance of Tibetan Medicine by Tenzin Namdul.





Part A: Tibetan Medicine as Self-Care.





Chapter 1: How to Be Happy

Karma.

Suffering.

Healing.

Happiness.

Sitting Meditation and Circular Breathing.





Chapter 2: Live in Harmony with Your Constitution

Gold Standard: Consultation with a Tibetan Medicine Practitioner

“Constitutional Self-Assessment Tool” and “Lifestyle Guidelines Tool.”

Complete the “Constitutional Self-Assessment Tool.” (CSAT)

Complete the “Lifestyle Guidelines Tool.”

Use the “Constitutional Self-Assessment Tool” and “Lifestyle Guidelines Tool” Together.

Meditation on a Lotus Flower





Chapter 3: Understand the Source of Your Existence

Health Is Balance and Dis-ease Is Imbalance.

Earth: Cold, Stability, Structure.

Water: Moisture and Cohesion.

Fire: Heat.

Air: Movement.

Space: Allows the Other Elements to Interact.

Tonglen Meditation.





Chapter 4: Keep Your Three Primary Energies in Balance

Nyepa: Defect.

Loong: Movement Energy.

Tripa:Hot Energy.

Baekan:Cold Energy.

Balance and Imbalance.

Meditation: Alternate Nostril Breathing.





Chapter 5: Learn about Your Unique Nature

Who really am I?

LoongConstitution:Nature of a Vulture, Crow, and Fox.

TripaConstitution: Nature of a Tiger and Monkey.

Baekan Constitution: Nature of a Lion and Elephant.

Dual and Triple Constitutions.

Meditation: Om Mani Padme Hum.





Chapter 6: Create a Healthy Mind

What Is Mind?

Negative Thinking, Suffering, and Disease.

Heal Negativity.

Develop Spiritual Immunity.

Mindfulness Meditation.





Chapter 7: Create an Enlightened Mind

Buddhism: Beyond Religion.

The Four Noble Truths.

The Eightfold Path of Ethics.

Impermanence, Emptiness, Dependent Origination, Interconnectedness.

Universal Compassion.

Meditation on the Medicine Buddha.





Chapter 8: Create a Healthy Body

Diet.

Digestion.

Behavior.

Daily, Seasonal, and Environmental Changes.

Rejuvenation.

Meditation: Tibetan Prostrations.





Chapter 9: Create a Good Death

Life.

Death.

Bardo: Intermediate State Between Death and Rebirth

Rebirth.

TonglenMeditation while Dying.





Part B: Tibetan Medicine in Integrative Care.





Chapter 10: Tibetan Medicine Past and Present

History of Tibetan Medicine.

Tibetan Medicine Today.

Gyueshi: Fundamental Text of Tibetan Medicine.

Four Tantra of the Gyueshi.

Loving Kindness Meditation.





Chapter 11: Tibetan Medicine’s Code of Ethics

Unsuitable and Suitable Students.

Core Values.

Tibetan Medical Education.

Exceptional, Ordinary, and Incompetent Practitioners.

Rewards for Excellence.

Shaking and Dancing Meditation.





Chapter 12: Disease

Causes.

Conditions.

Location.

Characteristics.

Create Health.

White Light Meditation.





Chapter 13: Diagnosis

How to Prepare for Your Consultation.

Diagnostic Process.

Observation.

Touch.

Questioning.

Classification.

Meditation on Anger.





Chapter 14: Treatment

Treatment Goal.

Diet.

Behavior.

Tibetan Medicines.

Accessory Therapies.

Prognosis.

Meditation on Sound.





Chapter 15: Tibetan Medicine for Health Professionals

Overview.

Scientific Basis.

Application.

Effectiveness.

Meditation: Loving Kindness Is My Religion.





Notes

Bibliography

Index

About the Authors

Editorial Reviews

As a complete guide to Health and Happiness based on Ancient knowledge of Sowa Rigpa, (Tibetan medicine), the authors carefully presented the integrity of Tibetan medicine as complement to modern medicine and conventional way of life.

Tsewang Tamdin

This book by Miriam Cameron and Tenzin Namdul is an excellent resource for health care providers interested in traditional and integrative medicine. The scientific community is interested in the benefits of traditional medical practices and their biological mechanisms. Tibetan medicine can be used together with Western medicine to enhance healthy outcomes and improve lives of people. This interesting book is easy to read and full of great practical advice for healthy and happy living. Healthcare professionals, students, researchers as well as lay people will benefit from this ancient healing system.

Omer Kucuk

Everyone wants to be happy! What a perfect truth and message to share with the world. Although more than 2,500 years old, few people know about this ancient healing system which teaches that healing and happiness begin in the mind. Tibetan Medicine and You: A Path to Wellbeing, Better Health, and Joy explains the concepts of Tibetan medicine which combines influences of classical India, China, and Central Asia with Buddhism. Living in harmony with your constitution is an important aspect of Tibetan medicine and this book provides tools to help you determine your innate constitution. Once you know your constitution, Tibetan Medicine and You: A Path to Wellbeing, Better Health, and Joy contains information about how to create balance through lifestyle choices, diet, herbs and meditation and provides a number of methods and techniques to follow for self-healing purposes. This book inspires deep appreciation for an ancient healing system that is totally applicable to our lives today. It is a treasure...

Phyllis D. Light

This book is an enterprising effort to communicate Tibetan Medicine to a global audience. It is a bold initiative in creating for the first time a self-help manual of Tibetan healing.

Barry Clark

Overall, I was recurrently struck by the holistic seamlessness between Tibetan religion, its rich cosmology, and its medicine.. . a compelling and informative read.

Explore: The Journal of Science and Healing

Cameron and Namdul understand that Tibetan medicine and Western medicine are all too often seen as competing paths to physical and emotional healing. They present a thorough and accessible summary of what ancient Tibetan medicine excels at as well as what Western medicine does best. Their hope in their collaboration is that both disciplines can get past entrenched biases, understand that neither approach need be in conflict but can complement one another for the betterment of us all.

Sharon Salzberg

This book is an excellent presentation of the complexity of Tibetan Medicine in a simple yet thorough format the western mind can understand. The authors describe Tibetan Medicine as a truly integrative system that weaves together body, mind & spiritual aspects to balance a being’s healthful energies. Just as the mind can create suffering and disease, Buddhist practice and meditation is included to help decrease human suffering through understanding. This emphasis on the whole person brings new relevance of this book to Karma & Dharma practice. Highly recommended reading to Tibetan Medicine patients, students and healthcare professionals.

Lobsang Dhondup