Fundamentals of Tibetan Medicine.pdf

8/17/2019 Fundamentals of Tibetan Medicine.pdf

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THE JOURN L

OF THE INTERN TION L SSOCI TION OF

BUDDHIST STUDIES

E D I T O R I N C H I E F

A . K. Narain

University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA

E D I T O R S

L. M. Joshi

Punjabi University

Patiala, India

Alexander W. Macdonald

Universite de Paris X

Nanterre, France

Bardwell Smith

Carleton College

Northjield Minnesota, USA

Ernst Steinkellner

University of Vienna

Wien, Austria

Jikido Takasaki

University of Tokyo

Tokyo,

Japan

Robert Thurman

A mherst College

Amherst

Massachusetts, USA

A S S I S T A N T E D I T O R

Roger Jackson

Volume 5

1982

Number 2


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C O N T E N T S

I . AR T IC L E S

1. Early B ud dh ism an d the U rba n Revo lut ion, by Bal-

k r i shna Govind Go kha le 7

2 . P i lg r image and the S t ru c tu re of S inha lese Bu dd hism , by

Jo h n C. Holt 23

3. A Ne w Ap p ro a c h to th e In t r a -M a d h y a m ik a C o n f ro n ta t io n

over the Sva tantr ika and Prasahgika M etho ds of Refu

ta t ion , by Shohe i Ich im ura 41

4.

' La t e r M adh yam ika ' in Ch ina : Som e C ur re n t Perspec t ives

on the History of Chinese

Prajndpdramitd

Thought , by

A aro n K. Koseki 53

5. T h e Do c t r in e o f t h e B u d d h a -N a tu re in th e Ma h a y a n a Ma-

hdparinirvdna Sutra by M ing-W ood Liu 63

6 . T he De ve lopm ent of La ngu age in Bh uta n , by Lop on

Na d o 9 5

7.

Pro leg om en a to an English Transla t ion of the

Sutrasamuc-

caya,

by Bh ikku Pasa dika 101

8. T he Issue of the B ud dh a as Vedagu, with Reference to the

Format ion o f the Dhamma and the Dialectic with the

Bra hm ins , by K athe r ine K. Y oun g 110

I I . B O O K R E V I E W S A N D N O T I C E S

1.

Focus on Buddhism. A Guide to A udio-Visual

Resources

for Teach

ing Religion, ed i ted by Rober t A. McDermot t ; and Spiri

tual Discipline in Hinduism, Buddhism, and the West, by

H arr y M. Buck 121


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2 . Fundam entals of Tibetan Medicine,

ed. and t r . by T.J . Tsarong,

e ta l . 124

3. Pratityasamutpadastutisubhds.itahrdayam of A carya Tsong kha pa,

t r . by Gyal t sen Na md ol and Ng aw ang Sam ten 127

4. Repertoire du Canon Bouddhique Sirw-Japonais, Edition de Tai-

sho.

Fascicule A nnex du H obogirin, compi led by Paul De-

mi£vil le , H ub er t D ur t , an d A nn a Seidel 128

5. Three Worlds A ccording to King Ruang: Thai Buddhist Cosm ol

ogy, t r . by Fra nk E. Rey nolds an d Mani B. Reyn olds 132

6.

The Way to Shambh ala,

by Edwin Be rnb aum 133

I I I .

N O T E S A N D N E W S

1.

Co m put i n g and Bud dh i s t S t ud ies 136

2.

T er m s of Sanskr i t an d Pali O r igin Acce ptable as Engl ish

Words 137

3.

A Re po r t on an Ed uca t ional Television/Fi lm Ser ies on 'Ti

be tan Bu dd hism 138

4.

Pro pos al for an In de x of Pub lications in Bu dd hist Stud ies 141

5.

6th Co nfe ren ce of the Inte rna t ion al Association of Bud dh is t

Studies 143

I V . O B I T U A R Y

Isal ine Blew H o rn er (18 96 -19 81 ) 145

Cont r ibutor s 150

Cont r i bu t o r s

150


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wheel

of

life

is

held

not in

the jaws

of

illusion

p. 26), but of

Yama, the Lord of Death. A lama, contrary to what Prof. Buck

says (p. 24),

is not

necessarily

a

priest,

and

only occasionally is

a

tulku.

Tibetan m editation (with w hich

Prof.

Buck, seems rather

unfamiliar)

is

founded

on

considerably more than

the

basic

texts listed by Prof. Buck, viz., the publications of Evans-Wentz

(p .

24). In

addition, there

are

various misspellings, misprints,

and misplaced diacriticals, which more careful editing might

have eliminated.

Despite

its

limitations, Spiritual

iscipline

in Hinduism, Bud-

dhism, and the West may

be

used profitably, if cautiously,

by

teach

ers

of

courses

in

Asian religion

or

comparative religion,

who

may find

its

discussions occasionally stimulating,

and its

reviews

of audio-visual materials useful.

Roger Jackson

Fundamentals

of

Tibetan Medicine,

edited

and

translated

by T. J.

Tsarong,

et al.

Dharamsala: Tibetan Medical Centre,

1981.

O ne of the biggest problems in reviewing a book on Tibetan

medicine

is

deciding

on the

proper approach

to

take. Should

one approach the subject as an example of cultural history or

anthropology? Should

one see the

book

as an

example

of

history

of science? Some, I know, would take it as a medical textbook

with

no

questions asked;

but in the

interests

of

maintaining neu

trality,

I

shall take none

of the

above approaches,

and yet all of

them

at the

same time,

by

first discerning

the

purpose

of the

book, and then examining whether or not the book succeeds in

its purpose.

The purpose of the book according to the publisher, is to

establish

the

Tibetan

art of

healing

on a

correct academic basis

in order to make a presentation to the international com mu n

ity.

The

publishers com plain,

and in

some cases justifiably, tha t

the

few

works published

on the

subject have often created

much misunderstanding

and

confusion.

The

publisher goes

on

to

name

a

number

of

authorities

who had a

hand

in the

work

so that

no one can

doubt that this work

was not the

product

of

someone's mistaken imagination.

The editors, along with

the

translator, echo

the

publisher's

sentiments, saying again that though

the

international commu-

124


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medicine , though I know of many who are interested in i t for i t s

possible prac t ica l (as op po se d to theore t ica l ) appl ica t ions. T h e re

is interest in i ts pharmacology and methods of diagnosis, as well

as methods of therapeut ics , such as the Tibetan version of acu

pu nc tu re (which, un for tun ate ly , is not well t rea te d he re) . T h e

sta tement tha t Tibetan medic ine i s par t of a grea t t radi t ion and

that i t was first taught by the Buddha wil l be compell ing to a few

apart f rom Asianis ts , Buddhists and others a l ready somewhat

out s ide the mains t ream of Weste rn cu l tu re .

How ever , fo r those ou t s ide the m ains t rea m , the book might

be interest ing. I th ink the book would be helpful for one want

ing to read Tibetan medical texts , because i t t ransla tes many

terms and gives an outl ine of the basics. There is nothing in i t

that ha sn ' t bee n pu blis he d b efo re, bu t he re , it is all inclu ded in

one smal l and convenien t book . The t ab les and appendices a re

helpful in org an iz ing info rm at ion .

One high point , which should not go unnoted, i s footnote

# 2 ,

which weakens the common c la im that the

rGyud bzhi

was

original ly an Indian work. This sound point of scholarship how

ever , i s undercu t in no te #14 . There , the au thor c la ims tha t

Tibetan physic ians knew about the c i rcula t ion of the blood long

before Harvey because the rGyud bzhi said tha t the bloo d left

f rom an d re tu rn ed to the region of the he ar t . This is a co m m on

error among apologists for t radi t ional medic ine . That the blood

came and went everywhere was never in dispute in the West .

What Harvey did was descr ibe how the blood c i rcula ted, how i t

went out through ar ter ies and back through veins, what the

anatomical di f ferences between ar ter ies and veins were , what

par t of the hear t the blood from the body entered and went out ,

and what par t b lood from the lungs entered and went out . This

is som eth ing th e T ibe ta ns d id no t do .

The idea behind the book, a presenta t ion of Tibetan medi

c ine for the inte rna t iona l com m un i ty , is a good on e, but a re

vised version seems necessary. As a reference work, i t has some

value, but i t is too superficial . As a manual for pract i t ioners, i t is

a lso too superf ic ia l , though i t might inspi re some to explora t ion.

As an apology for Tibetan medicine, i t is a fai lure. As a docu

ment for historians and social scientists it is evidence of the ways

in which a people t ry and preserve the i r cul ture , in what may

very well be a losing battle.

E . Todd Fenner

126

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Fundamentals of Tibetan Medicine.pdf