The Tibetan medical school
The Tibetan medical school is very linked to the techniques of the Indian system. Besides having in common the study of astrology ( Jungtsi ) and having shared several political questions, it is known that from the 7th to the 21st century Tibetan scholars imported the so-called Dharma, or the Indian method of teaching, oral and practical.
The first Tibetan school of medicine was founded in the 8th century . Legend has it that the Tibetan king Trisong Deutsan feigned ill to test the skills of foreign doctors. Struck by the skill of nine doctors who came to the palace to take care of his health, the sovereign expressed his will to spread these traditions in his Tibet. The nine doctors were granted privileges and riches in exchange for teaching medical knowledge to young Tibetans.
Speaking of Tibetan medical school, it must be emphasized that, in Tibet, there is a strong respect for doctors who come from a family medical tradition. This tradition originated in the 7th-8th century, when many doctors from Arab and trans-Asiatic countries visited Tibet, making their medical traditions known. The disciples of these doctors handed down these disciplines from father to son, giving life to the corpus of Tibetan medicine. Several documents tell us of important families: Drangti, Nyapa Choesang and Yuthok above all. Even today, in the villages and small towns of Tibet, a medical practice of the oral tradition called mengag survives, based on the family lineage. Formerly, the training system must have been very different among the various medical families.
When Tibetan doctors adopted the medical-philosophical corpus of the Quattro Tantra, around the twelfth century, medical education was approved, becoming the same for all. In fact, after the fifteenth century, the mode of family transmission suffered a strong decline, resisting only inside the monasteries, where it improved with time refining its quality. The monasteries founded their own medical school, inextricably linked to the practice of life oriented towards an altruistic approach.
Each monastery observes its own rules and norms, enclosed in a corpus called Chayigchenmo . The teaching differs according to the place and many different traditions and schools have given life to their own basic texts of study and training.
Characteristics of the Tibetan medical school
Nowadays, the study of Tibetan medicine is different. Based on the history of Tibetan medicine, we can characterize the Tibetan medical school in four different ways of studying and teaching medicine.
The first period goes from the VIII to the X century, a period of time in which the teaching of medicine was encouraged by the government of Tibet while the type of school came from the family tradition. During this period the training method derived from systems originating in other countries. From the 10th to the 16th century, private families provided the teaching of medicine within the monasteries. The formation in this period is of Indian origin, influenced by the Dharma and the teachings of Mahayana Buddhism. From the seventeenth to the twentieth century, medical schools are run by the government, monasteries and even private individuals. Since the twentieth century, new knowledge, concepts and practices have made their way.
The traditional Buddhist method of study is based on three procedures, which combine Medicine and Dharma together. This method is aimed at achieving a complete and exhaustive knowledge of both the body and the mind, of one's disorders and those of other individuals.
The student of medicine, in a first phase, must limit himself to strictly follow the concepts and limits given to him by his teacher and by the school. Follows the understanding of the theory and the implementation of the techniques. Finally, there will come a time when the student will be able to awaken his mind, reaching the understanding of Medicine and Mind. This result goes far beyond school, discipline and tradition, setting aside the teacher, the subject and the subject of study.
