Tibetan medicine: healing at the end of the world
Three fingers are on each of my forearms. I hardly feel the forefingers. Even the middle finger press only slightly. But the ring fingers of Dr. med. Dawa Choedon almost pierced my bones. It is completely quiet in the small room. Through the window I see mountains, foothills of the Himalayas, slightly sugared above with snow. I still can not believe it: I am actually here, in the North Indian Dharamsala, the exile seat of the Dalai Lama, in the world-famous Men-Tsee-Khang-Clinic for Traditional Tibetan Medicine, founded in 1961 by him.
"Do you get bad air?", The doctor asks me suddenly in English. I emerge from my thoughts. How much time has passed? Ten minutes, fifteen? It's the first question she ever addressed to me. And that immediately hits the bull's eye. Only with the fingertips, she has listened to me and immediately found my weak spot. Without the help of high-tech equipment, and without even knowing anything about me, she has discovered exactly why I am sitting in front of her: my asthma.
What is missing-you-because-questions do not exist here. The Tibetan doctors rely on their instincts. Pulse diagnosis is her specialty. Years of experience are needed to differentiate between the subtle beats of twelve different pulses, according to sex, time of day and season, and to read off diseases and the individual constitution. Few doctors can do that. Dachoe, as it is called in Tibetan short form, is one of them.
Once again she feels and listens, leaves one of her assistants' arms short, exchanges with her in Tibetan, inspects my tongue, looks me in the eye, asks a few more questions and measures my blood pressure. Then she disappears to whisk my morning urine with a chopstick and then examine the foam, color and smell. "You've got a Badkan Disbalance," she finally announces, "increased mucus production, so bronchitis and asthma, and the left kidney is too cold, so if you do not do it, it will lead to circulatory problems, but the liver is alright!"
Diagnosis with instinct: ChroniquesDuVasteMonde author Monika Murphy-Witt with the doctor Dr. med. Dachoe
The ancient medicine from the roof of the world, first written in the 12th century in the textbook of the "Four Tantras", still unites traditional Asian healing knowledge and Buddhist wisdom. There are the five elements wind, fire, earth, water and space (ether) as building blocks of the universe and, as in Ayurveda, three basic energies for all living things: "Rlung" or Lung (wind) provides dynamics, movement, life energy. "Mkhrispa" or Tripa (bile) symbolizes fire, metabolism. "Badkan" or Bäken (slime) stands for everything liquid. If all three energies are harmoniously balanced, we are healthy. Illness, however, is always a disturbance of the balance of body and soul.
According to the Tibetan doctrine, this is due to our diet and living conditions, a bad karma through "mental poisons" such as greed, hatred, anger, envy, ignorance, ignorance and also through actions that arise from such feelings. My Badkan Disorder may then have come about through too much sweet and heavy food, but also through physical and mental immobility, the feeling of being on the spot, or repressing unpleasant truths. It means go in and do root cause research ...
The holistic view of Traditional Tibetan Medicine is attracting more and more Europeans to the Men-Tsee-Khang. Most, because they want to do more for themselves than to swallow chemistry. Like me, I no longer feel like spraying cortisone in my morning and evening. Others come because western medicine can no longer help them anyway. Nobody is given up here. Dr. Dachoe reaches for her recipe block: no spicy spices, no garlic, no cold drinks from the fridge. Less fried, oily, potatoes and raw vegetables. Beware of cold, humid weather. Drink a lot of hot water. And meditate. Then come the medications, all from a variety of different Himalayan herbs. One type of pills for morning and evening, for midday two remedies that have to be taken daily, and chewable tablets in between. As a SOS agent large thick balls of herbs, which I should boil in a breath emergency with hot water to inhale the steam. For malaise and cold feelings a tea. And my asthma spray if needed.
In the clinic pharmacy a radiant Tibetan composes my three months ration. On each sachet she writes me in English exactly how and when to take the tablets. A giant mountain compared to my little inhaler! Pure nature for that. Only a recipe for one of the legendary jewel pills is unfortunately not there!
True miracles are said to be individually packaged in tissue paper pills containing up to one hundred ingredients such as powdered gemstones and mercury, iron and lead purified over months of procedures. For some seriously ill people, they are the last hope, in addition, they are life-prolonging and rejuvenating effect. Provided they never see the light of day - even when taking not Tenzin Thaye, Tibetan monk and chief pharmacist of Cure Production in Dharamsala. Only then can they fully develop their magical powers.
In addition to this royal discipline fade the other Tibetan herbal pills something. But also their production is high art. There are six different "flavors" (sweet, sour, salty, bitter, spicy and astringent), according to the five elements contained in the ingredients. It is less about the sensation on the tongue than the effect: against my too much "badkan" I need sharp, salty or acidic remedies. They reduce the mucus and increase wind and fire energy.
3000 square kilometers is the area from which the most diverse medicinal plants for the herbal pills are brought to Dharamsala - from the Tibetan highlands as well as from the primeval forests of the East Indies. Leaves, roots, bark, seeds, fruits, everything is used in the ancient recipes; up to 100 individual substances per agent. The benefit of these herbal mixtures, according to Thaye: slow effect and little side effects. Even allergic reactions are unlikely to occur. About 200 different preparations are manufactured here in the Men-Tsee-Khang and sent by prescription to the whole world. The replenishment is thus secured. That comforts me as I make my way back to Germany. And Dr. Dachoe's e-mail address in my notebook gives me extra security.
At home, I start immediately with the intake of my herbal pills, finely chopped in hot water. Phew, horrible! The best is the tea. I even like that. I leave my asthma spray away completely, wear it only as a precaution always with me. Now I really want to know. After a few days dreams come. For a whole night, my mind seems to be wandering. During the day, my skin is getting thinner and thinner. Tears seem to flow without reason. Something happens to me, gets moving, dissolves - not just the mucus. Then my mood picks up again. I feel like I'm getting better and better, fresh and energetic. Sometime after four or five weeks I do not like the midday pills anymore, both varieties. They suddenly burn in the mouth and just taste disgusting. I'll let her off. Soon I'll be fine with the other pills too.
In the meantime I do not take anything anymore. I'm fine. Even from colds, coughs and bronchitis I have been spared since my trip to India. So far, I have not needed my big SOS-balls, and I forget to take my asthma-spray more and more often. Only the tea I drink regularly. He has already sold many a shiver. I have already ordered it. And if I am running out of air in everyday stress, I take my time to take a deep breath: Then I send my mind on the journey back to Dharamsala, to the morning puja in the temple with hot salty butter tea and pancakes. Om ma ni ped me hung - that frees a lot!
More information
More information for Traditional Tibetan Medicine at www.tibetischedizin.or and www.tibetmedizin.com. A study trip to North India on Tibetan Medicine with the opportunity to be treated in the Men-Tsee-Khang Clinic in Dharamsala (www.men-tsee-khang.org) offers z. B .: a & e travel team, Wentzelstr. 8, 22301 Hamburg, Tel. 040/27 87 88 70, www.ae-reiseteam.de. 15 days DR / HB from 2350 Euro.
Read on: Khenrab Gyamtso / Stephan Kölliker: "Tibetan Medicine", AT Verlag, 29,90 Euro. Ingfried Hobert: "The Practice of Traditional Tibetan Medicine", O.W. Barth-Verlag, 24.90 euros. Gerti Samel: "Tibetan Medicine", mosaic by Goldmann, 12 Euro. Dr. Andrea everywhere: "Tibetan medicine chest", Oesch Verlag, 19 euros.
