Answers To Oxford Vocabulary Level E Unit 4

Source: The Tibetan Art of Healing
(Ediciones Martinez Roca)

By Begoña Red

Buddha said for thousands of years the Suffering is a tool of liberation, and this is precisely the basis of Tibetan medicine in both past and present.

In order to help us understand the difficult test disease, Buddhist sages have left us the legacy of the paintings of the Medical Tantras. They say that the mere contemplation can modify the state of body and spirit.

The unique quality of Tibetan medicine is not only a clear commitment to heal the human body ailments and diseases, but likewise the revelation of a path through which the body, mind and spirit can be released from the suffering of conditioned existence.

According to Tibetan tradition, the Buddha , to emanate as "The Lord of the Remedies" , established thousands of years ago, the foundation of Tibetan medicine in the form of Gyushi Four Medical Tantras or . In the seventeenth century, Sangye Gyamtso , regent of the Fifth Dalai Lama , wrote a commentary on the Gyushi known by the title of Blue Beryl, who illustrated a number of extraordinary paintings by Tibetan artist recreated Romio Shrestha, allowing to understand the Tibetan Buddhist approach to health, healing and spirituality.

Tibetan Doctors spent years of study at these paintings, however, that the said Gyamtso "were established for the content of the medical tantras is noticeable to anyone from the student to the child as clearly as you can see a myrobalan plant in the palm of your hand. "

some 2,500 years ago, the Buddha Sakyamuni , distressed at the prospect of old age, weakening and death, found a way through which could alleviate suffering. The oldest Buddhist scriptures describe the pain as arising from our common efforts to consolidate in a universe in perpetual change. The Buddha taught that an excessive attachment, especially to the human body gives rise to suffering because impermanence and change are essential to all life through meditation, gradually fades identification with the ego and develops the intuition of the evanescent nature of all existence. The correct compression leads to nirvana , the cessation of all suffering.

But the Buddhist aspiration was no longer in securing personal salvation, but in combat the benefit of sentient beings. Compassion was the essential energy that animated existence. So solemn vow of bodhisatha (enlightened man) to work for the benefit of all beings became sympathetic activity and the alleviation of human suffering fundamental Buddhist ideals. Thus, in the second century BC began a revival in Buddhist thought and practices inspired by the writings movement known as Mahayana or Great Vehicle and during this period the healing of the sick became a practical method to live by virtue of selfless service.

But it was the revelation of the secret texts and practices that ensure the release, the Medical Tantras , when Buddhist art of healing reached its full development. In them, the body was no longer taken as overhead obstacles on the path to enlightenment, but the main vehicle to achieve it. As stated in the Tantras : "This body is the body of the Buddhas , more precious than the rarest of jewels." In the Tantras , the body is shown as an abode of dormant energy, grown in an appropriate manner, manifest in the light body.


From the seventh century, this route esoteric tantric came to Tibet from India through the teachings of Padmasambhava wise. Under the reign of King Songtsen Gampo, Tibet appeared on a sophisticated system of medical knowledge that was embodied in the quest for healing and wholeness, the eternal dream of mankind.

The Tibetan medical training encompasses all aspects of the healing arts, from identification and processing of medicinal plants to meditative empathy essential for an accurate diagnosis.

After spending fourteen years of primary education, medical training takes between five and twelve years of rigorous study, during which develops practical skills in the fields of diagnostics by the pulse, pharmacology, acupuncture, moxibustion and the methods to enhance and modify the medicinal substances.

Tibetan medicine in the inner qualities of a physician is considered as important as their academic skills. "The knowledge and skills alone are not sufficient to be a good doctor," wrote the doctor Dhondrop. The love, kindness and compassion towards patients, as well as a sincere effort to share your stress and distress, are qualities of equal importance, if not more. " Consequently the Buddhist ideals of wisdom and compassion are essential in training y los médicos aún hoy día inician el día visualizandose en forma de Buda de la Medicina y recitan los textos que invocan su presencia "...que pueda alcanzar pronto las facultades del Buda de la Medicina y llevar a todos los seres a su iluminado reino".



El arte tibetano de la sanación, practicado actualmente en todo el Tibet y las regiones himalayas de Ladakh, Nepal, Sikkim y Bután es transmitido aún hoy de generación en generación en las familias o, de un modo más sistemático, a través de la Escuela de Medicina Tibetana en Lhasa, o del Instituto de Medicina Tibetana fundado en 1.961 en Dharamsala, en el norte de la India, headquarters of the Tibetan government in exile.

After the flight of the population of Tibet occupied by Maoist China, Tibetan medicine has undergone a process of continuous development, which includes the development of new medicines to treat cancer and immune system diseases. As held by the current Dalai Lama : "Tibetan medicine is an integrated health system that has effectively served his people for centuries and still believe it can be very beneficial for all humanity."

Visits by Tibetan doctors in Europe and the U.S. have led to the development of new research in the fields of interaction mind / body as well as a successful treatment of a variety of diseases resistant to conventional therapy. Dr. Selzer, surgeon Yale University, commenting on his meeting with the Tibetan doctor Donden Yeshi, noted that "we have nothing like the West. This is a dimension of medicine than we are not yet aware of. "

Before embarking on the path of healing and liberation, the Buddha noted that one must fully experience the disconcerting reality of pain and satisfaction. As Buddha said, Contemplation of the disease, especially his own, invites us to compassion and the unexpected possibility of wholeness and integration. While Tibetan medicine recognizes the influence of pathogens in the generation of the disease, the forces of greed and aggression rooted in human ignorance are considered the three main afflictions from which all others derive.

Recognising these three "poisons of the mind" offers the possibility to perceive the origin of all disease and the first step in the development of wisdom. As it is said that Buddha himself said, "all life is suffering. When one sees so clearly, suffering ceases to exist." The disease has the effect of disrupting the whole of our normal everyday routines and acts as an incentive to re-evaluate our lives.

Sogyal Rinpoche wrote that "the times when you suffer are those which are more open, and where you are most vulnerable may be the place where he is the greatest force ..." .

Tibet physicians maintain that the disease allows a much better understanding that good health and works mind. One of the most profound meditations of Tibetan Buddhism is the tonglen or "give and take." In this practice, based on breathing when suffering is absorbed hopes of all mankind, and to breathe is exhaled its own welfare. This is done not only when you feel strong, but also when it is affected by the disease. As explained by the lamas, one should not imagine the pain itself disappears, but it is a burden even more pain, the suffering of all sentient beings. In doing so according to these guidelines, the body relaxes and the pain itself curiously begins to decrease. In this sense Sogyal Rinpoche recommended that: "whatever you do, not isolated nor separate your pain. No matter how desperate you are, accept your pain as it is, because, in fact, pain trying to give you a priceless gift, the opportunity to discover that it is more evident beyond your suffering. "

death and terminal illness are appropriate to the character we know about our physical bodies ephemeral and the fleeting nature of all existence. If denied or repressed, this awareness can lead to madness and depression. Integrated, can free us from the fears and hopes remain unsustainable that limit our lives.

While these images do not admit into our consciousness, our lives consist of endless evasions, without ever reaching clarity and spontaneity of conscious waking state and the possibility of a radical all of that suffering can not affect . "When your vital forces eventually disintegrate," said the Dalai Lama VII, viewed as elements of the body is dissolved. Then, as if it recovers to an old friend, gets forward to the clear light of death. " To which Sogyal Rinpoche said: "life and death are in the mind and nowhere else. The mind is the creator of the disease and suffering, the maker of what we call life and what we call death. "



True healing, as well as lighting, depends on an unwavering faith in the wisdom and light of our innermost nature. To assist in this difficult journey of self discovery, the paintings of the Tibetan Medical Tantras attract us to the magical realm of compassion and creativity.


As suggested by the Blue Beryl , if we remain open to its healing influences, all the afflictions and false emotions are finally released into the great expansion of all-pervading light.



From the book "The Tibetan Art of Healing."
Published by Ediciones Martinez Roca.