Interconnections in Himalayan Medicine.key

Interconnections in
Himalayan Medicine
Past, Present & Future
Eric Rosenbush, L.Ac.
SHARING KNOWLEDGE
Interconnections in
•
Space - between regions & cultures
•
Time - three times
•
Fields of Knowledge - interdisciplinary study
Himalayan
•
Himalayan ecology and medicinal herbs
Medicine
•
Traditions of medical knowledge
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Bhāva Cakra :: Wheel of Existence
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Karma Vip!ka
•
Ripening of global,
group, and personal
karmas
•
Cycles of time
•
Navigation in the
degenerate age.
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Pure vision
The Universe Within
•
As above so below
•
Vajra Body principle
•
loka puru!a sāmya siddhānta
Spiritual Ecology
We classify other animals and living beings as nature,
acting as if we ourselves are not part of it. Then we pose
the question ‘How should we deal with Nature?’ We should
deal with nature the way we should deal with ourselves! We
should not harm ourselves; we should not harm nature . . .
Human beings and nature are inseparable.
— Thich Nhat Hanh
e rivers were her blood vessels. To gain power over the land the Tibetan kings and
d use the art of Sa Che.
Sa Che: Tibetan Geomancy !"#$#%
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Tanadug
Pure Land Garden Dimension of the Medicine Buddha
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Himalaya & the Tibetan Plateau
Kailash - our Sumeru
Geological
Formation
Tibetan Plateau
Roof of the World
Himalayan Rainshadow
Climatic Zones
•
Elevation
•
Rainfall
Patterns
•
Mineral
Composition
The Third Pole
The Himalayan region has the third largest
deposit of frozen water on earth, after the two
poles.
There are around 15,000 glaciers holding
somewhere around 12,000 cubic kilometers of
water, and feeding most of the rivers of Asia.
Biodiversity
•
Variety of life, species
richness
•
Importance - economic,
political, ecological,
ethical, conservational
Rebkong, Amdo
Alpine Ecology
• Unique ‘islands’ of endemic
species
• Varies with climatic patterns
• Centuries of low usage due
to inaccessibility
• Sensitive and very
medicinally potent plants
• Vulnerable due to limited
suitable distribution range
Aconitum hetrophy"um bong dkar
Fundamentals:
Past
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Interconnections in Ancient
Peoples
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Zeitgeist, astrological cycles
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Trade routes
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Buddhism
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Local & global - References to medicines traded,
widespread species in medical texts
Ancient Trade Networks
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Context
Relation to historical developments (dynasties, texts)
Lack and need for this study.
Multidisciplinary approach
Holistic- seeing the larger picture beyond borders and
language
Ancient Tibet
Origins
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Nomadic Culture
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Agriculture
Ngakpa Vi"age - Rebkong
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Shamanic Tradition
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Zhang Zhung Kingdom
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Tonpa Shenrab Miwo
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Greek Medicine
Galen & Hippocarates
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Indian Medicine
V!r!"as# - India’s center of knowledge for over 3000 years
on the banks of the river Gang!
Sowa Rigpa in the Human
World
Abhassaras - Aggañña Sutta
Manu and Brahma
Drang Song &'"!('"% "#i Tradition
•
Original Himalayan medical conference - Caraka Samhitā Sū 1
Indian Buddhist Medicine
J$vaka Kum!ra
•
Studied at Takshashila
University under Atreya
•
Doctor for Shakyamuni
Buddha and Sangha.
•
Patriarch of Thai
Medicine
Ancient Indian Educational
Centers
•
Takshashila
•
Nalanda
•
Varanasi
Sunrise on the Ganges - Varanasi
Highlights of Buddhist Medicine
•
•
•
King Ashoka (3rd Century BC)
•
Built hospitals and established many philanthropic projects.
•
Medicine spread to neighboring countries with Buddhism.
Gupta Era (4th-6th Century)
•
Vagbhat - Astanga Hrdaya Samhita
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Varahamihira
Nagarjuna’s commentary on Susruta Samhita
End of Indian Buddhism
•
Muslim Invasions (10th-12th Century)
•
Diaspora of texts and masters to the north.
•
Nepal
•
Northwest
•
Tibet
North West
•
•
Kashmir Chandranandana
Guge
•
Oddiyana
•
Rinchen Zangpo
•
Ladhak
Nep!l
Himalayan crossroads
Newar culture
Other ethnic groups and
regions
Chinese Medicine
Interactions Between Chinese
and Tibetan Medical Traditions
Need for deeper scholarship
Massive diversity in Chinese medical traditions due to
the phases and dynamics of Chinese medical history.
Need to place TCM theory according to the times and
regions.
What was the Chinese Medicine that was encountered at
different phases in Tibet?
Early Developments
• Origins
• Wu Tai Shan & Manjushri
• Han Dynasty
• Huang Di Nei Jing
• Shang Han Lun
• Hua Tuo
• Buddhism
• Tao Hong Jing & Shen
Nong Bencao
࿔ச Tang Dynasty (618–907 AD)
ྑ‫ ◞ڽ‬Sun Simiao aka ੊ࣼ Yao
Wang
Јࢗӆस Xin Xiu Ben Cao
“Newly Revised Matera Medica
aka Tang Materia Medica
Princess Wenchang & her
entourage
Later Developments
Song (10-13c)
Yuan (13-14c)
Ming (14-17c)
Qing (17-20c)
Tibetan Medicine
Tibetan Buddhism
Terma )*+,"-%
First TTM Conference
•
33rd Tibetan King Songtsen Gampo .('"/01"2-"3(% (617-650)
First TTM Conference
•
Galeno from Persia
•
Han Wang Hang De from China
•
Bharadvaja from India
Eighth Century Conference at Samye
•
King Trisong Detsen 45".('"6+7"/81% (790-844)
•
Doctors from India, Kashmir, Nepal, China, Iran,
Central Asia
Guru Padmasambhava
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Elder Yuthog Yonten Gompo
708-833
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Younger Yuthog Yonten Gompo
1126-1202
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Important Lotsawas
•
Vairotsana
•
Rinchen Zangpo
Important Masters
Orgyan Rinchen Pal 1230-1309
Jang School
— Namgyal Dagsang 1395-1475
Zur School
—Zurkar Namnyid Dorje 1439-1475
—Lodro Gyalpo 1509-1572
Chakpori School
—Fifth Dalai Lama 1617-1682
—Desi Sangye Gyatso 1653-1706
De’umar Tenzin Puntsok 1672-?
Khenpo Troru Tsenam
(1926-2004)
Important Trade Routes
Silk Road
Tea & Horse Road
Salt & Herb Traders
Nepal
Present
Earth :: 2014
Interface with Modernity
Asian Medical Traditions
Meet Industrialization
Western example - from folk traditions of the middle ages to
industrialization.
West to East
How Indian, Chinese and other traditional medicines fared
within colonial and communist times
Bias & prejudice based on political and economic interests
East to West
Fascination with Asian wisdom and cultures.
Maintaining the View
▪ Allopathic influence
▪ Educational standardization, homogenization
▪ Disease definitions
▪ Herbal research biases
Rural Challenges
Loss of folk and classical
medicines
Lack of access to medical
care
Brain and human drain to
cities
Adoption of global capitalism
& currency
Modern Challenges
Loss of connection
Stress
Overstimulation
Artificial foods and lifestyle
Lack of exercise
Climate Change
Glacial Loss
Deforestation
Adaptation to temperature and seasonal changes
Massive species loss
Human Influences
Sorig
Perspective
Causes & Conditions
Symptoms
Diagnosis
Prognosis
Therapeutic Principle &
Treatment
Future
Homeostasis
Our challenge: to find a symbiosis
How to accommodate our massive exploding human
population, preserve the natural world and habitats.
Healing our global health care system.
Possibilities
◦ Species loss > substitutions
◦ Sustainability
Maintaining Diversity
Biodiversity as a model, tendrel
Examples: languages, foods, traditional medicines
Celebrating diversity in local traditions
▪ Recipes, khatsar and substitution herbs
▪ Preserving texts and transmissions
▪ Lineages of clinical practice, oral instructions
Education
Correct Understanding & Right Livelihood
Education
Translating universal principles within the essence of
Sowa Rigpa, which can apply anywhere, any time.
Educating the public
Training practitioners
Creation of a conscious market for sustainable herbs.
Research
Not only medicinal substances, but the view.
Disease definitions, pathology, treatment principles.
Preservation of Knowledge
Traditional herbal and medicinal preparations
Family and lineage teachings that continue to die out
Local uses of medicines, variant species
Diagnostic techniques
Texts and textual interpretation
Sustainable Herbal Medicine
Medicine plant nursery and research garden.
Ramani, Uttarakhand
Symbiosis
Farmer/Collector
User /
Patient
Conservationist
Medicine
Producer
Medical
Practitioner
Herbal Cultivation
Hong Len farmer - Uttarakhand
Threatened Plant Species
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•
Mistakes:
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Yew tree
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Ginseng
Successful Species:
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Picrorhiza kurroa - hong len
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Saussurea costus - ru rta
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Inula helenum - manu
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Current Challenges:
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Aconitum hetrophylum bong dkar
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Dactylorhiza hatagirea dbang lag
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Nordostachys jatamansi spang spos
Taxus sp. :: Yew tree
An example of the potential problems faced with
mismanagement of medicinal plants.
Taxol - a chemotherapy agent - is derived from its bark
First extracted from the Pacific Yew (T. brevifolia)
Currently some regions of southern Nepal have begun to
cultivate it.
Tending the Wild
‘Wild-simulated’ or ‘semiwild’ cultivation
Sustainable management
of land, wildcrafting
Reseeding, replanting
Forest Farming
“Forest farming is the intentional cultivation of edible,
medicinal or decorative specialty crops beneath native or
planted woodlands that are managed for both wood and
understory crop production. It does not include the gathering
of naturally-occurring plants from native forests, also known as
wildcrafting. Forest farming can provide profitable
opportunities for forest and woodland owners, nut growers,
sugar maple growers, and herb growers.”
— Association for Temperate Agroforestry
GACP
© Ben Heron
GACP - Good Agricultural and
Collection Practices for Medicinal Plants
•
Practices for quality and cleanliness in drying, washing,
harvesting, package, and storage of medicinal plants.
•
This can produce raw materials that will have the most
medicinal value, free from contaminants.
Modern Influences
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Botanical and ecological understandings
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Analysis, understanding of active constituents
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Species mapping
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Medical research
Allies
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Community Groups: HIMCON, Himalaya Seva Sangha
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Local Sustainable Businesses: SOS Organics
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Community Groups: Uttaranchal Youth And Rural
Development Centre
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Sustainable Farming Groups: Indian Permaculture
Institutes
Means of Transformation
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Government policy
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Ethical standards of producers
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Knowledge of practitioners
•
Patient education
Delicate Balance
Between conservation methods and access to species
between environmentalists and medicine producers
Between traditional and modern forms of knowledge
between modern research methods and traditional understanding
Between short and long term needs
between immediate profit and stable livelihood
Between poverty alleviation and sustainable development
between economic stimulation and cultural preservation
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Balance
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Rigdzin Rabpel Ling Ngakpa Temple - Rebkong, Amdo
Ngakmang
Projects
•
Shitro and other rituals
•
Retreat Cabins
•
Sowa Rigpa Clinic
•
Classroom/Library
•
Education and Medical
Projects
Orgyen Menla @ Khyung Gon
Ngakpa Temple - Rebkong
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Conclusion
Thank You!
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