Tibetan Medicine and Healing

From its earliest beginnings, Buddhism was a healing tradition, according to Dr. Robert Thurman, Columbia University professor, leading Buddhist scholar, author, and former Tibetan Buddhist monk. According to Thurman, Tibetans believe that untapped healing potential dwells within each individual and that the earth provides endless medicinal resources that are largely undervalued or overlooked by Western medicine.

In a February 2005 address at the Alternative Medicine and Health Event in New York City, Thurman recommends that each individual "look deeper into the reality of things. Deep in the subatomic energy core there is pure, blissful, nurturing and sustaining energy." Dr. Thurman calls us to recognize "what air is made of, plants are made of," so that healing becomes "the natural state of things. Plants give themselves to us to heal and for food, as do minerals and water. Reverse your habitual view of the world as a difficult place and view it as a world of healing."

His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama wishes the medical traditions of Tibet to become its major industry, Dr. Thurman says, and he notes that Tibet is well known for its high-altitude herbs. Dr. Thurman would like to see Tibetan medical practices integrated with Western study of alternative medicines. He believes that spontaneous remission is not a miracle; rather, the power of the mind to heal will lead to ultimate health, which Dr. Thurman defines as enlightenment, or becoming a Buddha.

Dr. Thurman has written and translated many critical texts on Buddhism, including Tibetan Buddhism and The Tibetan Book of the Dead. His most recent book is entitled Circling the Sacred Mountain: A Spiritual Adventure Through the Himalayas. He is a close personal friend of His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama, and father of five children, including the actress, Uma.