Preparation of Medicine
Shang Shung Institute School of Tibetan Medicine
Conway Massachusetts, USA
January 2014

Medical students at Tsegyalgar East with Dr. Namgyal Tsering study theory of Tibetan Pharmacology.

Students of the SSI School of Tibetan Medicine (SSI STM) gathered at Tsegyalgar, in Conway Massachusetts, on January 22nd to engage with Menpa Namgyal Tsering in an introduction to the art of Tibetan medicinal preparation. This wonderful week-long intensive course was a precursor to the 16 week semester that is currently underway within the four-year on-line medical program, and that delves deeper into the subject of Tibetan Pharmacology sByor ba sMan).

Dr. Namgyal Tsering, a revered scholar of Tibetan medicine, is a guest faculty member at SSI STM at the invitation of the school’s International Director, Dr. Phuntsog Wangmo. Dr. Tsering was formerly in service to Humanity and His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama as the appointed head of Pharmacology at Men Tsee Khang, Dharamsala, India for over thirty years. His tireless contribution to the welfare of others has resulted in the formal education of countless Tibetan physicians and numerous official publications from Men Tsee Khang, including in-depth commentaries on pharmacology within the Four Tantras of Tibetan Medicine or rGyud bzhi.

“Everything is medicine,” is a profound tenet within the rGyud bzhi by which a physician may live and gain insight into the art of Tibetan medicine. Contemplating this, a physician can discover the means by which she or he fully expresses the responsibility of being a servant to the welfare of others. Nothing is excluded from having the potential to alleviate suffering. Likewise, there is no aspect of the processes involved in composing medicinal formulae that does not contribute to the resultant potency and potential benefit delivered to those who receive it. The location in which an ingredient is cultivated, the time at which it is harvested, the temperature and exposure to light in which it is cured, the anatomical section of an ingredient that is used, the heart-mind of the physician who shapes substances into applicable medicinal forms, the empowerment of medicine by accomplished practitioners, and the presenting conditions of the body, voice and mind of the recipient are all inherently integral to the function of Tibetan medicine.

Dr. Tsering demonstrates the detoxification process of Tribulus, one of the herbs used in this particular ! sman mar compound.

SSI STM students were privileged to begin hands-on learning of how each of the 5 elements in combination with one another makes up tastes, as we know them. Each of the six tastes (sweet, sour, salty, bitter, hot and astringent) acts upon the 7 bodily constituents that collectively support human life. These root guidelines, seemingly simple when first encountered, beautifully unfold into a compendium of exacting information on all substances that are used in Tibetan pharmacology and how their qualities impact the myriad conditions of imbalance that one may encounter in a lifetime.

Students of SSI STM’s four-year medical program are currently offered on-line, on-site and in-field study opportunities on Tibetan Pharmacology in conjunction with the complete knowledge of the rGyud bzhi. The SSI STM adheres to the authentic oral tradition of instruction that has been transmitted throughout history in this unbroken lineage of Tibetan Medicine practitioners.