|
by their
intensely meditative discipline. Medicine thus became a part
of Buddhism – providing the means to maintain a healthy bodily
state of equilibrium.
Some have suggested that the Buddha’s key
teaching of the Four Noble Truths was based on a medical
paradigm, whereby suffering, its cause, its suppression, and
the method for its elimination find a parallel in medicine to
disease, its cause, health and the reedy. But actually the
four fold division that occurs in Charaka Samhita is different
from the Four Noble Truths. “The best physician, one fit to
treat a king, is he whose knowledge is four fold: (he knows)
the cause (hetu), symptom (linga), cure (prasmana), and
non-recurrence (apunarbhava) of diseases. Knowledge of medical
theory and practice among the sarmanic, Buddhists, however, is
indisputable, and the Buddhist sangha, or monastic community
where wandering intellectuals would gather and exchange
information, soon became the principal vehicle for the
preservation, advancement and transmission of medical lore.
Some of the repository of medical lore was codified at these
Sanghas, thereby giving rise to a Buddhist medical monastic
tradition. In the early Sangha, membership was quite
unrestricted and wanderers joined and left at will. These
comings and goings increased the volume of new information
available. Debates among the temporary residents were common
and luckily included topics related to medicine. As fixed
Sangha establishments with permanent resident monks became
more common, the knowledge discussed and exchanged was
gradually accumulated, filtered and codified, eventually
becoming Buddhist doctrine. The symbiotic relationship between
Buddhism and medicine led to the teaching of medicine in the
large conglomerate monasteries or viharas.
However, even after the establishment of settled monasteries,
medicines requisite in sickness remained among the monk’s
necessities and constituted one of his four possessions along
with a robe, a begging bowl, and a bed.
Tibetan medicine continued to progress due to the efforts of
Buddhist monks and the emphasis laid on it by religion. In the
process, it derived influences from various external sources.
In the second century AD, it was further influenced by arrival
of two physicians from India by the names of Bijay and Gazay.
The Brahmin physicians Bijay was given the princess Cham –
sing - yekyireoja as his bride by King Lhatho – thori –
nyentsen. Their son, named Thung – ki – thorchok, too became a
famous physician.
The development of the Tibetan system got an impetus during
the 7th and 8th centuries when physicians from Persia, Greece,
India, Nepal, China, Sinkiang and other neighbouring states
were invited to Tibet by the Kings Sorngstsen Gampa and
Trisong Detsen, to exchange knowledge with Tibetan scholars
and physicians. Many young Tibetans were enrolled as medical
students and nine among them became learned physicians. At
this period the great Tibetan translator and scholar, Beru
Tsana (Vaircana) translated the “Ghyushi” (Four Tantras)
teachings given by the Kashmiri scholar Chandranandna (Panchen
Dawa Ngoenpa), into the Tibetan language and presented the
work to the king. Beside Beru Tsana, the renowned Tibetan
physician, Elder Yuthong Yonten Gompo (708–833 AD) too
received the “Ghyu – Shi” teachings from India. It is said
that the spread of “Ghyu – shi” teachings does not ripe for
revelation at that period and Guru Padmasambhava hid the
works, until Dapa Ngoenshay revealed this hidden work from the
top of the Samye Monastery in the eleventh century. |
