New Light on Tibetan Medicine: Volume II - Methods

The New Light on Tibetan Medicine series brings together Dr. Pasang Yonten Arya's extensive educational materials for the first time. Building on five decades of study, clinical practice, and teaching, this set of comprehensive textbooks aims to provide a unique contemporary overview of the science of healing known as Sowa Rigpa. No English-language publication of comparable scope has appeared so far. This series is therefore an essential guide and reference for students of Tibetan, Asian, and Buddhist medical traditions, as well as for health professionals, therapists, and researchers.

Methods is the second volume of the New Light series. This textbook systematically lays out the vast Tibetan medical arsenal of approaches and techniques that facilitate both diagnosis and treatment. Clarifying and building on the foundational classic the Four Tantras (Gyüzhi) in combination with key traditional commentaries, it provides an unprecedented practical synthesis relevant and applicable in this day and age. In addition to covering standard diagnostics such as anamnesis, pulse reading and analyses of body constitution, urine, and tongue, innovative additional techniques including lingual, eye and ear vein reading receive special attention. In terms of treatment, dietetics is particularly extensive, with more than 200 classified foods and beverages. Besides chapters on pharmacy and a total of 20 internal and external therapies, the Appendix also contains a table characterizing more than 380 single ingredients and a highly useful indications list of 100 medicinal formulas.