In 2009 we were blessed to have the first intake of students for Traditional Tibetan Medicine studies here in Australia. At the end of that first course, our teacher Dr Nida Chenagtsang said it had long been a dream of his to teach TTM in Australia.
So coming back for our second year of studies felt like a real consolidation of that dream into a very real reality. Our TTM family had grown with the inclusion of some new students who had completed studies during the year to enable them to join the current group.
As always it is with great anticipation and excitement (and some fear – what have I forgotten!) that we start our classes with Dr Nida.
TTM is such a vast and rich subject, with it’s history going back thousands of years; deeply embedded in the indigenous Bon culture of the Tibetan people and then later entwined with Buddhism, as it became the predominant religion of Tibet. Tibetan medicine can encompass not only the things we expect from a healing system such as medicines, external therapies, suggestions for diet and lifestyle; it can also include dream studies, astrology and an understanding of Sa Che or geomancy or more esoteric techniques such as healing with mantra. So it’s no wonder that we feel a little daunted as westerners embarking on this journey.
We don’t need to worry, Dr Nida makes sure we don’t get lost, don’t feel left behind in the cultural or historical differences. The fundamental thing we all need to practice any kind of healing is compassion and he shows us that in so many ways. We laugh, cry, and learn a lot!
As our nine days fly by we learn more about pulse reading, urine analysis – everyone is used to coming to class with their small yellow jars now. We look at tongues and hear about leeches. We try not to set each other on fire as we practice moxibustion. We face the prospect of bloodletting – what is worse, giving or receiving?
We learn about the amazing infinite, internal journey of the fetus. Long before the advent of x-ray or scanning, Tibetan doctors had a clear understanding of the way a woman’s body becomes a whole universe for every child that is born. And of course the mysteries of the end of life journey, with its dissolution of the body back to the five elements from which we all are formed.
We find out there are 72,000 internal channels in the body (and I hope we are not expected to learn them all by next year!) The three humors become more detailed as we go further into the subtle energies at work in us all. Pathology studies begin, and understanding the systems of our amazing bodies.
We all so enjoy having the gentle energy of our Tibetan students with us in the classroom, and the opportunity to hear Tibetan spoken each day is lovely.
(And we learn that an orgasm every day is good for your health…)
And it’s here in this room in a hotel in Melbourne that we have taken another step forward on our TTM journey; and started to really comprehend how connected we are, to each other, to our chosen subject, to our teacher, our patients and everything in and around us. That seems to be the most important thing anyone who wants to work as a healer can learn; that there is no separation.
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