Medical Advice from the Dalai Lama's Doctor

By Jen Christensen, CNN
December 5, 2012

Atlanta (CNN) -- A young girl bravely stood to ask the Dalai Lama's doctor a question, and he gave her an unusual answer.

Dr. Tsewang Tamdin, a world-renowned expert in Tibetan medicine, visited Emory University in Atlanta on Monday as part of his effort to reach more American medical practitioners. He wants to develop collaborative projects between the Tibetan medicine system, which is more than 2,500 years old, and Western medicine.

The little girl told Tamdin she suffered from asthma. She wanted to know if there was anything in Tibetan medicine that could help her get better.

Tamdin, who spoke through a translator for the hour long lecture, immediately switched to English. In a gentle, almost too-soft tone, he explained what might help.

Inhalers doctors prescribe for asthmatics works well, he said, and told her to continue using one if she does already. The inhaler, though, treats the symptoms only. Tibetan medical practice, he explained, ultimately aims to get to the root cause of the problem.

"While others might consider the holistic practice of Tibetan medicine 'alternative medicine' or a kind of side practice, I would like for others outside of our system to consider the Tibetan healing system full-fledged healing," Tamdin said. "Tibetan medical knowledge has tremendous potential to add to modern medicine."

Dr. Tsewang Tamdin
Tibetan practice teaches that people get sick when a person's physical, psychological and spiritual well-being are out of balance.

To restore balance, Tamdin recommended diet and exercise changes for the girl. He encouraged her to get proper rest and to get exercise that encouraged deep breathing, such as skipping or cycling.

He also suggested eating three or four white raisins a day. There is a property in the fruit that helps breathing, he said. But perhaps the biggest sacrifice for a child was his advice to avoid cold foods -- particularly, he said, ice cream.

Another patient who came to him with asthma symptoms would get a completely different diagnosis, Tamdin said. Each patient's disease is treated differently from the next. That's in large part because traditional Tibetan medicine is grounded in Buddhist philosophy. In his training to become a physician, Tamdin also studied Buddhist tradition and astrology.

American and Tibetan doctors have some practices in common. If Tamdin were to have a longer consultation with the girl, he said he would perform familiar diagnostic tests. He would examine her urine sample and take her pulse, but he also would ask questions that would be the more familiar terrain of a psychologist. He tries to find out if a person is angry or anxious or if someone is becoming too self-centered.

The Dalai Lama
"Tibetans believe in our interconnectedness," said Geshe Lobsang Negi, a former monk who is now director of the Emory-Tibet partnership. "When we lose that perspective -- that we are a kind of little speck that is infinitely connected with the rest of the world -- when we see ourselves as the solid, fixed, all-important center of the universe, we call that ignorance, and that means we are vulnerable to illness."

This whole person approach to Tibetan medicine is being analyzed by a number of research studies in the United States. An NIH-funded study is examining the impact that compassion meditation can have on alleviating depression.

Compassion meditation is a Tibetan Buddhist mind training that asks a person to examine why they feel a certain way about someone and then to develop feelings of love and empathy for a number of people that will grow with more practice to include even people they normally dislike.

Studies have shown the medical effectiveness of meditation overall. A 2003 study of mindfulness-based meditation showed enhanced antibody production after someone receives a flu vaccine. Another study from that same year found cancer patients who were trained in mindfulness-based stress reduction showed a boost in their immune system.

And a study this year from Carnegie Mellon University showed mindfulness-based meditation has a far-reaching influence on both psychological and physical health. Mindfulness means being present and in the moment, and observing in a nonjudgmental way.

Negi's 2008 study of compassion meditation showed a reduction in stress-induced immune and behavioral responses. Several other studies under way are looking at the impact of Tibetan treatments on certain viral illnesses and on hepatitis.

Tamdin believes ignorance is at the root cause of all illness.

"If you think about this, it makes sense," Negi said. "For instance, if you believe you are the center of the universe and someone has something you want, you may become jealous and believe you deserve what that person has."

"You may become so jealous," he added, "you don't sleep at night and you will be stressed. Medical tests have shown there is a biochemical change in your body created by a release of a stress hormone. In Tibetan medicine, it is important to recognize the role the mind can play on our own physical well-being."

Tamdin said that modern medicine treats symptoms, but said a patient will never get better if they fail to attend to psychological issues.

"If one does not gain this understanding of selflessness, they won't be able to overcome their ignorance," he said. "One way to look at it is to watch the bird and its shadow. It may fly and fly high into the sky, but it continues to leave a shadow on the surface of Earth. As long as you have ignorance within you -- even though you are enjoying good health -- there is always a shadow of sickness falling upon you. From this ignorance arises three mental poisons: attachment, hatred and delusion." All those will affect energy, he said.

In addition to actual medicine and dietary changes, a Tibetan doctor may also prescribe the patient practice more kindness and compassion toward others -- or that they practice more compassion meditation.

Western medicine is reluctant to accept the Tibetan medical idea that some unexplained illnesses may ultimately be caused by someone's karma or even by evil spirits. The language Tibetan doctors use to suggest that good health is based on the balance of bile, phlegm and wind may seem a little too foreign to modern medicine practitioners.

But the holistic approach to a patient's health -- treatments that involve diet, behavior, prescription of medicine and contemplative practices -- may continue to appeal to physicians after they see demonstrated proof that these kind of therapies work.

"The Tibetan tradition has evolved over 2,500 years," Negi said. "It has a rich tradition that has helped the health of people for many many years.

"His holiness the Dalai Lama was the first to say that these things we believe in should be subjected to scientific tools so we could better understand the human condition overall and help us to better deal with the situation of our own well-being."

Notes from Nadir ~ Dr. Rinpoche Excerpt

eBook edition

By Lisa Maliga

Ordinarily, each Tuesday a blog written by or about the Dalai Lama is posted here. However, due to the new release of the second edition of my novel Notes from Nadir, I've decided to include a somewhat relevant excerpt from it. The chapter has also been edited to keep it under 1,200 words.

Chapter 40 ~ Dr. Rinpoche

At the Buddhist center, a Tibetan doctor was doing a lecture on Tibetan medicine and offering consultations to anyone who called in advance and made an appointment. I'd attended a two-day seminar in Santa Monica a few years ago and found it highly educational. I learned it was a based on Ayurvedic medicine, along with Greek, Chinese and even Persian systems. It was all about balance—if one aspect of the body was off kilter, it affected everything else. My Mom was clearly off balance and she wouldn't deny that fact and agreed to see the doctor. I'd pay for her to see the Tibetan doctor as the fee of $25 was far less expensive than even a Medicare office visit.

I saw the young monk who was wearing his burgundy and gold robes and he smiled when he saw me and especially when he saw Mom. He first bowed to her and then reached over and shook her hand, the kindness emanating from his whole being. Tibetans, especially Tibetan Buddhist monks, highly revered mothers and older people and Mom was in both categories. "Hello, Hello!" he said, and I watched Mom beam at the monk.

After he was out of earshot, Mom asked, "Is that the doctor?"

I nodded. "I think so. I haven't met him before. I know the translator is over there," I pointed to a chubby older man wearing jeans and a burgundy T-shirt with a "Free Tibet" logo on it. Mom smiled and then noticed a couple of white guys entering the room, both with long hair and beards. They were brothers whose names I didn't remember but I knew they'd been to India for a month and did a slide show presentation on it. Both men came over to Mom and greeted her.

We went into the shrine room, a small-carpeted room with a large brass statue of Buddha. The plywood walls were covered with colorful tapestries of various Buddhas, some male, and some female. There were bookshelves filled with holy texts and candle and water bowl offerings on a ledge beneath the fabric-wrapped texts. The energy emanating from the room was intense and usually people spoke in lower voices when they were in the room. But a few times some Nadirian would pipe up in above normal tones and once I heard someone loudly telling a bawdy story using words that weren't allowed on most commercial TV stations. But, the Buddhas understood people and their weaknesses and strengths.

There was a medley of colored and patterned cushions arranged in rows on the floor for the regular students who preferred to sit either cross-legged or kneel on them. For the older people or newcomers, folding chairs lined two walls. The Doctor would be doing his seminar like the one in Santa Monica, and that began with about two minutes of chanting in Tibetan, which puzzled Mom, and she stared at the handout for a minute and then looked around at the chanters.

The Doctor spoke about the three humors: phlegm, bile and wind and about five minutes into the lecture Mom fell asleep. Her interest in medicine went as far as mine did in sewing: that bored me as much. It also required more patience as the Doctor's English was fairly good but sometimes he'd lapse into Tibetan and the translator would interpret for us.

When she woke up about an hour later, better rested, she decided to go outside and sit down in order to get some fresh air. I understood that the incense might be affecting her as it wasn't a smell she was accustomed to – it was rather heavy on sandalwood, juniper and other Himalayan herbs.

Mom had the first appointment after the lecture according to a piece of paper with all four appointments listed by time and the patient's name and phone number. The smiling Doctor Rinpoche invited both of us back into his office. It was so unlike anything Mom had ever been in, no examining table, and no white coated doctor wearing a name badge. In fact, the bedroom was just that and it was decorated in Tibetan Buddhist Motif. Doctor Rinpoche was wearing his standard robes and genially indicated that my mother should sit on the wooden chair in front of the twin-sized mattress on the floor. Doctor Rinpoche would examine Mom right in front of me. "I hope my hands aren't cold!" he laughed, rubbing them together to make sure they weren't. He reached over and gently touched Mom's left wrist.

So I sat there on the bed next to the doc and watched. It felt peculiar, so after a minute I got up and sat on the floor leaning against the other bed.

"Can you please tell me what is wrong?" Doctor Rinpoche asked, looking directly at Mom.

She mentioned being tired and dizzy. He nodded. I could see the connection between them—he was entirely focused on her.

"I do not get anything…" the doctor said, frowning slightly. He let go of her left wrist and reached for her right one. There was a smile as though a musician had found an instrument that was more finely tuned.

Mom rattled off her list of illnesses and surgeries, and as she said, "gallbladder operation, and I only have one kidney" the look of concern and distress on the monk-doctor's face was the essence of a caring and compassionate doctor. With each disease mentioned, he flinched.

He looked into her eyes, and checked her tongue. After that, he had his diagnosis; he didn't say what was wrong in western terms. During the time she was either sleeping or outdoors admiring the tomato bushes and flowers, he had talked about imbalances of the system. He told her she had lung, a severe wind imbalance. She would need some pills, but he was out of medicine until next month when it would be mailed from India.

Doctor Rinpoche smiled at Mom and held both of her hands for a minute as he comforted her. He was so radiant looking and Mom seemed happier in his care. The term doctor's care meant so much by looking at that tableau.

"We will call you when the medicine comes in," Doctor Rinpoche said. And I knew he meant it.

We all shook hands and I gave him the cash. No insurance forms to fill out, no credit cards, no fuss.

When we were in the car, Mom told me that he didn't tell her very much.

"That's not how they do it." I told her. "Just hope the medicine gets here soon."

"You believe in this stuff I don't, Lisa." She paused as I made a left turn onto a busier street. "But he has the best bedside manner of any doctor I've ever met."

"Yeah, especially since he was on it!" I couldn't help commenting.

We both laughed.

Notes from Nadir is available online in both eBook and paperback formats. Here's a brief description: A Los Angeles-based writer returns to her Midwestern home due to financial difficulties. Moving back in with Mom, she is confronted with long forgotten memories, finding it difficult to adjust to life in Nadir.

Paperback edition

Amazon Kindle link: Notes from Nadir

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Smashwords link: Notes from Nadir

Medical Advice from the Dalai Lama's Doctor

By Jen Christensen, CNN
updated 11:06 AM EST, Wed December 5, 2012

Atlanta (CNN) -- A young girl bravely stood to ask the Dalai Lama's doctor a question, and he gave her an unusual answer.

Dr. Tsewang Tamdin, a world-renowned expert in Tibetan medicine, visited Emory University in Atlanta on Monday as part of his effort to reach more American medical practitioners. He wants to develop collaborative projects between the Tibetan medicine system, which is more than 2,500 years old, and Western medicine.

The little girl told Tamdin she suffered from asthma. She wanted to know if there was anything in Tibetan medicine that could help her get better.

Tamdin, who spoke through a translator for the hour long lecture, immediately switched to English. In a gentle, almost too-soft tone, he explained what might help.

Inhalers doctors prescribe for asthmatics works well, he said, and told her to continue using one if she does already. The inhaler, though, treats the symptoms only. Tibetan medical practice, he explained, ultimately aims to get to the root cause of the problem.

"While others might consider the holistic practice of Tibetan medicine 'alternative medicine' or a kind of side practice, I would like for others outside of our system to consider the Tibetan healing system full-fledged healing," Tamdin said. "Tibetan medical knowledge has tremendous potential to add to modern medicine."

Dr. Tsewang Tamdin
Tibetan practice teaches that people get sick when a person's physical, psychological and spiritual well-being are out of balance.

To restore balance, Tamdin recommended diet and exercise changes for the girl. He encouraged her to get proper rest and to get exercise that encouraged deep breathing, such as skipping or cycling.

He also suggested eating three or four white raisins a day. There is a property in the fruit that helps breathing, he said. But perhaps the biggest sacrifice for a child was his advice to avoid cold foods -- particularly, he said, ice cream.

Another patient who came to him with asthma symptoms would get a completely different diagnosis, Tamdin said. Each patient's disease is treated differently from the next. That's in large part because traditional Tibetan medicine is grounded in Buddhist philosophy. In his training to become a physician, Tamdin also studied Buddhist tradition and astrology.

American and Tibetan doctors have some practices in common. If Tamdin were to have a longer consultation with the girl, he said he would perform familiar diagnostic tests. He would examine her urine sample and take her pulse, but he also would ask questions that would be the more familiar terrain of a psychologist. He tries to find out if a person is angry or anxious or if someone is becoming too self-centered.

The Dalai Lama
"Tibetans believe in our interconnectedness," said Geshe Lobsang Negi, a former monk who is now director of the Emory-Tibet partnership. "When we lose that perspective -- that we are a kind of little speck that is infinitely connected with the rest of the world -- when we see ourselves as the solid, fixed, all-important center of the universe, we call that ignorance, and that means we are vulnerable to illness."

This whole person approach to Tibetan medicine is being analyzed by a number of research studies in the United States. An NIH-funded study is examining the impact that compassion meditation can have on alleviating depression.

Compassion meditation is a Tibetan Buddhist mind training that asks a person to examine why they feel a certain way about someone and then to develop feelings of love and empathy for a number of people that will grow with more practice to include even people they normally dislike.

Studies have shown the medical effectiveness of meditation overall. A 2003 study of mindfulness-based meditation showed enhanced antibody production after someone receives a flu vaccine. Another study from that same year found cancer patients who were trained in mindfulness-based stress reduction showed a boost in their immune system.

And a study this year from Carnegie Mellon University showed mindfulness-based meditation has a far-reaching influence on both psychological and physical health. Mindfulness means being present and in the moment, and observing in a nonjudgmental way.

Negi's 2008 study of compassion meditation showed a reduction in stress-induced immune and behavioral responses. Several other studies under way are looking at the impact of Tibetan treatments on certain viral illnesses and on hepatitis.

Tamdin believes ignorance is at the root cause of all illness.

"If you think about this, it makes sense," Negi said. "For instance, if you believe you are the center of the universe and someone has something you want, you may become jealous and believe you deserve what that person has."

"You may become so jealous," he added, "you don't sleep at night and you will be stressed. Medical tests have shown there is a biochemical change in your body created by a release of a stress hormone. In Tibetan medicine, it is important to recognize the role the mind can play on our own physical well-being."

Tamdin said that modern medicine treats symptoms, but said a patient will never get better if they fail to attend to psychological issues.

"If one does not gain this understanding of selflessness, they won't be able to overcome their ignorance," he said. "One way to look at it is to watch the bird and its shadow. It may fly and fly high into the sky, but it continues to leave a shadow on the surface of Earth. As long as you have ignorance within you -- even though you are enjoying good health -- there is always a shadow of sickness falling upon you. From this ignorance arises three mental poisons: attachment, hatred and delusion." All those will affect energy, he said.

In addition to actual medicine and dietary changes, a Tibetan doctor may also prescribe the patient practice more kindness and compassion toward others -- or that they practice more compassion meditation.

Western medicine is reluctant to accept the Tibetan medical idea that some unexplained illnesses may ultimately be caused by someone's karma or even by evil spirits. The language Tibetan doctors use to suggest that good health is based on the balance of bile, phlegm and wind may seem a little too foreign to modern medicine practitioners.

But the holistic approach to a patient's health -- treatments that involve diet, behavior, prescription of medicine and contemplative practices -- may continue to appeal to physicians after they see demonstrated proof that these kind of therapies work.

"The Tibetan tradition has evolved over 2,500 years," Negi said. "It has a rich tradition that has helped the health of people for many many years.

"His holiness the Dalai Lama was the first to say that these things we believe in should be subjected to scientific tools so we could better understand the human condition overall and help us to better deal with the situation of our own well-being."