The Tibetan Science of Healing was established almost two thousand years ago and the approach is similar to Ayurvedic and Chinese concepts of healing. Tibetan Medicine originates from the teaching of the Buddha, and is present with us in the form of Four Medical Tantras or texts. The original Sanskrit texts were translated into  Tibetan in the 8th century. They were supplemented with extra texts  and illustrated with over 80 beautiful scroll paintings. The texts are likened to trees with different branches, leaves, flowers and  fruit.

Buddhism is the root of this healing tradition and cannot be  separated from it. The Buddha taught that everything is impermanent  and changing. Everybody will suffer at some point. Birth, sickness,  old age and death are part of our very existence. The root of  suffering is always with us, but not apparent, just as the shadow of  a bird soaring in the sky is only visible when it lands.

The medical Tantras are the basis of the tradition but the experience  of the doctors is equally important. Previously the monasteries were  the greatest repositories of learning and many doctors were also  monks and highly realized masters of meditation and the Buddhist  teachings. Although the Chinese communist invasion of Tibet did  affect this linage it is still unbroken and the wisdom and experience  of these teachings are is still available even in these modern times. For instance it was not until 1981 that the tradition of making  Precious Pills was reintroduced at MenTseKang in Dharamasala when the  renowned doctor Tenzin Chodra escaped China.Now 7 different kinds  of Precious Pills are available.