Principals of Tibetan Medicine
Tibetan medicine is based upon a holistic point of view. It strives to balance the energies in the body. According to the Tibetan teachings on medicine, causes of sickness come from the three poisons of the mind, namely hate, ignorance and desire. These are connected directly to the three central energies of the body, the concepts of bile (mKhris-pa) phlegm (Bad-kann) and wind (rLung). These concepts are not compareable to the same words in the English language, but stand for certain condition and forms of energy.
Bile shows itself in the form of body heat, phlegm in the form of fluids and wind in movement. In a healthy body these three principals are in balance. They manifest themselves through the five elements, namely earth, water, air, fire and space. Out of different combinations of these five elements the different tastes develop. Tibetan medicine works on the body primarily through the sense of taste; taste is part of the healing effect. There are six different tastes (sweet, sour, salty, bitter, hot and astringent). That’s one of the reasons for instance that some of Tibetan tea-mixtures available in Europe are of rather strong taste.