The Knowledge of Healing

A film by Franz Reichle
“If this gentle, optimistic film about the wonders of Tibetan medicine, becomes popular, it could drive hordes of the terminally ill to seek the painstakingly concocted herbal remedies for which the physicians and researchers interviewed in the movie make dramatic claims. How valid those assertions are, of course, is anybody’s guess. But if what the ”The Knowledge of Healing” says about the effectiveness of these cures is true, the Tibetan system, which dates from the 12th century, deserves serious consideration as a supplement to Western medical technology.” – Stephen Holden, The New York Times
The Knowledge of Healing (1997) is arguably still the best film to illuminate the theory and practice of Tibetan medicine. Tibetan medical thinking (which is strongly rooted in Buddhist principles) views the human body as governed by an elaborately organized system of energies flowing through a network of channels. After the Dalai Lama’s physician Dr. Tenzin Choedrak describes the principles behind it, the film follow physicians in India and Siberia treating patients for a variety of ailments from paralysis to heart disease, and meets researchers in Israel and Switzerland to see how western clinical studies are testing the effectiveness of Tibetan medicine.
A Q&A with Bodies in Balance curator Elena Pakhoutova follows the screening.