This week’s meditation session is led by Elaine Retholtz and the theme is Open-Mindedness. The guided meditation begins at 06:59.

The Blue Beryl medical treatise interweaves medicine, spirituality, and cosmology. Instead of fragmenting reality into separate domains, the text integrates the body, mind, and cosmos, demonstrating open-mindedness.

Tibetan medicine has been practiced throughout the Himalayas and Inner Asia for centuries. It is rooted in classical Indian Ayurvedic medicine, and incorporates elements of Chinese, Greco-Arabic, and indigenous medical knowledge. Tibetan medical practice integrates Buddhist ideas and is deeply connected to the Tibetan cultural worldview.

With a holistic approach to health and well-being, Tibetan medicine  emphasizes balancing the mind, body, and spirit. Tibetan doctors diagnose patients by conducting interviews and observations and taking pulse readings. Treatments include modifying diet, prescribing compound medicines, and surgery.

From a Tibetan medicinal standpoint, medical treatment only provides temporary relief—true well-being is reached through attaining enlightenment and release from the cycle of rebirth (samsara). The primary focus is on maintaining vitality, longevity, and liberation from worldly suffering.

This interview with Dr. Yeshi Dhonden, who served His Holiness the Dalai Lama for almost two decades, provides further insight into traditional Tibetan medicine.