Readings

The following texts are recommended for the study of this topic:

Christa Kletter and Monika Kriechbaum, eds., Tibetan Medicinal Plants (Stuttgart: medpharm Scientific Publishers, 2001).

Barry Clark, trans., The Quintessence Tantras of Tibetan Medicine (Ithaca: Snow Lion Publications, 1995).

Dorje and Meyer, eds., Tibetan Medical Paintings (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1992), Volume 1.

Pasang Yonten Arya, Dictionary of Tibetan Materia Medica (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1998).

Tsewang J. Tsarong, Tibetan Medicinal Plants (Kalimpong: Tibetan Medical Publications, 1994).

Additional articles will be recommended as needed.

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Frances Garrett (July 2003)

Medicinal Compounds in Tibetan Pharmacy

This page will be further developed during the fall of 2003.

Tibetan pharmacy generally uses multi-component preparations rather than those consisting of a single drug. While pills are by far the most common form of preparation, formulations may other forms as well. Unlike in most Euro-American forms of herbal preparation, where ingredients are ground into powder form before being combined with other ingredients, in Tibetan formularies the necessary ingredients for a given multi-component preparation are first mixed together, generally in their full plant form, and then they are ground into powder.

Tibetan medicinal preparations therefore consist most commonly of a combination of substances. Most ingredients are herbal, although mineral and animal substances are sometimes used as well. Tibetan preparations are compounded into the following forms:

Study videos:
Medicinal Compounds: Part One
Medicinal Compounds: Part Two
Medicinal Compounds: Part Three
Medicinal Formulations
Terminology: phye ma (powders)
Terminology: thang (decoctions)

Learn more:
Kletter and Kriechbaum's Tibetan Medicinal Plants offers a good introduction to medicinal substances and compounds, an essay on the environmental habitats of medicinal plants in Tibetan regions, and sixty comprehesive plant monographs. Also see Tibetan Medical Paintings, pgs. 62-83; and Quintessence Tantras, pgs. 124-188.