Basic Concepts of Tibetan Medicine: A Guide to Understanding Tibetan Medical Science

Born in 1969 in Dhinghri near the Mt. Everest, Dr. Tsering Thakchoe began his education at the tender age of eight. He studied Tibetan literature from Ngawang Chungney, a former Sera monk and his father. After the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1959, thousands of Tibetans had to flee Tibet in the footsteps of their leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Thakchoe, too left his home and parents in occupied Tibet and undertook the dangerous journey across the Himalayan Mountatins on foot to receive education and achieve his goals. He escaped to India in 1983 and studied Science and Mathematics at Lower Tibetan Children Village. A School started under the auspice of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. While in school he actively participated in co-curricular activities. He was the Editor of Donmey, the annual school magazine and was a member of the editorial board of Lose Melong, Upper TCV School. He was awarded the best essay contest held in The International year of Tibet by Department of Education. Dr. Thakchoe Joined Tibetan Medical and Astorological College, where he studied the science of Tibetan medicine. He was one of the founding members of Gangri Langtso, the college's annual journal. After completing the vigorus voyage into the ocean of Tibetan Medicine in five Years, Dr. Thakchoe became a full-fletched Tibetan Physician in 1996. Dr. Tsering Thakchoe Drungtso is currenlty a Professor at the Tibetan Medical and Astrological Institute of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala. Dr. Thakchoe trained in Acupuncture, pranic Healing, Buddhist Philosophy and Astrology. Dr. Thakchoe is one of the few principal resource persons at seminars and conferences conducted by the institute during the last several years. Since 1998, he has been a consultant of English Edition Gangri Langtso. He also assisted in 'Developing the Art of Tibetan Medicine and Treatment of Srog-rLung without Goden Needle. He was an advisor to Maria Aichhorn for her thesis Tibetan Healing in the Context of Buddhist Philosophy. He, with his wife, compiled the first dictionary of Tibetan Medicine and Astrology. Dr. Drungtso is arguably the first Tibetan doctor to have successfully blended the traditional and modern techniques. Dr. Drungtso has travelled widely in Europe, giving lectures on Tibetan medicine and teaching at spritual centres. He engages in exchanging ideas with foreign doctors, scholars and researchers on Tibetan Medicine.