Tibetan and Himalayan Healing - An Anthology for Anthony Aris

Language: English

Pages: 775 (27 B/W and 164 Color Illustrations)

Back of the Book

We all know the cause of ill-health: germs and viruses; and, of course, genetic propensity. To these we should add: the ripening of recent or ancient karma; predatory demons and witches; adverse astrological configurations; the retaliation of earth-gods angered by humans' callous treatment of the environment; spilling milk on the stove. The afflictions resulting from these various pathogens manifest in physical, mental and social disorders of commensurate diversity and complexity. The treatment is also well known: allopathic care, whether Western, Tibetan or Ayurvedic; or the accumulation of merit to dissipate the burden of karma; or the shamanic hunt for lost souls; or violent exorcism; or any number of remedial techniques that have their home in the expanse of the Himalayan and Tibetan region. These techniques, and the world-views that underpin them, have in turn spawned a vast wealth of art, literature and performance, and no single disciplinary approach can possibly hope to do justice to such an extraordinary range of forms. Accepting that this state of affairs is best addressed not by an attempt at synthesis but a celebration of diversity, sixty specialists of Tibet and the Himalaya were given free rein to write about any aspect of healing in the region, and this book is the result. In addition to offering detailed studies of some of the therapeutic traditions of the region, the collection as a whole opens a window onto the heart of the civilisation that generated or inherited these beliefs and practices, and continues to cherish them.

"This anthology fills a lacuna so large that one can only wonder why on earth it had not been filled before. With its breathtaking range of contributions, this remarkable collection