Dr. Yeshi Dhonden, the long-time personal physician of the Dalai Lama, has been practicing and teaching Tibetan medicine for 50 years and is the author of Health Through Balance. This excellent consists of a series of lectures given before a group of healthcare professionals at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. The material was translated by B. Alan Wallace.
The science and lore of Tibetan medicine is holistic and closely affiliated with the Ayurvedic tradition of India. Health is related to one's humor and constitution (wind, bile, and phlegm). Wind disorders are located in the bones; bile disorders in the blood, bile, and sweat; and phlegm disorders in the flesh, nutriment, fat, bone marrow, regenerative substances, excrement, and urine. According to Dr. Dhonden, four factors in life contribute to diseases — the seasons, demonic influences, diet, and conduct. Health is enhanced by ethical discipline, meditative concentration, and the cultivation of wisdom. Mind, body, and soul all work together and will help create "splendor" in the body — a physical radiance, presence, or majesty.
Dr. Dhonden discusses some character qualities that are important to the practice of Tibetan medicine. He also talks about preventative medicine and the ways this tradition views AIDS, cancer, and the treatment of benign and malignant tumors.