David Crow left his San Francisco acupuncture and herb clinic in 1987 and traveled to Nepal in order to learn more about Tibetan and Ayurvedic medicine. There he studied under Dr. Ngawang Chopel, an elderly lama and physician. He told Crow: "One of the first things that a student of Tibetan medicine learns is that everything in this world is potentially a medicine. We are taught to view the world as a mandala of the Medicine Buddha. There is nothing that cannot be prepared or purified into a substance that has medicinal value."
Over a time span of ten years, the author also learned from Dr. Sarita Shrestha, Nepal's first woman Ayurvedic M.D., and Dr. Bishnuprasad Aryal, who served as the King of Nepal's alchemist. Crow began to see that Tibetan medicine has roots reaching into the rich soils of Tantra, shamanism, yoga, and alchemy. He also came to a deep appreciation for the important role that meditation, prayer, and recitation of mantras play in the healing process.
Crow eventually opened a clinic in Kathmandu where he used traditional botanical medicines with his patients. Again and again, he emphasizes humankind's long evolutionary relationship with plants. Of course, without them there would be no "life-sustaining air." The strength and power of a medicine depends on where the plant grows. Pollution and environmental degradation jeopardizes the vibrant medicinal properties of many plants. In Search of the Medicine Buddha makes a good case for the interplay between medicine, earth-cherishing traditions, and spiritual practice.