[2][3][4] The Tibetan medical system's Four Tantras was based on Tibet's indigenous health practices[1], and this knowledge joined that of the 8th century invited conference attendants arriving from Greece, Persia, India, China, and Central Asia that met at Samye Monastery and formed Trisong Detsen's Medical Council, comprised of respected international practitioners.
Tibetan medicine is also predominantly used in the Buryat and Tuva regions of the Russian Federation, as well as the Republic of Kalmykia, located in the Volga River basin.
Tibetan medicine embraces the traditional Buddhist belief that all illness ultimately results from the three poisons: delusion, greed and aversion.
[8] Tibet also absorbed the early Indian Abhidharma literature, for example the fifth-century Abhidharmakosasabhasyam by Vasubandhu, which expounds upon medical topics, such as fetal development.
Later Yuthok Yontan Gonpo perfected it and there was no author for the books, because at the time it was politically incorrect to mention anything related to Bon nor faith in it.
The Four Tantras are scholarly debated as having Indian origins or, as Remedy Master Buddha Bhaisajyaguru's word or, as authentically Tibetan.
Around the turn of the 14th century, the Drangti family of physicians established a curriculum for the Four Tantras (and the supplementary literature from the Yutok school) at ས་སྐྱ་དགོན། (Sakya Monastery).
In 2023, Tibetan Hospital of Tibet Autonomous Region became the National Center for Traditional Chinese Medicine incorporating indigenous remedies.
[5] The basis of the Four Tantras is to keep the three bodily humors in balance (wind rlung, bile mkhris pa, phlegm bad kan).
To have good health, Tibetan medical theory states that it is necessary to maintain balance in the body's three principles of function [often translated as humors]: rLung (pron.
[30] • rLung[30] is the source of the body's ability to circulate physical substances (e.g. blood), energy (e.g. nervous system impulses), and the non-physical (e.g. thoughts).
[32] The Government of India has approved the establishment of the National Institute for Sowa-Rigpa (NISR) in Leh to provide opportunities for research and development of Sowa Rigpa.