Peace Times 14

More than five hundred channels connect the body and mind. Illustration taken from an ancient Tibetan medical text

by Carmen Robustelli

Tibetan medicine does not consider the human body as a separate entity, but as being in direct connection with all of the energies in the external world (macrocosm) as well as the individual's inner world (microcosm). These energies can be grouped into five categories: that is the energies of earth, water, fire, wind and space. The earth element has the qualities of cohesion, solidity, stability; water represents the qualities of lightness and freshness; fire has the qualities of heat, fluidity, sharpness and brightness; wind has the qualities of coolness and movement; space has the quality of allowing the other four elements to manifest, move and «dance together».

The five elements express their characteristics on three levels: the physical or gross level of the body, the subtle mental level and the essence level. According to Tibetan medicine, the five basic elements manifest in every existent physical form as in every psychic form. On the subtle level of the human body there exist «energy centres», the chakras referring to the five elements, which govern the functioning of the internal organs: 1. The chakra at the base of the spine (known as the secret chakra), connected to the lungs and colon is the energetic centre of the wind element. 2. The navel chakra, which regulates the spleen and the stomach is the centre of the earth element. 3. The heart chakra, connected to the kidneys and the bladder, is the seat of the water element. 4. The throat chakra, connected to the liver and bile is the seat of the fire element. 5. The crown chakra, connected to the heart and intestine is the energetic centre of the space element. The mind is the engine. Through the power of the mind, the energies of the five elements are made to move in the five energetic centres and upon this the sustaining and good functioning of the physical body depends.

Tibetan medicine is also based upon the theory of the so called three humors: wind, bile and phlegm, which do not correspond to the substance which we indicate in those terms but relate to the equivalent particular principle. In a healthy person, the three humors are harmoniously balanced: the phlegm cools down the bile and as a result absorbs the right amount of heat, whereas the wind regulates both. If on the other hand, there is an imbalance and a prevalence of one or more humors on the others, a state of illness will generate. The three humors are connected to three mental defects: wind to attachment, bile to aversion, and phlegm to ignorance. The wind humor is associated to the mind and to the nervous system, it is the neutral energy of the body. The bile humor is connected to blood circulation, enzymes and the colouring of the body; it is the hot energy. The phlegm humor regulates the lymphatic and endocrine system as well as the functioning of internal organs; it is the cold energy. The energy of the three humors manifests in the three channels of the subtle body within the physical body. Bile in the right channel; wind in the central channel and phlegm in the left channel. In turn the three humors have ulterior sub-divisions. Five kinds of wind, each connected to the five chakras: the life-sustaining wind at the crown chakra, the ascending wind at the throat chakra, the pervasive wind at the heart chakra, the fire-like wind at the navel chakra, the descending wind at the secret chakra. The five types of phlegm are: sustaining, separating, experiencing, satisfying and connecting. Bile can be digesting, which transforms colours, realising which manifests visibly, which lightens the skin.

There exists also a humoral classification of personality which is used by the Tibetan physician to evaluate the metabolic level, the functioning of internal organs as well as the mental state of the patient with more precision. Those with a wind personality are said to have a stooping body with the neck forward, an unstable mind, dislike the cold, laugh a lot, favour arts and sport, prefer sour, sweet and bitter tastes. Those with a bile personality are said to be easily prone to anger, have a vigorous digestion, excessive sweating, very active, ambition, great eaters, preferring sweet, bitter and astringent tastes. Those with a phlegm personality are known to have slow digestion, fat which covers knuckles and joints, a pale skin, a strong character, lazy but generous, with a body slightly bent backwards, slow workers preferring acidy, astringent and sour tastes.

Moreover, Tibetan medicine considers seven bodily constituents: chyle, blood, flesh, fat, bone, bone marrow, regenerative fluid and the three excretions: faeces, urine and sweat. We therefore have a sum of 25 elements which contribute to determine our state of health.