Description
This book presents the basic principles of traditional Tibetan medicine that enable the reader to grasp some of the main points regarding birth, life, and death. The first section, on birth, touches on numerous related topics, ranging from the causes of conception of life in the womb to the behaviour that the pregnant woman should follow. The second section, on life, starts with an explanation of the so-called ‘three doors’ of body, voice and mind and explains the way to live in good health. It presents the causes leading to humour imbalances that provoke the arising of illnesses, the properties of foods and drinks, various types of behaviour to be followed in different circumstances, and so forth. These topics are largely taken from the context of traditional Tibetan medicine. However the last part of this section stresses the importance of maintaining a continuous stream of presence and awareness throughout all aspects of life. The section on death deals with the nature of death and our attitude toward it but most of the discussion deals with the four types of intermediate state: the intermediate state between birth and death, the intermediate state of the moment of dying, the intermediate state of the real condition of existence, and the intermediate state of becoming. For each intermediate state the Author outlines the essential instruction that enables a person to attain liberation. It contains the whole original Tibetan text.
