Knowledge and Context in Tibetan Medicine Edited by William A. McGrath LEIDEN | BOSTON For use by the Author only | © 2019 Koninklijke Brill NV Contents Introduction: Navigating the Ocean of Tibetan Medical Literature vii William A. McGrath A Note on Transcription, Transliteration, and Bibliography xvi List of Figures xvii Contributors xviii Part 1 The Vicissitudes of Meaning in Context 1 A New Sense of (Dark) Humor in Tibet: Brown Phlegm and Black Bile 3 Henk Blezer 2 A Preliminary Study on the Biography of Yutok Yönten Gönpo the Elder: Reflections on the Origins of Tibetan Medicine 59 Yang Ga 3 “Secret Medicine” in the Writings of Sanggyé Gyatso: The Encoded Esoteric Material of Therapeutics 85 Tony Chui 4 Visceral Anatomy as Depicted in Tibetan Medicine Katharina Sabernig 5 The Modern Biomedical Conception of Cancer and Its Many Potential Correlates in the Tibetan Medical Tradition 140 Tawni Tidwell 111 Part 2 Medicine and Religion in Context 6 The Nine-Fold Magical Cord Cycle: Investigating ’Phrul gyi the gu brgu skor, a Wartime Medical Manual 199 Tsering Samdrup For use by the Author only | © 2019 Koninklijke Brill NV vi Contents 7 Knowledge, Imagery, and the Treatment of Communicable Disease in the Vase of the Amṛta of Immortality: A Preliminary Analysis of a Nyingma Medical Corpus 218 Carmen Simioli 8 Tantric Divination and Empirical Diagnosis: A Genealogy of Channel Prasenā Rituals in the Tibetan Medical Tradition 261 William A. McGrath 9 Madness and the Spirits: Examining the Role of Spirits in Mental Illness in the Tibetan Communities of Darjeeling 309 Susannah Deane 10 Material Presentations and Cultural Drug Translations of Contemporary Tibetan Precious Pills 337 Barbara Gerke Index 369 For use by the Author only | © 2019 Koninklijke Brill NV chapter 3 “Secret Medicine” in the Writings of Sanggyé Gyatso: the Encoded Esoteric Material of Therapeutics Tony Chui 1 Introduction The Four Tantras (rgyud bzhi) is the intellectual foundation of the Tibetan medical tradition. According to traditional accounts, its origin can be traced back to the eighth century of the Common Era,1 and throughout the development of Tibetan medicine, various therapeutic methods have been adopted and developed. Commentaries and supplementary works were also composed to make up for the practical shortcomings of the Four Tantras. In the seventeenth century, for example, during the reign of the Fifth Dalai Lama Ngawang Lozang Gyatso (ngag dbang blo bzang rgya mtsho, 1617–1682), a remarkable body of medical instructions augmented the Tibetan medical genre. Together with his regent (sde srid) Sanggyé Gyatso, the Fifth Dalai Lama established the leading school of medicine and astrology known as the Chakpori Rikjé Dropen Ling (lcag po ri rig byed ’gro phan gling), named after the Iron Mountain (lcag po ri), near the Potala Palace in Lhasa.2 Under this establishment, the Tibetan medical tradition was systematized and institutionalized,3 and the Chakpori remained an authority of medical education until the 1950s.4 In addition to being the regent of the Fifth Dalai Lama, Sanggyé Gyatso was also an eminent medical scholar. During his fairly short lifespan of fifty-two years, he was a prolific writer, composing a number of significant treatises that strongly influenced the Tibetan medical tradition. Among them, three works 1 Yang Ga, The Sources for the Writing of the Rgyud Bzhi, Tibetan Medical Classic (Cambridge, MA: PhD dissertation, Harvard University, 2010), 21–22. 2 Janet Gyatso, Being Human in a Buddhist World: An Intellectual History of Medicine in Early Modern Tibet (New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 2015), 115. 3 Kurtis R. Schaeffer, “Textual Scholarship, Medical Tradition, and Mahāyāna Buddhist Ideals in Tibet,” Journal of Indian Philosophy 31, no. 5 (2003): 622. 4 Fernand Meyer “The Golden Century of Tibet Medicine,” in Lhasa in the Seventeenth Century: The Capital of the Dalai Lamas, ed. Françoise Pommaret (Leiden: Brill, 2003), 117. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004404441_004 For use by the Author only | © 2019 Koninklijke Brill NV 86 Chui have had momentous impact.5 Two of them—the Blue Beryl (baiḍūrya sngon po), a commentary on the Four Tantras, and the Mirror of Beryl (baiḍūrya me long), which delivers a comprehensive account of the history of Tibetan medicine—set out Sanggyé Gyatso’s approach to the learning and practice of medicine. Both the Blue Beryl and the Mirror of Beryl stress the importance of medical scholarship and the Mahāyāna ideal of being a virtuous medical practitioner. Through these two great works, Sanggyé Gyatso shaped and imposed medical professionalism upon Tibetan medical practitioners, prescribing the moral and behavioural standards that every talented practitioner should uphold in accordance with the Chakpori school of medical practice. The third major text by Sanggyé Gyatso is the “extended commentary” (lhan thabs) on the Instructional Tantra (man ngag rgyud) of the Four Tantras: the Man ngag lhan thabs (hereafter referred to as the Extended Commentary).6 In the Extended Commentary, peculiar esoteric ingredients rarely mentioned in the other two works can frequently be found. To identify these ingredients as literal or figurative is crucial in the study of both Tibetan medicine and Buddhist Tantra. In our case, the way of interpreting these ingredients in the Extended Commentary is decisive in the effectiveness of the medicinal recipes. Furthermore, as a study of the Extended Commentary reveals, “secret” (gsang) terms are scattered throughout the manuscript. These “secret” terms seem to render parts of the Extended Commentary incomprehensible to anyone lacking the decrypting key. “Secret” terms are not restricted to medical texts, but also noticeable in other Tantric writings, such as the autobibliography Visions and Their Significance (mthong ba don ldan) of the Fifth Dalai Lama. As this “encryption” retains the confidentiality of the esoteric tradition, exploration of how these “secret” terms are encoded promises a better understanding of Tantric literature. In the Blue Beryl, Sanggyé Gyatso opines that reading medical texts alone will not lead to sufficient medical training, and that it is necessary to have the guidance of a skilled teacher.7 Apart from the “medical professionalism” that he advocates, does he mean that some materials are not covered in the ordinary medical texts, and that a “skilled” teacher who holds the keys to these texts is the determining factor in “sufficient” medical training? What do the “secret” encryptions mean and why were they kept secret? In the following 5 Schaeffer, “Textual Scholarship,” 624. 6 Full title in Tibetan: Man ngag yon tan rgyud kyi lhan thabs zug rngu’i tsha gdung sel ba’i katpū ra dus min ’chi zhags gcod pa’i ral gri (Xining: Mtsho sngon mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1991). 7 Sangs rgyas rgya mtsho, Gso ba rig pa’i bstan bcos sman bla’i dgongs rgyan rgyud bzhi’i gsal byed bai durya sngon po’i malli ka (Leh: D. L. Tashigang, 1981), 494. For use by the Author only | © 2019 Koninklijke Brill NV “ Secret Medicine ” in the Writings of Sanggyé Gyatso 87 section, I will explore Sanggyé Gyatso’s Extended Commentary on the healing of life-wind illness and discuss the necessity for the encryption of “secret” material. In addition, I will attempt to decrypt and unveil the “secret” terms specified in the text. 2 The Extended Commentary Not only did the Extended Commentary help Sanggyé Gyatso demonstrate his talent, but it was also used to epitomize “Tibetan medicine” itself—or the Chakpori school of Tibetan medicine, to be exact. The Extended Commentary is one of the most important works in the Tibetan medical tradition, after the Four Tantras and its commentaries, such as the Blue Beryl. According to Janet Gyatso, the Desi made the Blue Beryl and the Extended Commentary the core curriculum of medical training in the Chakpori.8 Likewise, as described by Olaf Czaja, “they are the most important textual sources for the training of Tibetan doctors, past and present, and the medical ideas and concepts contained in them constituted the core Tibetan medical thinking.”9 In sum, Sanggyé Gyatso’s Extended Commentary has endured to become an important text which is still appreciated in the present day. The genre of the “extended commentary” (lhan thabs) has played an important role in the development of the Tibetan medical tradition. Extended commentaries contain novel information on the diagnosis and treatment of disease, which reflects the perspectives of medical practices within their social, cultural, and political contexts. In other words, they not only provide information on the treatment methods that were transmitted during their historical period, but also provide clues on how the medical “industry” was organized. As noted by Frances Garrett, in conjunction with the flourishing of esoteric practices of the thirteenth century, medical literature written after that time often mentioned the use of esoteric materials.10 Paradoxically, in the Blue Beryl and the Mirror of Beryl, substances related to esoteric practices are rarely mentioned. Yet, in the Extended Commentary, medicinal substances which are esoteric in nature can be found. Therefore, in terms of novel treatment methods, the Extended Commentary reflects the “drugs of choice” and 8 9 10 Gyatso, Being Human in a Buddhist World, 115 (therein called the Practical Manual). Olaf Czaja, “The Four Tantras and the Global Market,” in Medicine between Science and Religion, ed. Vincanne Adams, Mona Schrempf, and Sienna R Craig (New York, NY: Berghahn Books, 2011), 283, n. 3. Frances Garrett, “Tapping the Body’s Nectar: Gastronomy and Incorporation in Tibetan Literature,” History of Religions 49, no. 3 (2010): 302. For use by the Author only | © 2019 Koninklijke Brill NV 88 Chui “tantric” conceptualizations of illness and healing held by Sanggyé Gyatso during his time. In the Extended Commentary, for example, illnesses that are difficult to treat are generally classified as magico-religious in nature, and elements such as demons are considered to be the contributory causes of disease.11 In handling “illness caused by demons” (gdon nad), the Extended Commentary employs a collection of ritualistic and peculiar medicines that are seldom found in the root text of the Four Tantras.12 A point to note here is that a majority of diseases and disorders can be treated by using mantras and other magical formulae, which exemplifies the tantric healing characteristics of the Tibetan medical tradition of that period.13 With all of this in mind, let us now explore Sanggyé Gyatso’s Extended Commentary on the healing of life-wind illness. 3 The Text “The Healing of Life-wind Illness”: Chapter Three of the Extended Commentary on the Instructional Tantra of the Four Tantras by Sanggyé Gyatso There are the four aspects of life-wind illness: distant causes, immediate causes, symptoms, and treatment. While the distant causes of wind-illness are alike,14 the immediate causes include: grief, worry, lack of sleep, harsh diet, inhibition and forceful voiding of stools, gossiping, disturbance by noises, anxiety, and body exhaustion. In conjunction with demons of various kinds,15 as well as gyelpo spirits,16 the influences of demons and spirits are noticeable by abnormalities in the urine and pulse.17 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Czaja, “The Four Tantras and the Global Market,” 269–70. Gyatso, Being Human in a Buddhist World, 393. Olaf Czaja, “The Making of the Blue Beryl: Some Remarks on the Textual Sources of the Famous Commentary of Sangye Gyatsho (1653–1705),” in Soundings in Tibetan Medicine: Anthropological and Historical Perspectives, ed. Mona Schrempf (Leiden: Brill, 2007), 357. Although it is not elaborated here, in the root text, a distant cause of wind-illness is “desire” (’dod chags) resulting from “ignorance” (ma rig pa). Gdon spyi has the meaning of all kinds of demons in general. Rgyal po is a form of mischievous earth spirit. There is no mentioning of demons or spirits in the root text. For use by the Author only | © 2019 Koninklijke Brill NV “ Secret Medicine ” in the Writings of Sanggyé Gyatso 89 Symptoms of life-wind illness include: distress, panic, obscure dreams, shallow sleep, body shivers, over-perspiration, wavering awareness, confusion, and difficulty breathing and swallowing.18 The treatment of this illness falls into four categories: medication, external treatment, diet, and lifestyle.19 Apply the following medicinal recipes as appropriate: Prepare ginger, nutmeg, fennel, black salt, cumin seed, clove, and pepper. Boil and reduce the above with the essence of three bones20 and chang beer,21 drink it early in the morning, and after that take the medical preparation Agar-8.22 Add clove, human flesh, and fennel [to Agar-8] to form the medical preparation of Sokdzin-11,23 if it is complicated by chest, heart, liver ailment, or insanity. If life-wind illness is accompanied by heart pain, prescribe [the following recipe consisting of] sword bean, areca nut, black myrobalan, nutmeg, clove, costus, lapsi fruit, aconite,24 yak fat, ginger, the three peppers, black salt, Wallich milk parsley, and seeds of the wallflower. Mix the above with the heart of a parrot killed by a knife,25 as well as the hearts of a vulture, a wild yak, a dog, and a pig. Gather the above hearts and the other ingredients and roll them up into pea-sized pills with brown molasses. Take five to seven pills in accordance with the age of the patient, with 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Further description of the symptoms can be found in the root text. Sanggyé Gyatso may have assumed that the reader would have fully studied the root text before reading the Extended Commentary. As with the symptoms, Sanggyé Gyatso does not further elaborate on the treatment regarding diet and lifestyle. The essence of three kinds of bones: ankle, scapula, and sacrum; preferably those of a sheep (Thinley Gyatso and Chris Hakim, Essentials of Tibetan Traditional Medicine [Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 2010], 23). An alcoholic drink made from barley. On A gar brgyad pa, see Bhagwan Dash, Pharmacopoeia of Tibetan Medicine (Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1994), 220, recipe number 200. Dash lists Agar-8 as a recipe for heart disease, insanity, and pain in chest and liver. On Srog ’dzin bcu gcig pa, see Dash, Pharmacopoeia of Tibetan Medicine, 203, recipe number 186. There he lists Sokdzin-11 as a recipe for insanity, heart disease, and liver disorder. Sman chen: Aconitum richardsonianum Lauener var. crispulum (bong nga nag po) and ’bri tshil: Aconitum kongboense Lauener (bong nag rigs ser po). Sman chen ’bril tshil may indicate a single plant of Aconitum sp., which is poisonous (Pasang Yonten Arya, Dictionary of Tibetan Materia Medica [Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1998], 171, 189). The heart of parrot killed by knife (gri snying ne tso) can protect one against gyelpo spirits and speechlessness due to mental disorders, and also alleviates heart pain (Pasang Yonten Arya, Dictionary of Tibetan Materia Medica, 122). For use by the Author only | © 2019 Koninklijke Brill NV 90 Chui three-bone-essence or four-animal-essence soup for a duration of five weeks. Life-wind illness is an agonizing disease, especially if it is accompanied by an unhappy mind, and thus [the following recipe] is recommended. The four types of myrobalan26 with their pits removed, with equal amounts of sweet flag and long pepper. Together with clove, snow lotus, black salt, and an equal amount of aconite. Add these together with nutmeg fruit and equal amount of the “main secret medicine of eight years,”27 grind into powder, and bind into a purple pill with the urine [of an eightyear-old boy], gesso, and molasses. Do not overdose; use only appropriate amount for treating life-wind illness. This [recipe] is effective for all kinds of heart and wind-channel diseases, and is particularly recommended for insanity. Alternately, add to the above preparation processed mercury (one zho),28 powdered sulfur29 (half zho), and the hearts of a wild yak and a parrot. At the end, combine them together with three medicinal fruits,30 the juice of lapsi fruit, and coriander.31 Take a small portion (a mouthful) early in the morning. The efficacy is the same as the previous recipe. Another recipe is to use three hundred lapsi fruits (if this amount is not available, use fifty), with three dré32 of water boiled down to one dré, stirred and strained through a satin cloth. Add these together with a handful amount of dri33 milk and seven sang of dri butter. Mix the various ingredients with a handful of bone-essence and nine sang of molasses to the thickness similar to that of yogurt and add the following 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 The four types of myrobalan are: a ru ’jigs med, sha mthug, skem po, and sul mang. Another fruit belonging to the same family is a ru rnam rgyal, which is exclusively found in heaven (Pasang Yonten Arya, Dictionary of Tibetan Materia Medica, 305). The literal translation from gsang sman gtso bo ljid mnyam lo brgyad. Mercury (dngul chu) can cure all types of diseases of evil spirit origin (Pasang Yonten Arya, Dictionary of Tibetan Materia Medica, 54), which has to be detoxified before use. Zho is a Tibetan unit of weight equivalent to 3.75 grams, and 10 zho equal 1 sang, which corresponds to the Chinese unit of weight, liang. It is a common practice to use powdered sulfur with mercury. The amount used has to be precise to avoid poisoning. The “three fruits” (’bras bu gsum): a ru (Terminalia chebula), ba ru (Terminalia bellerica), and skyu ru (Emblica officinalis). See Pasang Yonten Arya, Dictionary of Tibetan Materia Medica, 170. Rta bya refers to either mineral marcasite (gser rdo) or Coriandrum sativum (’u su). See Pasang Yonten Arya, Dictionary of Tibetan Materia Medica, 84. Dré is a Tibetan unit of volume equivalent to 1 litre. Female yak (’bri). For use by the Author only | © 2019 Koninklijke Brill NV “ Secret Medicine ” in the Writings of Sanggyé Gyatso 91 ingredients: frankincense, snow lotus, and burnt garlic34 (these three have the strength to overcome all fevers that are due to winds); fennel, Wallich milk parsley, and hot salt (these three overcome all kinds of disorders due to winds); aconite, adult heart, and blue hoppy (these three can alleviate the severe pain of any disease); myrobalan,35 juniper,36 and strychnine37 (these three suppress the wind of the upper body); long pepper, black pepper, and ginger (these three kindle the heat of the flame); cumin seed, sugar, and honey (these three bring out the potency of the medicine to eliminate the disease); “the two secret medicines,”38 and Pterocephalus hookeri39 (these three overcome severe insanity). Take a teaspoonful of this “twenty-one-medicines” mixture at dawn to treat lifewind illness. This is a recipe of the Northern Lhünding tradition. The above preparation can cure all kinds of life-wind illness. When life-wind illness is attributed to a powerful evil spirit, which is hard to eliminate, prescribe the above recipe along with the secret medicine preparation, “Fierce Wild Garuḍa,”40 with equal amounts of the “main secret medicine of eight years” and the “main secret medicine of two wheels,”41 together with a generous amount of nutmeg and clove. The proper dosage should induce a slight adverse reaction (such as tonguenumbness). Subsequently, prescribe Sokdzin-11 together with areca nut and the “minor secret medicine.”42 For external treatment, perform moxibustion on the sixth and seventh vertebra points, the middle-chest point, the raven-eye point, and the great-vertebra point. Alternatively, cupping can be done on the front and 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 Sgog here may be an abbreviation of sgog skya, Allium sativum, which can cure wind diseases caused by evil spirits (Pasang Yonten Arya, Dictionary of Tibetan Materia Medica, 51). Dang po’i dbyangs las skyes pa, a synonym for a ru ra (Terminalia chebula). See Pasang Yonten Arya, Dictionary of Tibetan Materia Medica, 97. Abbreviated term for shug pa ther can (Juniperus formosana). See Pasang Yonten Arya, Dictionary of Tibetan Materia Medica, 267. Ko bil la, Strychnos nuxvomica (Pasang Yonten Arya, Dictionary of Tibetan Materia Medica, 8). The literal translation from gsang sman gnyis. Spang rtsi do bo, there is no common name available. According to Gyatso and Hakim (Essentials of Tibetan Traditional Medicine, 199), “it seems to be clinically and morphologically similar to dandelion.” The literal translation from khyung rgod drag po. The literal translation from gsang sman gtso bo’khor gnyis. The literal translation from gsang sman kha tshar. For use by the Author only | © 2019 Koninklijke Brill NV 92 Chui back of the body. Bloodletting is also beneficial to patients complicated with blood-bile disease. Prescribe Sédru-843 during the recovery period. If dizziness occurs, apply nasal drops consist of saffron, sugar, and butter. Furthermore, carry out moxibustion on the three meeting-door points, and cauterize the points on the anterior and posterior fontanelles. If there are other symptoms, additional treatment may be utilized. The diet and lifestyle of the patients should follow the treatment of common wind-illness. Such is “The Healing of Life-wind Illness,” Chapter Three of the Extended Commentary on Instructional Tantra of the Four Tantras. 4 Decrypting “Secret Medicine” From the above translated text, one can see that the standard recipes of medicines are quite similar to those in the Four Tantras and the Blue Beryl. For example, aloeswood, nutmeg, clove, and pepper are the main ingredients for the treatment of life-wind illness even in modern Tibetan medicine. With respect to the cause and symptoms, the Extended Commentary can be taken as a brief summary of its root text. Nonetheless, unexplainable terms, such as the “main secret medicine of eight years” (gsang sman gtso bo ljid mnyim lo brgyad) and the “main secret medicine of two wheels” (gsang sman gtso bo’khor gnyis) are not found in any part of the Four Tantras.44 One hypothesis is that the encryptions in the Extended Commentary were used in order to conceal important or sensitive information from outsiders. These terms in this chapter make it impossible for the reader to fully prepare the medicine in accordance with the recipes, especially for life-wind illness caused by powerful spirits. Throughout the Extended Commentary, one can find similar encryptions, and thus these “secret medicines” (gsang sman) were intentionally hidden by the author, and keys for their decryption do indeed exist. I found the keys to these “secret medicines” dispersed in two separate texts. Each one provides a partial solution to the encryption and both must be consulted in order to fully utilize the medicinal recipes in the text. One text— attributed to Ngawang Sanggyé Pelzang (ngag dbang sangs rgyas dpal bzang), a 43 44 On Se ’bru padma ’dab brgyad, see Dash, Pharmacopoeia of Tibetan Medicine, 192, recipe number 176. An experienced Tibetan medical practitioner, Dr. Dawa, was unable to comprehend the meaning of the gsang sman mentioned in the text. For use by the Author only | © 2019 Koninklijke Brill NV “ Secret Medicine ” in the Writings of Sanggyé Gyatso 93 student of Sanggyé Gyatso—is the Single Lineage of Secret Medicine: The Golden Key for Decoding the Knot of the Extended Commentary on the Instructional Tantra (gsang sman chig brgyud/ lhan thabs kyi rgya mdud bkrol ba’i rin chen gser gyi lde mig).45 In the introduction to this text, Ngawang Sanggyé Pelzang highlights the fact that the knowledge of secret medicine is to be orally transmitted, and that only those who are capable and have paid respect to their teacher will receive the key. He also adds that since these secret medicines are of great importance in treating diseases, practitioners should receive proper teachings and blessings from their teacher before practicing.46 Ngawang Sanggyé Pelzang also stresses that the key to the secret medicines should be kept exclusively within a single lineage. The second text disclosing the key to the secret medicines mentioned in the Extended Commentary is the Writing on the Single Lineage of Secret Medicine (gsang sman chig brgyud kyi shog dril skor) by Darmo Menrampa Lozang Chödrak (dar mo sman rams pa blo bzang chos grags, 1638–1710). Darmo Menrampa apparently did not agree with the notion of keeping this secret knowledge within a single lineage, however. Instead, he argues that keeping the secret medicines to oneself (that is, in a single lineage) would lead to the loss of this knowledge. Since these secret medicines are a vital part of medical treatment, it is better to disclose them for the sake of all sentient beings.47 Darmo Menrampa once served as a teacher in the medical teaching college at Sharchen Chok (shar chen lcog) at the Potala Palace, where he was an elder colleague of Sanggyé Gyatso, having established several medical initiatives during the time of the Fifth Dalai Lama.48 He also made numerous contributions to a range of instructional, anatomical, pharmaceutical, and therapeutic genres.49 As one of the court physicians (bla sman) of the Fifth Dalai Lama, Darmo Menrampa was probably related to Sanggyé Gyatso personally.50 Their close relationship can be noted in an incident where Darmo Menrampa together 45 46 47 48 49 50 According to Meyer (“The Golden Century of Tibet Medicine,” in Lhasa in the Seventeenth Century: The Capital of the Dalai Lamas, ed. Françoise Pommaret [Leiden: Brill, 2003], 111), Sanggyé Gyatso appointed Ngawang Sanggyé Pelzang as one of his students in charge of medical teaching at the Chakpori. Ngag dbang sangs rgyas dpal bzang, Gsang sman chig brgyud, lhan thabs kyi rgya mdud bkrol ba’i rin chen gser gyi lde mig, in Man ngag lhan thabs dang lde mig (Beijing: Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2005), 461. Blo bzang chos grags, Gsang sman chig brgyud kyi shog dril skor, in Man ngag lhan thabs dang lde mig (Beijing: Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2005), 434. Gyatso, Being Human in a Buddhist World, 193. Dkon mchog rin chen, Bod kyi gso rig chos ’byung baiḍūrya’i ’phreng ba (Lanzhou: Kan su’u mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1994), 107–115. Czaja, “The Making of the Blue Beryl,” 348. For use by the Author only | © 2019 Koninklijke Brill NV 94 Chui with the “choir master” (dbu mdzad), Lozang Yönten (blo bzang yon tan); the “chief sacristan” (mchod dpon), Jamyang Drakpa (’jam dbyang grags pa); and the “tantrist” (sngags ’chang), Agur Zhika Sharpa (a gur gzhis ka shar pa); collaborated with Sanggyé Gyatso to maintain the secret of the death of the Fifth Dalai Lama.51 Coming back to the decryption key, in the text by Ngawang Sanggyé Pelzang, the undisclosed formula “Fierce Wild Garuḍa,” is described as follows: Regarding life-wind illness in Chapter 3, the formula “Fierce Wild Garuḍa” is: Four zho of fine heart flesh, one [zho] of bone, two-thirds [zho] of tendons, combined with one-third [zho] of blood. Mix together vigorously into a paste. This is the proper composition of the secret formula.52 In Darmo Menrampa’s text, terms defining the ingredients for the “secret medicines” can be found as follows: The “main secret medicine of eight years” is a panacea that consists of three parts: the heart of an adult who experienced sudden death killed by knife, together with the “two secret medicines.” The “two secret medicines” are the womb (menstrual) blood of a mourning widow and flesh of a bastard child (or child of incestuous union). For the “main secret medicine of two wheels,” [there are two components]: the “main” is the blood, heart, and flesh of a brave man killed by an enemy’s knife or the blood and heart of a wild yak, whichever is available. In addition, the “two wheels” means the womb blood [menses] of a mourning widow and bastard flesh, [if not obtainable], use fennel and black salt. Moreover, the “minor secret medicine” is rabbit heart.53 The quantities of some medicinal substances to be used are missing from the Extended Commentary, and the exact weights of the ingredients to be used cannot be found in any of the three above texts. This information seems to have been kept by another party under the encrypting scheme. 51 52 53 Samten Gyaltsen Karmay, Secret Visions of the Fifth Dalai Lama: The Gold Manuscript in the Fournier Collection, Musée Guimet, Paris, ed. Samten Gyaltsen Karmay and Lionel Fournier (London: Serindia Publications, 1998), 8. Ngag dbang sangs rgyas dpal bzang, Rin chen gser gyi lde mig, 473. Blo bzang chos grags, Gsang sman chig brgyud kyi shog dril skor, 434–35. For use by the Author only | © 2019 Koninklijke Brill NV “ Secret Medicine ” in the Writings of Sanggyé Gyatso 5 95 Hermeneutics of Secret Medicine The literal translations, such as for the “heart of an adult killed by a knife” (dar ma’i gri snying), and the “womb blood [menses] of a widow and the flesh of a bastard child” (yug za’i [yugs sa’i] mngal khrag dang nal bu’i sha),54 are relatively straightforward and can be translated without much ambiguity. The next question we need to address is what the author meant by these terms. There has been a long debate on whether the use of ritualistic elements such as human by-products is to be applied literally or merely symbolically. These two interpretations have led to two contrasting scholastic views in tantric literature: literalism and figurativism. The literalists, such as David Snellgrove, assert that tantric techniques are to be interpreted literally;55 whereas the figurativists, such as Anthony Warder, indicate that the Tantras were merely symbolic.56 Christian Wedemeyer has suggested a third approach, in which he basically states that the significance lies in the function of an object in a cultural sense but not the object in its literal sense, and thus the notion of using the product itself is irrelevant.57 Nonetheless, the literalist’s view is not without reason. Frances Garrett opines that the actual use of these products was necessary and of important efficacy.58 Moreover, illustrations of the literal use of human flesh, menses, and even the bones of a man killed by a knife can be found in the pedagogical paintings of the Blue Beryl by Sanggyé Gyatso.59 If we examine the medical 54 55 56 57 58 59 According to a Tibetan medical dictionary (Dbang ’dus, Gso ba rig pa’i tshig mdzod g.yu thog dgongs rgyan [Beijing: Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1983], 294), the term nal bu has the meaning of a child born from: an incestuous couple, parents outside of matrimony, or the sexual union of fathers’ kinsman (rigs rgyud gcig pa’i pho mo ’khrig pa las byung ba’i phru gu’i ming la bzhed dang/ pha ma sogs kyi zhal bsgos ltar ’jig rten lugs mthun gyi gnyen sgrig byas pa ma yin par lkog tu nyal po spyod pa las byung ba’i pha ngos bzung med pa’i phru gu’i ming la bzhed pa zhig dang gnyis mchis te/ sa sku ngag dbang kun dga’ bsog nams kyis mdzad pa’i ’jig rten gyi tshul lugs rnam par bzhag pa las/ nal bu ni pha rus gcig pa’i pho mo gnyis bshos pa las byung ba’o/). David Snellgrove, Indo-Tibetan Buddhism: Indian Buddhists and Their Tibetan Successors (Boston, MA: Shambhala, 1987), 160. Anthony Kennedy Warder, Indian Buddhism (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 2000), 475. Christian Wedemeyer, “Beef, Dog, and Other Mythologies: Connotative Semiotics in Mahāyoga Tantra Ritual and Scripture,” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 75, no. 2 (2007): 390–91. Garrett, “Tapping the Body’s Nectar,” 317. Yuri Parfionovitch, Fernand Meyer, and Gyurme Dorje, Tibetan Medical Paintings: Illustrations to the Blue Beryl Treatise of Sangye Gyamtso (1653–1705) (London: Serindia Publications, 1992), 72, 78. For use by the Author only | © 2019 Koninklijke Brill NV 96 Chui texts that make further commentaries on the Extended Commentary, we find the descriptions to be literal as well. For example, the encrypted information of the Extended Commentary was elaborated a century later by the Mongolian physician Sokpo Lungrik Tendar (sog po lung rigs bstan dar) in the Garland of Golden Myrobalan (a ru rnam rgyal gser mdog phreng ba).60 There he further explains what Sanggyé Gyatso meant by “secret medicine”: Regarding the heart of a young man who died a sudden death caused by a knife, as indicated, it is not a gentle death. The name “sudden death” as mentioned in the [Extended Commentary on the] Instructional Tantra is a death caused by a “knife”; which also includes horse-knife, water-knife, thunder-knife, and cliff-knife.61 These are the “knives” for sudden deaths.62 While the “two secret medicines” [gsang sman gnyis] are the menses of a widow and the flesh of a bastard child. The latter [i.e. flesh of a bastard child] can also be the flesh of a child [i.e. fetus] who was lost during pregnancy [stillborn].63 Thus, according to Sokpo Lungrik Tendar, the substances mentioned by Sanggyé Gyatso were to be understood literally. Nonetheless, there seems to be a shift taking the original meaning of the terms in a more humane direction. Sokpo Lungrik Tendar’s examples of the “knives” suggest the possibility of accidental deaths, as does his alternative explanation for bastard flesh as the flesh of a stillborn fetus rather than that of a living child. Whether Sokpo Lungrik Tendar misinterpreted Sanggyé Gyatso’s Extended Commentary or simply preferred to use these more humane-sounding substances is a question that cannot be conclusively answered here. One point worth mentioning here is that the “sudden death by cliff-knife” was explicitly illustrated in Sanggyé Gyatso’s medical paintings. In the Supplementary Materia Medica painting, an illustration depicts a man falling off a cliff, resulting in a skeleton lying on the ground. 60 61 62 63 Sog po lung rigs bstan dar, A ru rnam rgyal gser mdog phreng ba, in Man ngag lhan thabs dang lde mig (Beijing: Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2005), 559–61. Knife here has the metaphoric meaning for different types of accidental or sudden death. A horse-knife (rta gri) refers to death caused by a horse-riding accident; water-knife (chu dri) refers to death caused by drowning; rock-knife (rbab gri) refers to death caused by a falling rock; and cliff-knife (gyang gri) refers to death caused by falling off a cliff. Sog po lung rigs bstan dar, A ru rnam rgyal gser mdog phreng ba, 560: mi na tsho dar la babs pa glo bur shi ba’i snying/ ’dir grir shi zhes ’byung ba mtshon gyis shi ba’i ming min par glo bur shi ba’i ming yin te/ man rgyud du/ rta gri chu gri rbab gri gyang gri dang/ zhes pa’i gri glo bur shi ba’i ming yin pa ltar ro//. Sog po lung rigs bstan dar, A ru rnam rgyal gser mdog phreng ba, 560: gsang sman gnyis ni/ yugs ma’i mngal khrag/ nal bu’i sha/phyi ma ’di phrug gu shor ba’i ’o//. For use by the Author only | © 2019 Koninklijke Brill NV “ Secret Medicine ” in the Writings of Sanggyé Gyatso 97 The inscription for this medical substance is the “body of one [suddenly killed by] a knife” (gri lus). In the following section, although not comprehensive, I attempt to provide some background information on the substances that are used in this text. 5.1 The Heart of a Man That Has Been Killed by Knife It is interesting to note that even in a modern-day Tibetan dictionary, the “flesh of a man killed by a knife” (gri sha) has the following meaning: The flesh of a healthy man that was suddenly killed by a knife. The property of this flesh is sweet and warm. It is effective in treating epidemics, life-wind illness, and diseases caused by gyelpo spirits.64 Similar terms—such as the “brain of a man killed by a knife” (gri klad), the “blood of a man killed by a knife” (gri khrag), and the “body of a man killed by a knife” (gri lus)—can also be found and used as “offering material” (mchod rdzas).65 Based on these observations, it seems that the idea behind employing body parts of a person that has been “suddenly killed by a knife” (glo bur du gri shi) is that the more violent the death, the more powerful its products will be. The flesh of a man who has died a sudden death will have a potent effect. Another pertinent notion is that potent flesh cannot come from a diseased body or just be taken from any cadaver; the product must be obtained from someone who was “healthy” (nad med). The “heart” (snying), in Tibetan tradition, is believed to be the centre of the mind, and acts as a vessel for holding the “life force” (srog rtsa). In its center, it also holds the indestructible “drop” (thig le). Channels at the heart conduct all kinds of consciousness.66 Based on the belief that symptoms of life-wind illness arise from the heart center, if one were to consume a heart according to esoteric understandings, it would benefit the activation of the corresponding drops, channels, and winds.67 5.2 The Menses of a Widow Different forms of blood were frequently used in Tibetan magical ceremonies. Blood and body parts from various kinds of animals were mentioned in the 64 65 66 67 Zhang Yisun, Bod rgya tsig mdzod chen mo (Beijing: Mi rigs dpe skrun kang, 2013), 399: mi dar ma nad med glo bur du grir shi ba’i sha ste/ ro mngar/ zhu rjes drod/ nus pas gnyan nad dang/ srog rlung/ rgyal gdon bcas la phan/. Zhang Yisun, Bod rgya tsig mdzod chen mo, 398. Gyatso, Being Human in a Buddhist World, 270. Robert Beer, The Handbook of Tibetan Buddhist Symbols (Boston, MA: Shambhala, 2003), 165–66. For use by the Author only | © 2019 Koninklijke Brill NV 98 Chui text above, but the most peculiar type of blood used in “secret medicine” is perhaps that of humans. As noted by de Nebesky-Wojkowitz, the blood used in magical rites was not a red liquid that symbolized blood, but blood itself: Tibetan works give detailed information about the kind of blood one should apply. As regards human blood, the blood taken from a corpse or the blood of people suffering from a dangerous, contagious disease, especially of leprosy, further the menstruation-blood of a widow or that of a prostitute are said to be especially efficacious.68 The use of menstrual blood was prized and believed to be of commanding power. Its uses range from commanding deities in tantric rituals to ordinary magic rituals, but most regularly in black magic.69 Under the reign of the Fifth Dalai Lama, four Indian physicians residing at the court translated texts from Sanskrit to Tibetan that involved various new therapeutic techniques.70 The tantric notion of menses can be traced back to medieval Indian tantric literature, which lists a spectrum of menses from different sources. One such list can be found in the Kulacūḍāmaṇi Tantra,71 which can be dated back to the ninth or tenth century.72 The specific use of the menses of a widow can also be found in the medieval Samayacāra Tantra, in which it was termed as “generated from the ball” (golodbhava).73 The use of the menstrual blood of a widow is not only found in the writing of Sanggyé Gyatso or Tibetan traditional medicine, but can be traced to Indian tantrism. Widows were considered one of the least auspicious groups in Indic culture,74 while according to the tantric interpretation, their menses has the 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 René de Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Oracles and Demons of Tibet: The Cult and Iconography of the Tibetan Protective Deities (Delhi: Book Faith India, 1993), 343–44. Serinity Young, Courtesans and Tantric Consorts: Sexualities in Buddhist Narrative, Iconography, and Ritual (New York, NY: Routledge, 2004), 180. Meyer, “The Golden Century of Tibet Medicine,” 104. One of these techniques was cataract surgery performed by Darmo Menrampa on the Great Fifth. David Gordon White, Kiss of the Yoginī: “Tantric Sex” in its South Asian Contexts (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2003), 78. According to the Kulacūḍāmaṇi Tantra, kuṇḍa refers to the first menses after marriage; gola is the first menses after the death of her father; varjrapuṣpa is the first menses after sexual violence; svayambhū refers to the first menses of any woman; bhavapuṣpa, a woman’s regular menses; and gopīcandana refers to a mixture of semen and menstrual blood (Louise Finn, The Kulacudamani Tantra and the Vamakesvara Tantra with the Jayaratha Commentary [Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1986]). Finn, The Kulacudamani Tantra, 21. Narendra Nath Bhattacharyya, Indian Puberty Rites (Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1980), 17. Young, Courtesans and Tantric Consorts, 24. For use by the Author only | © 2019 Koninklijke Brill NV “ Secret Medicine ” in the Writings of Sanggyé Gyatso 99 property of “hot” and “fiery” characteristics.75 These characteristics could be linked to the heating characteristics of other life-wind medicinal preparations. Up to the present, there is no literature on whether the efficacy of a widow’s menses in curing life-wind illness rests on empirical experience or results from tantric rituals. Whether a literal or symbolic notion should be applied to the use of menses is still debatable. Further studies are needed on the detailed mechanism of the menses in relation to the tantric physiology of the Tibetan medical tradition. Nonetheless, the use of specific menses in the Extended Commentary exemplifies the assimilation of Indian tantric elements in healing in seventeenth-century Tibet. 5.3 The Flesh of a Bastard Child Human flesh is stated to be an important medical ingredient in the Four Tantras and it also has a special position in the history of the Tibetan tradition, where it is known as the “great meat” (sha chen). Soup made from human flesh was used in the treatment of wind illness.76 The source of the flesh is also an important consideration. For instance, a striking ingredient in the “secret medicine” list is the flesh of a bastard child. It is also noted in magical ritual texts as the “flesh of a child which has been born out of an incestuous union.”77 Human products vary in their potency relative to the source, which is categorized by social status. As noted by Robert Beer, the “skull of a Brahmin, or a victim of murder or execution being considered the most effective medium for wrathful practice. The skull of a child who died during the onset of puberty also has great potency, as does the ‘misbegotten skull’ (nal thod) of a seven or eight-years-old child born from an incestuous union.”78 A skull cup (kapala) made from this kind of child was highly prized in rituals. For example, in the Ritual Cycle of Penden Lhamo by the Fifth Dalai Lama, the heart of a bastard child (nal bu’i snying) is used,79 which suggests that a child from an illegitimate or incestuous union held significant value in tantric practice. Nonetheless, the idea of how the social status of the “medicinal source” could have an effect on the potency is poorly understood and further study is needed. The stillborn fetus previously mentioned by Sokpo Lungrik Tendar might have been used as an alternative, contra Sanggyé Gyatso. 75 76 77 78 79 White, Kiss of the Yoginī, 68. Khams smyon dharma seng ge, G.yu thog snying thig gi yig chos skor (Leh: D. L. Tashigang, 1981), 199. de Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Oracles and Demons of Tibet, 344–45. Beer, The Handbook of Tibetan Buddhist Symbols, 111. Karmay, Secret Visions of the Fifth Dalai Lama, 95. For use by the Author only | © 2019 Koninklijke Brill NV 100 6 Chui Why are These Medicines Kept Secret? The term “secrecy” has two connotations. It can imply the transmission of esoteric and occult insights which are mysterious in nature and revealed only to the so-called “chosen ones” or, on the other hand, it can also refer to specific technical knowledge, such as craft or trade secrets, confined only to a group of individuals as shared knowledge.80 While we may never know for certain, the secrecy discussed here in this paper can take on both senses of the word. With respect to the former notion, tantric substances are believed to exhibit their full strength when used in a hidden way—in other words, the need for secrecy is to uphold the “potency” of the medicine. As opined by the Tibetan master Jikmé Püntsok, the practice of Vajrayāna had to be kept secret by the practitioner, otherwise the effects would be reduced or even nullified. In addition to spiritual practice: even some medical treatments require secrecy or they will not have a significant effect. For instance, in the Tibetan medical system there is a type of medicine that treats lung diseases … [b]ut the name of this medicine must be kept secret. Secrecy was required to indicate therapeutic potency. To further elaborate on the effect of secrecy on medicinal substance, Jikmé Püntsok made the following explanation: In the past Desi Sangye Gyatso was a well-known medical expert throughout Tibet. He recorded a superb collection of ‘secret medicines’ in one medical text and used secret codes to represent the uses of some types of Tibetan medicine.81 The medical text that Jikmé Püntsok mentions here is probably the Extended Commentary. According to him, the motivation for Sanggyé Gyatso’s secrecy was to ensure medicinal potency. As with other tantric teachings, keeping potentially dangerous tantric substances from the uninitiated was the responsibility of the author. A healing paradigm of this kind often involves higher esoteric teachings, which might impose danger to both the unguided practitioner and the patient. Some 80 81 Leong and Rankin, “Introduction: Secrets and Knowledge,” 7–8. Jigme Phuntsok, Always Present: The Luminous Wisdom of Jigme Phuntsok, trans. Emyo Yun Jia Wang (Boston, MA: Snow Lion, 2015), 90–91. For use by the Author only | © 2019 Koninklijke Brill NV “ Secret Medicine ” in the Writings of Sanggyé Gyatso 101 substances mentioned in the Extended Commentary were also recorded in the secret auto-bibliography Visions and Their Significance (mthong ba don ldan) of the Fifth Dalai Lama. As mentioned above, the “heart of a bastard” (nal bu’i snying) was used in a ritual of the deity Penden Lhamo (dpal ldan lha mo).82 Coincidentally, similar to the encryption used in the Extended Commentary, the text which further explains the illustrations and ritual origins of the Visions and Their Significance is either missing or has been kept separately. It was not until 1992 that the missing explanatory texts under the titles Seizure of Mind of the Ocean Heavens (zhing khams rgya mtsho’i yid ’phrog) and Seizure of the Pride of Illusions (sgyu ma’i khengs ’phrogs) were found.83 Keeping such explanatory texts separate from encrypted texts seems to indicate the intention of the Fifth Dalai Lama to conceal the important secrets of tantric practices. As explained by the Fourteenth Dalai Lama in the preface to the Visions and Their Significance, the misuse of secret teachings might result in personal harm.84 For this reason, texts involving higher tantric teachings should be hidden from the uninitiated for their own safety. Apart from these mystical standpoints, another seemingly obvious purpose of applying encryption to the medicinal formulae is to shield the peculiar ingredients from the scrutiny of others in the medical practice of the seventeenth century under the Buddhist hegemony. As already stated, Sanggyé Gyatso dedicated his writings to the praise of the Fifth Dalai Lama, the Ganden Government, and the Gelukpa School.85 Compassion and non-violence are important Buddhist ideals, with which the use of the “heart of a man killed by a knife” does not sound compatible, especially in a medical work sanctioned by the Fifth Dalai Lama, a Buddhist leader who was venerated as morally superior to the common people. The ingredients might be misread as relating to black magic in nature, and the consumption of human products, such as the “flesh of a human violently killed,” might contradict Buddhist ethics. To resolve this tension, Sanggyé Gyatso might have concealed the “secret medicines” to avoid condemnation for inhumanity. Nonetheless, this explanation can be challenged if we consider the popularity and acceptance of prescribing peculiar substances during that time. Although they are no longer used in modern Tibetan medicine, medical instructions for cannibalism can be observed in the Four Tantras and its 82 83 84 85 Karmay, Secret Visions of the Fifth Dalai Lama, 95. Karmay, Secret Visions of the Fifth Dalai Lama, xiii. Karmay, Secret Visions of the Fifth Dalai Lama, xi. Kurtis R. Schaeffer, “Ritual, Festival and Authority under the Fifth Dalai Lama,” in Power, Politics, and the Reinvention of Tradition, ed. Bryan J. Cuevas and Kurtis R. Schaeffer (Leiden: Brill, 2006), 188. For use by the Author only | © 2019 Koninklijke Brill NV 102 Chui commentaries. In addition to medical literature, the actual consumption of human by-products was also well recorded in other tantric literature: “they are prescribed in recipes for compound preparations—pills, decoctions, edible charms, and the like—that treat illnesses of all sorts and give one supernormal power, or siddhi.”86 Previously, such products were well known for their use in healing and occult rituals in the Tibetan tradition. For instance, the “five nectars” (bdud rtsi lnga) are vital elements used in the Indian and Tibetan tantric rituals. The five nectars include “human feces” (dri chen), “urine” (dri chu), “menstrual blood” (rak ta),87 “semen” (khu ba),88 and “marrow” (rkang mar). They were widely used together with the “five meats” (sha lnga): the flesh of a cow, dog, horse, elephant, and human.89 The use of peculiar human products such as the menstrual blood of a widow, the flesh of a bastard child, and the heart of a violently killed man were not only described by Sanggyé Gyatso in treating life-wind illness, but in fact, can be found in earlier writings. For instance, similar substances were hailed by Longchenpa (1308–1364) of the Nyingma lineage in his collected works as the “seven powerful secret medicines” (bdun gsang ba’i sman mchog), namely the heart of a person killed by knife (gri snying), the flesh of a person killed by knife (’gri sha), the menses of a widow (yugs sa’i mngal khrag), the flesh of bastard child (nal bu sha), “skunk” (te lo),90 “hoopoe” (pu shud),91 and “weasel” (sre mong sha).92 These suggest that, rather than inventing these peculiar human products, Sanggyé Gyatso might have assimilated their use from other traditions. As noted by Gyatso, these rare ingredients were used to produce medicinal pills based on an esoteric system from the schools of Zur and Drigung.93 For example, the heart of an adult killed by a knife (dar ma’i gri snying) can be found in the earlier medical text of Chögyi Drakpa (chos gyi grags pa, 1626–1659) from the Drigung Kagyü lineage.94 The use of a widow’s 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 Garrett, “Tapping the Body’s Nectar,” 302. Also known as red bodhicitta (byang sems dmar po). Also known as white bodhicitta (byang sems dkar po). Garrett, “Tapping the Body’s Nectar,” 301. Mephitis mephitis, effective for demonic disease and “yellow water” disease (chu ser). Abbreviated form of pu pu khu shud. Upupa epops, a bird of striking appearance notable for its unique crown of feathers. Mustela sibirica, effective in treating demonic disease and poisoning. See Dri med ’od zer, Gsung ’bum (Beijing: Krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang, 2009), 241. Gyatso, Being Human in a Buddhist World, 118; Dkon mchog rin chen, Bod kyi gso rig chos ’byung baiḍūrya’i ’phreng ba, 102–104. Chos kyi grags pa, ’Bri gung sman rtsis phyogs bsgrigs (Beijing: Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2008), 224, 237, 364. For use by the Author only | © 2019 Koninklijke Brill NV “ Secret Medicine ” in the Writings of Sanggyé Gyatso 103 menses is also mentioned in another section of the same text.95 Thus, since the use of these materials was popular in medical circles, it was not necessary for Sanggyé Gyatso to hide them for moral purposes. Furthermore, these peculiar substances can be substituted by other common medicines. In secret medicine the “two wheels,” for example, fennel and black salt can be used in place of the widow’s menses and, as Lungrik Tendar recommended, a stillborn fetus can be used in place of “bastard flesh.” As previously stated, someone “killed by a knife” can be interpreted as a sudden or accidental death due to horse-riding, drowning, being hit by rocks, or falling off a cliff. Thus, during the time of the Fifth Dalai Lama, secrecy was not necessarily implemented solely to conceal the cruelty of the medicinal practice. With the Fifth Dalai Lama as the leader of the Buddhist Ganden Podrang Government in the seventeenth century, the Gelukpa consolidated its political control over central Tibet.96 “Buddhist doctrine” (chos) and “political power” (srid), referred to as the “assembly of doctrine and politics” (chos srid gnyis ’brel), came together to comprise a “dual governance” (lugs gnyis) of theocratic sovereignty.97 Through their immense literary, architectural, political, and institutional force, the Gelukpa’s hegemony influenced and utterly controlled not only the cultural life of the Tibetan Plateau,98 but also its medical knowledge. In addition to retaining medicinal potency and escaping moral condemnation, the use of secrecy in the Extended Commentary can also exemplify a “craft secret” known only to personnel of the Chakpori medical lineage. Holding knowledge in such a setting would safeguard the lineage of transmission. At the same time, exclusive secret medicinal recipes would place Chakpori in a prominent position and enhance its competitiveness among Tibetan medical schools. Led by Sanggyé Gyatso, the school at Chakpori was the central institution with authority on Tibetan medicine. Sanggyé Gyatso sought to assert control not only in medical knowledge, but in other areas of religious and 95 96 97 98 Chos kyi grags pa, ’Bri gung sman rtsis phyogs bsgrigs, 258. Tsyrempilov (“Dge Lugs Pa Divided,” in Power, Politics, and the Reinvention of Tradition, ed. Bryan J. Cuevas and Kurtis R. Schaeffer [Leiden: Brill, 2006], 51–52) noticed that while sharing his authority with the Mongolian military leader Gushri Khan (1582–1655), the Fifth Dalai Lama “occupied a key position in the structure of the country”; as the Dalai Lamas were believed to be Avalokiteśvara, the destined divine protector of the country. Georgios Halkias, “Pure-lands and Other Visions in Seventeeth-century Tibet: A Gnam Chos Sadhana for the Pure-land Sukhavati Revealed in 1658 by Gnam Chos Mi ’Gyur Rdo Rje (1645–1667),” in Power, Politics, and the Reinvention of Tradition, ed. Bryan J. Cuevas and Kurtis R. Schaeffer (Leiden: Brill, 2006), 103. Kurtis R. Schaeffer, “The Fifth Dalai Lama,” in The Tibetan History Reader, ed. Gray Tuttle and Kurtis R. Schaeffer (New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 2013), 348. For use by the Author only | © 2019 Koninklijke Brill NV 104 Chui intellectual life.99 The Fifth Dalai Lama’s campaign at Chakpori successfully standardized and homogenised Tibetan medicine. Nevertheless, some preference among schools can be seen during the redaction of medical literatures. For instance, although Sanggyé Gyatso did not claim any favorites among different preceding medical lineages, a favoring of the Zur over the Jang school was evident.100 The concealment of “secret medicines” within the circle of Chakpori could have been part of a strategy to dominate medical education at that time. The use of secrecy in the medicinal formulae concealed what the Chakpori school believed to be precious healing methods of their lineage tradition from those outside the lineage, particularly their medical competitors. A remarkable point worth noting here is that “secret medicines” do not appear in every chapter of the Extended Commentary, but only in sections related to diseases that are difficult to treat. For instance, there is no “secret medicine” to be found in Chapter 28 on “measles” (beg ge), which is a disease known to heal without intervention. In Chapter 27 on “infectious small pox” (’brum pa’i rims), a hard-to-treat disease even in the modern world,101 a list of “secret medicines” is presented. In direct contrast to the use of secrecy as a means to exclude outsiders from reading, the Chakpori circle also managed to boast of holding “secret panacea,” which uplifted the school to a more prominent position, where it stood out among other medical lineages. Instead of encrypting secret medicines in a bunch of incomprehensible words, Sanggyé Gyatso used the eye-catching term “secret medicine” (gsang sman) to precede each secret term, thus insinuating to the outsider that the Chakpori school did possess something particularly noteworthy. In this way, the possession of “secret” knowledge held an “advertising” function, as noted by Hugh Urban: the claim to possess very precious, rare, and valuable knowledge while partially revealing and largely concealing it. For a secret is only worth anything if someone knows that an individual has a secret.102 Sanggyé Gyatso’s rendering of “secret medicine” amplified the perceived value and authority of the formulae. Under this notion, “secret medicine” was thus a 99 100 101 102 Schaeffer, “Ritual, Festival and Authority under the Fifth Dalai Lama,” 187. Meyer, “The Golden Century of Tibet Medicine,” 103. The World Health Organization declared the global eradication of smallpox in 1980. Hugh Urban, The Economics of Ecstasy: Tantra, Secrecy, and Power in Colonial Bengal (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), 101. For use by the Author only | © 2019 Koninklijke Brill NV “ Secret Medicine ” in the Writings of Sanggyé Gyatso 105 privileged and exclusive knowledge of the Chakpori medical lineage. As different medical lineages were based on the Four Tantras, the Extended Commentary contains extra “secret” materials when compared to the Four Tantras. This simply implies that Chakpori’s medicine was more extensive than the conventional medical practice gained from following the Four Tantras only. The secrecy endorsed not only the reputation of the Chakpori college, but also that of their graduates; as they possessed extraordinary “secret recipes.” 7 Concluding Remarks According to the anthropological and historical studies of Tibetan medical tradition covered in this paper, it is obvious that the Gelukpa theocracy of the Fifth Dalai Lama not only had great influence on the political and religious aspects of Tibet, but also on the transmission of the Tibetan medical tradition. By examining the cipher of the Extended Commentary, I surmise that the intention of Sanggyé Gyatso’s secrecy was multi-faceted. Although this present study is neither comprehensive nor definitive, the implementation of secrecy demonstrates a strategic approach when confronting the safety, morality, and authority of Tibetan medicine under the control of the Ganden Government in the seventeenth century. The secret materials not only preclude esoteric knowledge, but also imply that the possession of such medicinal recipes empowers the holder with a potentially valuable asset. Under the Fifth Dalai Lama, Chakpori became the dominant lineage in the medical tradition, synonymous with “orthodox Tibetan medicine” even today. Secrecy could have been one of the necessary factors to contributing to that status. 8 Original Texts in Wylie 8.1 Chapter 3 of the Extended Commentary on the Instructional Tantra of the Four Tantras by Sanggyé Gyatso103 srog rlung nad la rgyu rkyen rtags bcos bzhi// rgyu ni rlung nad kun dang ’dra ba la// de rkyen mya ngan sems las mtshan gnyid med// zas rtsub smyung dang shugs bkag btsir ba dang// mi ’dod gtam dang sgra thos zhogs ’ur sogs// ’jigs skrag drag shul gyur pa’i las kyis bskyed// khyad par ’byung gdon spyi dang rgyal pos byed// rtags ni rtsa chu shas cher rlung spyi mthun// ’ga’ zhig nges med rtags kyang ’byung ba srid// yid mi bde zhing ’jigs skrag sems la ’char// 103 Sangs rgyas rgya mtsho, Man ngag lhan thabs, 21–24. For use by the Author only | © 2019 Koninklijke Brill NV 106 Chui rmi lam za zi mang la gnyid chung zhing// lus ’dar rngul mang shes pa ’phyos pa dang// mgo ’khor dbugs sdud dka’i zhing mid mi thub// bcos pa’i thabs la sman dpyad zas spyod bzhi// de yang dang po sman gyis bcos pa ni// sga dang dzā ti shing kun kha ru tsha// go snyod li shi drod sman rus bcud gsum// gar chang bsdus thang tho rangs bsus te btang// de nas phyi rgyud a gar brgyad pa’i steng// li shi sha chen shing kun bsnan pa la// srog ’dzin bcu gcig pa zhes nu mchin dang// snying srog gzer dang smyo lkugs nad la bsngags// yang na mkhal ma go yu ar nag dang// dzā ti li shi ru rta snying zho sha// sman chen ’bri tshil sga dang pi pho gsum// kha ru tsha dang tang kun sgong thog ’bru// de steng dar ma’i gri snying ne tso dang// bya rgod ’brong snying ’di yan gtong khyi phag ma yin pa’i// snying sna gang ’dzom kha tshar btab pa rnams// bur smug ril bur bsgril ba sran ma tsam// lnga bdun la sogs na tshod dang sbyar ba// rus bcud gsum mam bcud bzhi’i thang gis dbul// rlung gi gzer nad kun dang khyad par du// srog rlung snying mi bde ba’i nad la bsngags// a ru sha chen bzhi yi tshi gu spang// de dang ljid mnyam shu dag pi pi ling// li shi ru rta kha ru tsha bcas pa// kun dang mnyam pa’i bi ṣa’i rtsa ba dang// de kun dang mnyam dzā ti pha la dang// gsang sman gtso bo ljid mnyam lo brgyad kyi// dri chus ’dam btags bur smug ril bur bsgril// sman nad med tsam rlung dus bsten pa na// snying dang srog rtsa’i nad kyi rigs kun dang// khyad par smyo ’bog nad la bsngags pa yin// yang na de steng dngul chu zho gang dang// mu zi dul ma zho phyed ’brong ne tso’i// snying dang bcas pa ’bras gsum mar la bsres// snying zho sha yi khu bas rta byas la// tho rangs dus su kham [khem] bu re re bsten// de yang nus pa bshad ma thag dang ’dra// yang na snying zho sha brgya phrag gsum dag gam// ma ’byor lnga bcu chu bre gsum la gdus// bre gang tsam ’dus [gdus] dar la btsags pa de// ’bri ’o phul do mar srang bdun dang ni// rus sna bsdus khu phul gang bu ram srang// dgu btab dkrugs pa gar sla zho tsam dus// spos dkar ru rta sgog bsregs thal ba gsum spyor tshad ’di nad khams dang bstun zhib pa ngag las bslab// de gsum rlung tshad rigs rnams ’joms pa’i gyad// shing kun tang kun kha ru tsha dang gsum// de gsum srog rlung ’joms pa’i gyad gsum yin// bi ṣa dar ma’i gri snying tsher sngon gsum// de gsum gzer rigs gcog pa’i gyad gsum mo// dbang po lag pa shug tsher ko byil gsum// stod du rlung ’tshangs gnon pa’i gyad gsum ste// pi pi ling dang pho ris bca’ sga gsum// drod kyi me dpung sbar byed gyad gsum yin// go snyod ka ra sbrang rtsi rnam pa gsum// sman nus rtsar khrid nad sprod gyad gsum mo// gsang sman gnyis dang dkar po chig thub gsum// smyo ’bog gnyan nad sel ba’i gyad gsum ste// de ltar gyad rigs nyi shu rtsa gcig po// gong dang sbyar bsres tho rangs khyem re bsten// srog rlung nad la slebs chog byang lhun sman lugs// gzhan yang rlung tshad srog rlung rlung gzer dang// stod ’tshangs grang rlung la sogs rlung rigs kun// gyad sbyor ’di yis mi sel gang yang med// khyad par gdon rtags che bas For use by the Author only | © 2019 Koninklijke Brill NV “ Secret Medicine ” in the Writings of Sanggyé Gyatso 107 sel dka’ na// khyung rgod drag po tshad bzhin sbyar ba la// gsang sman gtso bo ’khor gnyis bcas pa’am// gtso bo dzā ti li shi dang bcas pa’i// kha tshar bsnan pa sman nad thon nges btang// rjes la gong gi srog ’dzin bcu gcig pa// go yu’i sbyor ba gang yin steng nyid du// gsang sman kha tshar bsnan pa bsten par bya// dpyad drug bdun dkar nag mtshams dang bya rog mig// yan stong dang po la sogs rlung gsang bsreg// yang na rgyab mdun me bum tshad ldan bya// khrag mkhris rtags yod snod ka gtar ba’ng bshad// rjes la phyi rgyud se ’bru brgyad pa sbyar// mgo bo ’khor tshabs che na le dzā dang// gur kum ka ra zhun mar sna sman btang// ’dus so gsum bsreg sdud sgor snum dugs bya// nad gzhan ’dres na de yi kha ’dzin gces// zas spyod gnyis po rlung nad spyi dang sbyor// zhes bdud rtsi snying po yan lag brgyad pa gsang ba man nag yon tan rgyud kyi lhan thabs zug rngu’i tsha gdung sel ba’i katpū ra dus min ’chi zhags gcod pa’i ral gri zhes pa las rlung nad gdug pa srog rlung bcos pa’i le’u ste gsum pa’o// 8.2 Writing on the Single Lineage of Secret Medicine by Darmo Menrampa104 gsang sman gtso bo ljid mnyam lo brgyad kyi// zhes pa ni dar ma’i gri snying/ yang gsang sman gnyis dang dkar bo chig thub gsum// zhes pa’i gsang sman gnyis ni/ yug za’i [yugs sa’i] mngal khrag dang nal bu’i sha gnyis so// gsang sman gtso bo ’khor gnyis bcas pa’am// zhes pa’i gtso bo ni/ dpa’ bo dgra yul du bsad pa’i gri khrag ces pa ltar phan tshun dpa’ rtsal gyis grir shi ba’i snying dang sha chen nas/ ’brong gi snying khrag gang rigs/ ’khor gnyis ni shing kun kha ru tsha’o// yang na/ yug za’i [yugs sa’i] mngal khrag dang nal bu’i sha’o// gsang sman kha tshar bsnan pa bsten par bya// zhes pa’i gsang sman kha tshar ni ri bong gi snying ngo// ’di’i gong gsal gsang sman rnams ni srogs rlung rkyang ba’i gsang no// 8.3 Single Lineage of Secret Medicine: The Golden Key to Decode the Knot of the Extended Commentary on the Instructional Tantra by Ngawang Sanggyé Pelzang105 gsum pa srog rlung skabs/ khyung rgod drag po ni/ sha snying bzang po zho bzhi mnyam// rus gcig rgyus pa gsum cha gnyis// khrag ni gsum cha gcig sbyar ba// mnyam sbyor drag rgod khyung lnga’o// zhes pa ltar tshad ldan sbyar ba’i khyung lnga mnyam sbyor gyi steng du gsang sman cha bskyed dgos// 104 105 Blo bzang chos grags, Gsang sman chig brgyud, 434–35. 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