In 2012, I went to Tibet, the top of a thousand mountains and the source of ten thousand waters, which deeply attracted me with its beautiful snowy scenery, spectacular mountains and rivers, colorful ethnic culture, and strong religious feelings.
Throughout Tibet, various monasteries shine brightly in the mountains and rivers, colorful prayer pads are displayed in the fields and villages, monks in robes often enter and exit the streets and alleys, Buddhist believers rotate the prayer wheel, chant scriptures, and take three steps and one knock into the distance, revealing a strong Buddhist color everywhere.
Come to the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa, a splendid and spectacular classical building that blends Tibetan, Tang and Indian architectural styles, becoming an ancient example of Tibetan religious architecture. I heard that Jokhang Temple is a holy place of Buddhism throughout the ages, but I saw that the incense in front of the temple was full of incense all day long, and the ten thousand butter lamps in the temple were not extinguished, which shows how vigorous the incense of this temple is.
What impressed me the most was not the peculiar architecture of the temple, but the prayers of the faithful prostrations inside and outside the temple. I saw that on the square in front of the temple, in all corners of the temple, a large number of pilgrims, they came here from all over the country, not far away, or by car, or on foot, and came here with great painstaking efforts, turning prayer wheels under the scorching sun, silently chanting Buddhist scriptures, and knocking three steps and one knock at the Jokhang Temple.
I don't know much about Buddhism, but I was touched by their devotion to Buddha, people of faith, spiritual sustenance, spiritual comfort, action with principles, and life meaningful. In contrast, some of the people and phenomena that exist in reality, such as the collapse of faith, self-loss, pursuit of material desires, and corruption of degenerates. It has to be said that it is not a good thing to choose a reasonable belief, strengthen one's own cultivation, and maintain psychological peace.
Potala Palace, the world's highest elevation, a magnificent building integrating palaces, castles and monasteries, was originally built by the Tubo Dynasty Songtsen Gampo to marry Princess Ruzun and Princess Wencheng, and was the residence of the winter palace of successive Dalai Lamas, as well as the place where major religious and political ceremonies were held, and it was also the place where the spiritual pagoda of the Dalai Lama was enshrined. Potala Palace is built on a mountain, overlapping buildings, and the temple is majestic, which is an outstanding representative of Tibetan ancient architecture and the essence of ancient architecture of the Chinese nation.
The Tibetan scripture pavilion of the Potala Palace displays countless Buddhist scriptures, and I heard that a large part of the scriptures are related to medicine, and in the seventh century, Princess Wencheng entered Tibet, bringing with her four hundred and four medical prescriptions, five diagnostic methods, six medical devices, and four medical treatises such as the Encyclopedia of Medicine. In the eighth century, when Princess Jincheng entered Tibet, she brought many medical personnel and medical treatises, and translated some of them into Tibetan, such as Somaraza (also known as the Moon King Medicine Zhen) and so on. These are hidden in the Potala Palace and other temples.
Tibetan medicine and Tibetan medicine are closely linked to Tibetan Buddhism, and there are a large number of methods of strengthening the body in Buddhist scriptures, but prolonging the life of illness, and some large monasteries in Tibetan areas generally have "Menbazacang", that is, medical schools, that is, medical schools that specialize in imparting medical knowledge. The living monks of Tibetan Buddhism generally have a deep knowledge of Tibetan medicine, and there are many famous physicians of the past generations listed in the wall chart of the classic work of Tibetan medicine, the Four Medical Classics. Some of the secret recipes for treating difficult and frequent diseases have been passed down in monasteries in the form of master-disciple traditions.
In the process of Buddhist mission, along with the spread of medical knowledge, many Tibetan doctors are actually monks in temples, and Tibetan doctors mainly focus on Tibetan medicine when diagnosing and treating diseases, but there are also Buddhist rituals such as chanting, cursing, prayer, release, and offerings, which should be witch doctors.
Of course, the current Tibetan medicine, with a systematic medical system such as hospitals, clinics and health centers, has its own medical works such as "Moon King Medicine Diagnosis", "Four Classics", "Jingzhu Materia Medica" and so on. There are rich and unique Tibetan medicines, such as cordyceps, saffron, Tianshan snow lotus, etc. At the same time, Western medicine has also developed vigorously in Tibet, people's dependence on Buddhism has decreased significantly, and more people have gone to regular hospitals for diagnosis and treatment after falling ill.
(To be continued)
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