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King of Essences, Mercury in the Tibetan Medico-Alchemical traditions
No full textThis essay explores some selected alchemical sources included in the Tibetan Buddhist
Canon and in several of the most important Tibetan tantric and pharmacological collections.
Starting from an outline of the context and significance of mercurial alchemy
from the tenth to the fifteenth century, we examine the practice of making gold (gser
’gyur) and producing the mercurial elixir (dngul chu’i bcud len grub pa) as described by
several Tibetan sources, including The Nectar that Transmutes into Gold ; The Universal
Lord’s Elixir that, Dispelling All the Diseases, Promotes Physical Strength ; The Treatise on
the Mercurial Elixir ; and The Compendium on the Transmutation into Gold. The last three
Indian treatises were translated from Sanskrit by Orgyenpa Rinchen Pel (O rgyan pa
rin chen dpal, 1229/30-1309), who created a distinctive practice to refine mercury and
influenced fourteenth and fifteenth century Tibetan iatrochemistry
The "Brilliant Moon Theriac" (Zla zil dar ya kan): A Preliminary Study of Mercury Processing According to the Vase of Amrta of Immortality ('Chi med bdud rtsi bum pa) and its Influence on Tibetan Pharmacological Literature
Get PDFAlchemical Gold and the Pursuit of the Mercurial Elixir: An Analysis of two treatises from the Tibetan Buddhist Canon
No full textThis article analyses two Tibetan treatises on iatrochemistry: The Treatise on the Mercurial Elixir (Dngul chu grub pa’i bstan bcos) and the Compendium on the Transmutation into Gold (Gser ’gyur bstan bcos bsdus pa), two rasaśastra that were translated from Sanskrit into Tibetan by Orgyenpa Rinchen Pel (O rgyan pa rin chen dpal, 1229/30-1309) and integrated into the Tengyur (Bstan’gyur). The treatises deal with the processing of mercury, which is indispensable to convert metals into gold (gser ’gyur) and to accomplish the ‘mercurial elixir’ (dngul chu’i bcud len). The texts start with the description of a ‘pink gold’ (dmar skya’i nor), which is described as the amalgam of ‘moonlight exposed-tin’ (gsha’ tshe zla ba phyogs), gold, and copper. According to the texts, mercury has to be ‘amalgamated’ (sbyor ba) with ‘minerals that devour its poisons’ (za byed khams) and with ‘eight metals that bind it’ (’ching khams brgyad); at the same time mercury is cooked with ‘red substances’ (dmar sde tshan) and other herbal extracts, types of urine and salts, and reduced to ashes. Starting with an outline of the earliest Tibetan medical sources on mercury, I will continue analysing the two treatises, their entire materia alchemica with the respective purification methods aimed at ‘obtaining essences’ (snying stobs), which are then to be absorbed by mercury. I argue that the two treatises were particularly significant in the process of consolidating pharmaceutical practices based on mercury and the merging of alchemical and medical knowledge in Tibet
Knowledge, Imagery, and the Treatment of Communicable Disease in the Vase of the Amṛta of Immortality: A Preliminary Analysis of a Nyingma Medical Corpus
No full textThis paper intends to historically and conceptually analyze selected pre-modern Tibetan sources, outlining the medical and religious descriptions of a hybrid class of diseases called nyenné (gnyan nad) and rimné (rims nad). Among these sources, this essay focuses primarily on the diagnostic and ritual sections of the Great Vase of the Amṛta of Immortality (’chi med bdud rtsi bum chen). This Nyingma “treasure text” (gter ma) is representative of the magic-alchemical tradition that became an integral constituent of scholastic medical literature in Tibet from the thirteenth century onwards. Drawing on the contents of the Vase of Amṛta, the paper aims at situating this medical-oriented text in the broader context of Tibetan medical and tantric literatures
Tra medicina e magia: paradigma e cura delle malattie epidemiche secondo il Vaso del nettare dell’immortalità (‘Chi med bdud rtsi bum pa)
Get PDFTaming the Poisonous: Mercury, Toxicity, and Safety in Tibetan Medical Practice, written by Barbara Gerke
No full textTheriac Recipes (Dar ya kan) as the Ultimate Cure Against Epidemics in Two Tibetan Medico-Alchemical Collections of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries
Get PDFConsecrated Medicines and Spiritual Practices: A Reflection on the Many Traditions Represented in the Relics by Zur mKhar ba mNyam nyid rdo rje
Get PDFThis contribution is aimed at analyzing a series of life-prolonging and rejuvenating treatments (bcud len), recipes of ambrosia for immortality (bdud rtsi sman), and yogic and meditative techniques incorporated in the Man ngag bye ba ring bsrel (Ten Million of Quintessential Instructions, The Relics; henceforth Ring bsrel), a medical corpus mainly authored by Zur mkhar ba mNyam nyid rdo rje (1439–1475). The many treads of mNyam nyid rdo rje’s literary production reflect his rNying ma and bKa’ brgyud spiritual legacies: the author systematically elaborated materials drawn from the rNying ma gter ma tradition and complex medico–alchemical practices ascribed to the third Karmapa Rang byung rdo rje (1284–1339) and O rgyan pa rin chen dpal (1230–1309). The key ingredients of the recipes include saxifrage [bdud rtsi ’od ldan; Micranthes melanocentra; Saxifraga melanocentra], purple sage [lug mur; Phlomoides bracteosa], potent substances such as black aconite [bstan dug; Aconitum spicatum;], nightshade [thang phrom; Anisodus spp.; Mandragora caulescens], mercury–sulfide ashes (zla bcud; bcud rgyal), aphrodisiacs containing salamander meat [da byid, gangs sbal; Batrachuporus pinchonii], caterpillar fungus [dByar rtswa dgun ’bu; Cordyceps sinensis], and other substances endowed with hot potencies that can enhance gtum mo practices such as the dwarf rhododendron [da lis; Rhododendron spp.] and compounds containing long peer [pi pi ling; Piper longum], black pepper, [pho bar is; Piper nigrum], ginger, and so forth. The consecrated medicines and the rituals can bestow protection from any sort of diseases, diseases-carrier forces (gdon), and poisoning and lead to spiritual achievements. The analysis of these scriptural materials brings into focus the historical interrelation of diverse traditions that are represented by the heterogeneity of ideas and practices handed down through the Zur medical lineage
Aphrodisiacs, Rejuvenating Recipes and Spellbinding Formulas preserved in the Brang ti Great Measure of Gold: The Case of Medicinal Herpetofauna and Their Long enduring History in Tibetan Medico-Alchemical Sources
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