Ep240: Foundations of Sowa Rigpa - Dr Nida Chenagtsang
Dr Nida Chenagtsang is a Buddhist teacher, doctor of Tibetan Medicine, and author of ‘Foundations of Sowa Rigpa: A Guide to the Root Tantra of Tibetan Medicine’.
Available on Youtube, iTunes, SoundCloud & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’.
Dr Nida discusses the traditional Tibetan medical system of Sowa Rigpa and reveals its core doctrines such as health as balance, pulse and urine analysis, and how to discover your body’s typology.
Dr Nida also delves into the esoteric side of Sowa Rigpa, including Tibetan demonology, the crossovers with tantra, and the use of magic rituals and spells to treat mental and physical illness.
Dr Nida also discusses the similarities between Sowa Rigpa and Ancient Greek medicine, the importance of sleep, the toxicity of emotion, and offers a direct warning to spiritual people around the world.
00:00 - Intro
00:53 - What is Sowa Rigpa?
03:27 - Connecting to the European medical tradition
07:02 - Pros and cons of modern medical science
10:05 - How Dr Nida’s teaching changed after integration into European culture
12:46 - Cultural conditioning in Asia vs Europe
17:58 - Similarities between Ancient Greek medicine and Sowa Rigpa
21:19 - 8th century international medical conference in Tibet
24:21 - A universal medicine
25:14 - What is medical tantra?
27:33 - The ‘4 Tantras’
30:34 - Why study an 8th century medical text today?
32:34 - A new translation by Dr Ben Joffe
35:47 - Compiling Dr Nida’s commentary
36:56 - Sowa Rigpa Institute
37:47 - The core of Sowa Rigpa
41:11 - How to understand your typology
44:15 - Healthy sleep
45:03 - 3 methods of diagnosis in Sowa Rigpa
46:27 - Urine analysis
47:57 - 3 levels of pulse reading
52:03 - How to receive to the body’s signals
54:15 - Bedside manner
56:58 - Connecting to the unconscious mind
01:00:03 - Art of conversation
01:02:54 - Buddhist influences on Sowa Rigpa
01:07:48 - Emotional toxins
01:11:02 - Toxic energy
01:14:49 - 3 nyepas and the 3 doṣas
01:18:18 - Monastics vs ngakpas
01:22:36 - The esoteric specialisms of the village ngakpa
01:27:44 - Tibetan demonology
01:29:21 - How spirits cause health problems
01:33:57 - The esoteric side of Sowa Rigpa
01:36:37 - Dr Nida’s warning to spiritual people
01:38:37 - Dangers of materialism
Previous episodes with Dr Nida Chenagtsang:
To find out more about Dr Nida Chenagtsang, visit:
Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James