Abstract
Abstract This article analyzes the audio diaries of a Tibetan physician, originally from Amdo (Qinghai Province, China), now living in New York City. Dr. Kunchog Tseten describes his experiences during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, in spring and summer 2020, when Queens, New York—the location where he lives and works—was the “epicenter of the epicenter” of the novel coronavirus outbreak in the United States. The collaborative research project of which this diary is a part combines innovative methodological approaches to qualitative, ethnographic study during this era of social distancing with an attunement to the relationship between language, culture, and health care. Dr. Kunchog’s diary and our analysis of its contents illustrate the ways that Tibetan medicine and Tibetan cultural practices, including those emergent from Buddhism, have helped members of the Himalayan and Tibetan communities in New York City navigate this unprecedented moment with care and compassion.
Highlights
Dr Kunchog is a practitioner of what is called Sowa Rigpa in Tibetan, or the “science of healing.” He has been a New Yorker for about a decade
We describe the situation in which Dr Kunchog has been living and working in Queens, during the initial surge of the virus in New York City
At various moments in the diary, he acknowledges that some patients are coming to see him because they are fearful of going to a clinic or hospital due to COVID-19 risk, they might “normally” have sought biomedical care first; in other moments, he describes the importance of integration between Sowa Rigpa and biomedicine, for coronavirus but for other health issues
Summary
Dr Kunchog is a practitioner of what is called Sowa Rigpa in Tibetan, or the “science of healing.” He has been a New Yorker for about a decade.
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