Abstract
Much of what Western medicine classifies as psychiatric illness is understood by Tibetan thought as associated with imbalance of rlung (wind, breath). Rlung has a dual origin in Indian thought, combining elements from Ayurvedic medicine and Tantric Buddhism. Tibetan theories of rlung seem to correspond in significant ways with Western concepts of the autonomic nervous system (ANS), and Western medicine too has associated psychiatric issues with ANS problems. But what is involved in relating Tibetan ideas of rlung to Western ideas of the emotions and the ANS? The article presents elements of the two systems and then explores similarities and differences between them. It asks whether the similarities could be the basis for a productive encounter between Tibetan and Western modes of understanding and treating psychiatric illness. What could Western psychiatry learn from Tibetan approaches in this area?
Highlights
As Susannah Deane’s article in this collection explains (Deane, this issue), much of the domain of psychiatric illness in biomedicine is understood in Tibetan medicine in terms of disorders in an internal process known as rlung, sometimes translated as ‘wind.’ In this article, I examine the use of rlung as an explanation for psychiatric illness and ask how it might relate to biomedical and neuroscientific modes of explanation for psychiatric disorders
I proceed to look at how it led to a series of categories which Tibetans used to understand some of the area we would describe as psychiatric illness
I look at psychiatric illness in terms of states of imbalance in the subtle body and in terms of disorders in the autonomic nervous system
Summary
As Susannah Deane’s article in this collection explains (Deane, this issue), much of the domain of psychiatric illness in biomedicine is understood in Tibetan medicine in terms of disorders in an internal process known as rlung (pronounced ‘loong’), sometimes translated as ‘wind.’ In this article, I examine the use of rlung as an explanation for psychiatric illness and ask how it might relate to biomedical and neuroscientific modes of explanation for psychiatric disorders.1 3 Vol:.(1234567890)Journal of Religion and Health (2019) 58:770–794My argument proceeds in several stages. There are a number of other cases of these disorders in the literature, but rather than attempting a systematic translation into psychiatric terminology, which would take me well beyond my personal expertise, or discussing treatment in detail, I shall turn to look at a second body of material which contributes importantly to Tibetan understandings of rlung: the role of rlung in Buddhist Tantra.
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