Product Details

• Actors: The 14th Dalai Lama, Dr. Tenzin Choedrak, H. H. Tenzin Gyatso
• Directors: Franz Reichle
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
• Language: English (Unknown)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: FIRST RUN FEATURES
• DVD Release Date: September 20, 2005
• Run Time: 89 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000A0GY28
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,701 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Knowledge of Healing" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

The new documentary THE KNOWLEDGE OF HEALING is an illuminating examination of Tibetan medicine, a practice which has developed over two millennia into a modern day successful method of healing that rivals western medical practices.

Unlike Western medicine, based on biochemistry, Tibetan medical thinking (which is strongly rooted in Buddhist principles) views the human body as governed by an elaborately organized system of energies flowing through a network of channels. In the 12th century, the Gyüshi (Knowledge of Healing) was created, a text codifying this intricate system. The medications used comprise herbs, roots, minerals, etc. After flourishing for centuries, most Tibetan medical schools were destroyed by the Chinese in the 1950's and 1960's, and many physicians were executed.

Speaking from exile, the Dalai Lama argues for the value of Tibetan medicine, while his personal physician Dr. Tenzin Choedrak describes the principles behind it. We follow physicians in India and Siberia treating patients for a variety of ailments from paralysis to heart disease, and meet researchers in Israel and Switzerland to see how western clinical studies are testing the effectiveness of Tibetan medicine.

THE KNOWLEDGE OF HEALING is not propaganda for alternative medicine, but a thorough, objective examination of an ancient interpretation of human physiology, and a compelling investigation into an alternative approach to healing.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cure for Cancer, November 15, 2006

By 

R. martini (Santa Monica, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Knowledge of Healing (DVD)

This film should have been subtitled "A cure for cancer?" - i only wish I had seen this film when my friend was dying from a tumor and from the AMA treatment of it. This is a really powerful film with great science and information in it. I'm buying one for my doctor today. *Editing comment in 2011* Apologies for not being more specific. Five years ago when I posted this comment, I assumed hundreds of others would appear. My wife got this film through Netflix, I'm a fan of Tibetan medicine, as I've studied it a bit and met the Dalai Lama's doctor, Yeshe Donden. He said "we didn't have much cancer in Tibet until recently, but we've had some success in treating it." In this documentary, the filmmaker takes the time to show the Tibetan healing practices, focusing on a Tibetan Doctor in Mongolia where he cures a Russian man - If memory serves me he was given 3 months to live. Mind you, this is Mongolia - middle of nowhere, the Doctor is working with herbs and ancient tradition - but it's amazing to watch (and kudos to the filmmaker for showing the process). I can't recommend anyone suffering from cancer to travel to Mongolia for treatment (unless you can, of course), but I highly recommend viewing this film to get a sense of "holistic" treatment. Not everyone is well versed in it. Certainly medical science has taken leaps and bounds - but this kind of healing, based on centuries of knowledge of plants and how they affect the body, and the toxins that affect it - combined perhaps with a good mental attitude - can produce startling results. I think there are 3 patients covered in all - each with different doctors, each healed through the traditional Tibetan method. That being said it's very hard to find traditional Tibetan medicine in the US - there's a Tibetan psychologist at UCLA, via Tibet House in NYC you can find herbal medicines being grown at their retreat in Menla. I've spent years reading and studying - this film shows direct results. It's not for everyone - the Tibetan doctor will taste a patient's urine, for example, to examine it for clarity, pollutants, toxicity etc. That's pretty startling in itself - unless you think about the logic of it - if you're testing clarity of water coming through a plant, it makes sense to examine the end product. But these Doctors can read a person's health merely by feeling their pulse. Thank god for the internet, as one could never learn about these things before, and thank this filmmaker for taking the time to make a film that really gets into the heart of the medicine used. It's empowering for a patient to be able to say "Have you seen this?" and "I'd like to try something like this" and not be laughed out of an office. My dear departed friend did as much research as she could, tried as much alternative methods before cancer took her in 96 - and I wish I'd seen this before - we would have had fun drinking tibetan chai and churning yak butter in Mongolia. Funny, she sent me on a journey AFTER her passing. It's resulted in my book "Flipside" which is here at Amazon. I mention it because you never know where the message for you to follow your path might come from - and we all need to be more open to it. If you have a friend or know someone suffering from this disease, it makes sense to share this film with your loved one.RichMartini

25 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The difference between light and absence of light, July 31, 2006

By 

Jose Joacir dos santos "Joacir" (San Francisco, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Knowledge of Healing (DVD)

The amazing part of "The Knowledge of Healing" is when the scientist says that he saw waves of light from the tibetan herbs. This video should be given as a gift for everyone in the health fild, because it shows, scientifically, that the herbs are the way of healing. Jose Joacir dos Santo, O.M.D.

30 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Empowering, June 12, 2006

By 

tony go - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Knowledge of Healing (DVD)

An unexpected, informative, and charming film. These are gifted and inspiring teachers and healers, from a long and profound tradition. And the film does them justice.