The Tibetan Art of Healing [Paperback]

lan A. Baker (Author), Romio Shrestha (Illustrator), Deepak Chopra (Preface), Dalai Lama (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1997

Like an illuminated manuscript, this extraordinarily beautiful book is both an exquisite artwork in itself and an object of profound meditation. It is based on a revered collection, long considered lost, of four-hundred-year-old Tibetan thangkas on the art of healing -- astonishing paintings from which we have much to learn in our search for physical and spiritual well-being today. Rendered by Tibet's foremost traditional artist, Romio Shrestha, using the age-old technique of painting with rich minerals such as gold, lapis, and garnet, these are works of breathtaking complexity and brilliance. Down to the finest hair on a tiny figure's beard, they reward the minutest contemplation. More than this, this important book is a practical healing guide. Tibetan scholar Ian Baker guides us through the paintings, unfolding their invaluable insights to the remedy and prevention of a myriad of illnesses -- including such "contemporary" ailments as stress, allergies, and heart disease -- and to the link between mind and body in the search for human wholeness. The Tibetan Art of Healing is an unprecedented journey into healing and transformation, a volume as timely and revolutionary as it is sumptuous and exuberant.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Tibetan medicine is becoming better known in the Western hemisphere, and this lavishly illustrated volume makes a great contribution to the dissemination of Tibet's medical knowledge. This work features the luminous recreations of traditional medical thanka paintings by the contemporary Nepalese master painter Romi Shrestha. The accompanying text by Ian Baker, who has studies with Hilalayan healers, yogins, and lamas, for fifteen years, unlocks the symbolism of these images for us. -- Yoga World

About the Author

Romio Shrestha is a preeminent master of the Tibetan tradition whose works are represented in several important collections internationally. He lives in Nepal and Ireland.

lan A. Baker has studied extensively with Tibetan lamas, yogis, and physicians. He is coauthor of Tibet: Reflections from the Wheel of Life and cofounder of Sukhavati, a Himalayan spa.

Deepak Chopra is the best-selling author of many books, including Ageless Body, Timeless Mind.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama TENZIN GYATSO, the fourteenth Dalai Lama, is a Nobel Peace Laureate and political and spiritual leader of the Tibetan people.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books; 1st edition (October 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811818713
• ISBN-13: 978-0811818711
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 9.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #466,573 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brave Health, July 22, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Tibetan Art of Healing (Paperback)

Age, behavior, diet, personality, physical environment, and season all have a part in health: all disease is caused by jarring the flow between body and world and by not understanding that a self-identity is not fixed or lasting. Good health balances diet, lifestyle, and mental and seasonal conditions. A good diet is the particular basis of all Tibetan medical treatment, with the emphasis on butter, milk, roasted barley flour, and tea. Tibetan medicine wants health kept or restored by internally balancing body and mind: aging shows up with mental and physical stress, and we are poisoned by attachment, aversion, dullness, envy and pride. However, a good doctor has the advantage when strong on compassion, medical understanding, and wisdom: THE TIBETAN ART OF HEALING draws heavily on being sensitive to internal energy flow and knowing plants. Ian Baker's book of 79 medical paintings by Nepalese artist Romio Shrestha backtracks to the Blue Beryl commentary on Tibetan Buddhist health, which is also a concern of John F. Avedon's equally impressive BUDDHA'S ART OF HEALING. I find it helpful to have two other books by the same author: CELESTIAL GALLERY, with the same illustrator, and THE DALAI LAMA'S SECRET TEMPLE, with all the special meditative artwork.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Tibetan Art of Healing, November 26, 2009

By 

javafusion - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Tibetan Art of Healing (Hardcover)

The art of healing is achieved when all our actions are inspired by a higher reality in which our individual identity is inseparable from the creative forces of the Cosmos. It is my profound belief that great art can initiate the healing response within us, and urge us beyond all limited self-identifications, beyond time and boundaries. This is the liberated state of the Buddhas, the awakened ones, towards which these paintings guide us. May these images of human potential help beings everywhere to rediscover the state of perfect health and spiritual well-being! - From the Preface by Deepak Chopra.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a book for everyone, December 12, 2002

By 

Mary Marston St John "sativa1313" (Santa Cruz, Ca United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Tibetan Art of Healing (Paperback)

the illustrations in this book give the western reader a spectacular glimpse at some of the visual spendor of Tibet. the actual writing only gives a basic analysis of tibetan medicine, but this book is a must have for both well-studied practicioners and people with a passing interest.