by
wensum24
@ 17/01/2006 - 10:05:31
Thailand has one of the world's oldest continuous medical traditions, covering herbal and Thai massage, as well as herbal medicine, all embracing the context of Thai healing traditions we know today.
These based on Ayurvedic traditions from India, local hill-tribe medicine, medical traditions from across the border in China, helped give Thai medicine a colourful influence, which of course extends beyond just medicine, as seen in writing, arts, Buddhism etc.
Such medical practices are found throughout Thailand, in urban and rural locations, true to it's country of origin, it has become a mainstream medicine in both the east and west, as an ancient wisdom of enormous value to the human physical and mental soul, blending with modern technology as it does. (My own experience reads thus: being 'tanked-up' with tablets after a 5-minute consultation here in the West, or a 30-minute detailed examination in the East, using methods that largely involved the doctor's eyes being closed as he felt various key points, offering a diagnosis that even my doctor in the West conceded was accurate.)
As with a kaleidoscope of things in beautiful Thai culture, Thai medicine can be said to be based on idigenous tradition with the warming mix of Indian, Chinese and Khmer, with Jivaka Kumar Bhacca, (pronounced by Thais as "Shivago Komarpaj"), the historical progenitor at the forefront of Thai medicine's reverence, commonly referred to, in Thailand, as the "Father Doctor" of Thai medicine.
Much is owed and credited to Jivaka, a great historic figure in these parts, with no underestimation given to a contemporary of the Buddha, he was personal physician to the Buddha's order of monks and nuns, some 2,500 years ago, and a Ayudrvedic doctor of his time, of great repute, is given the honour by Thais, of being the original teacher of the now world-famous Thai massage system. But not only that, he is additinally credited as being the source of Thailand's complex and brilliant herb and mineral pharmacopoeia, which I am currently studying.
If you seek Thai healers, there is a fair chance you will see within their practice, a shrine including statuettes of the Buddha and the "Father Doctor" side-by-side, such is his immense influence andworship. He is still held in great esteem in the role and spiritual beliefs of Thai healers, herbalists, masseurs and traditional doctors. Daily prayers are also chanted, and offered by the shrine, to allow the spirit of the Father Doctor to play a part and assist in the modern healing of patients, with the superunknown benefit of time and wisdom.
The Ayurvedic influences on Thai medicinal traditions are actually difficult to measure accurately, though it can be frequently found that many references to Ayurvedic ideas exist in Thai herbal texts, yet this is not a counter to the full extent of Ayurvedic influence, nor a record of exactly when Indian ideas formally entered mainstream Thai culture.
I quote an authority on Thai massage, Harold "Asokananda" Brust, who maintains that Thai medicine's origins are of great mystery;
Despite what is known about Kumar Bhaccha, much of the origins of Thai massage and traditional Thai medicine still remain obscure. It is believed that the teachings of Kumar Bhaccha reached what is now Thailand at the same time as BuddhismԸ?as early as the 3rd or 2nd century BC. It is unknown whether there was any indigenous form of [medicine] in the region before that time. Equally unknown is to what extent Chinese concepts of acupuncture and acupressure (as well as other aspects of traditional medicine) had any theoretical and practical influence.... Nowadays it is impossible to definitively answer such questions, since for centuries medical knowledge was transmitted almost entirely orally from teacher to student following a teaching traditional also common in India.
Though we can be sure that the Indian medical structure, has been adopted by Thailand, irrespective of it's actual arrival date into the country. It has been placed as core theory within Thai medical practices, for at least 500 years. Today, many Thai practices such as Tridosha and Nadis, share the name of their Ayurvedic counterparts, and many more parallels can be seen throughout the Kingdom.
by lauren6
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