The knowledge of healing.

This is a very detailed account of the philosophy and practice of Tibetan medicine which is based on the Gyuschi (knowledge of healing) tantra. Much of the programme was filmed at the Tibetan Medical and Astro Institute, Tibet. There are many scenes of monks working with patients - for example, a monk instructs a novice as he examines a patient; he lights incense cones on the patient's stomach and chants. Monks are seen picking medicinal plants and weighing the ingredients for a prescription. Plants are labelled according to their use - some are claimed to be effective for malignant tumours and there is an account of recovery from cancer through this method of treatment. The theory of light emission by plants and the principles of jewel pills are explained. Tibetan medicine reaches out to the rest of the world; some Chernobyl casualties were treated by this method. In Switzerland a Tibetan remedy saved a man from having a leg amputated by cleansing the blood vessels; in India a patient goes to a Tibetan dispensary to obtain jewel pills and shows how they are used. Practitioners of Tibetan medicine advocate its use alongside western medicine - sometimes one is more effective, sometimes the other.