Sowa Rigpa (Tib. གསོ་བ་རིག་པ་) the ‘Science of Healing’, is the medical system of Tibet and other Himalayan regions including Bhutan, Nepal, Ladakh, Sikkim, and Mongolia. It is one of the oldest healing traditions, yet it remains fully alive and intact even today.
It is unique in that it has incorporated elements from the foreign medical systems of India, China, and Ancient Greece, while retaining its own distinctly Himalayan character, shaped by both Buddhist and pre-Buddhist thought. Sowa Rigpa has the fourfold aim ofpreventing illness, curing illness, extending life, and cultivating happiness.
The term Sowa Rigpa has two fundamental meanings:
- Sowa can be translated as ‘Healing’ and Rigpa as ‘Science’; so Sorig (abbreviation of Sowa Rigpa) means ‘Healing Science’.
- Sowa can also be translated as ‘Nourishment’ while Ripga is translated as ‘Awareness’; in that case Sorig means ‘Nourishment of Awareness’.
This twofold meaning is connected to Tibetan medicine’s aim of realizing both relative and absolute balance.
