2 0 0 T H E B R I T I S H H O M ( E O P A T H I C J O U R N A L

allowed us the privilege of accompanying him on an arduous and fascinating journey.

$ . B .

The Tibetan Art of Healing. By Theodore Burang. Watlcins, London, 1975. Paper s

A confrontation between Western and Eastern philosophy, medical thought and practice is unavoidable. Even the most determined reader is likely to come to grief and give up in despair. (Comparison is tempting. Yet to equate The Principle of Cosmic Humours with the humoral approach to illness or the Second Body to that of Anthroposophy would be inappropriate.) However, anyone who can look at the material, remarkably clearly presented, without too much prejudice, yet critically, will be rewarded. To forecast the nature of this gratification is not a part of this brief review. I t will depend on the orientation of the individual toward the Art of Healing.

The author states, to quote page 5 - - " I t is important, moreover, for the maintenance of health, tha t the entire energy system of the human organism is aligned with the course of the 'great whole'; in other words, that the human microcosm is in stable harmony with the greater order of the macrocosm". He maintains tha t this represents the fundamental principle, and it is one with which the homceopath will have little quarrel.

A bird's:eye view of the background to the philosophy of The Tibetan Art of Healing is at tempted, followed by a closer survey of material specifically Tibetan. Chapters 6 and 7 concern themselves with Cancer, Mental Illness or Possession; subjects from which we cannot dissociate ourselves in the West. Though the word "possessed" may not feature in medical language it is a not uncommon idiom. Some readers may find the chapter on Materia Medica of special interest and may be encouraged to reflect further on the phenomenology of remedies and the meaningfulness of the drug picture.

The book is at tractively bound, small enough to slip into a large pocket, well set out and readable. The author and in no small way the translator are to be congratulated.

J . B .