Abstract:
Among all the disciplines in which local medicine and spirituality are still intricately entangled,
there exists one, namely Tibetan medicine. These medical knowledge and practices are also known
as Sowa Rigpa gso ba rig pa, which can literally translate to the “science of healing” or the
“Tibetan knowledge of the field of healing”. It is based on two essential elements: local medicine
and Buddhism. These two coexist together and are both pivotal to treating the patient’s imbalance
or illness.
Inspired by Tibetan medical tradition, this thesis proposes research on some aspects concerning
the connection between medicine and religion. Despite the abundant scientific literature available
about Sowa Rigpa and other medicines and religions such as Ayurvedic medicine and Indian
Buddhism, there are no studies investigating the relationship between biomedicine and Sowa Rigpa
that took into consideration the medical dimension and religious contexts of each practice, i.e.
Buddhism and Christianity.
This experimental and interdisciplinary thesis aims at investigating the dialogue between these
two coexisting worlds in order to highlight the contribution of spirituality as a complementary and
supportive element to accept and confront an illness. During hundreds of years, Christianity as well
as Buddhism had a strong influence on the development of medicine. Although this is no longer the
case, it is yet possible for biomedicine and Christianity to keep interacting together, as demonstrated
by Tibetan medicine and Buddhism. Therefore, I ultimately decided to examine the connection
between biomedicine and religion in the Trompone complex in Moncrivello, in the province of
Vercelli (in Piedmont), which brings together both the medical facilities and the Catholic Sanctuary
devoted to “Beata Vergine del Trompone”. Apart from standard pharmacological treatments,
patients can benefit from religious services and spiritual support. Most of the investigative work
with patients, health and social professionals and spiritual caregivers was conducted in this medical
center.
By adopting an anthropological approach, this essay attempted to contribute to the dialogue
between biomedicine and Sowa Rigpa via Christianity and Buddhism.
