IAAS Lecture: A Preliminary Analysis of Core Textual Sources on Alchemical Recipes and Alexipharmics

Inner Asian & Altaic Studies Lecture: A Preliminary Analysis of Core Textual Sources on Alchemical Recipes and Alexipharmics Preserved in the Brang ti lha rje’i rim brgyud kyi man ngag gser bre chen mo

Abstract: The Brang ti lha rje’i rim brgyud kyi man ngag gser bre chen mo (henceforth Golden Measure) is a very complex and stratified corpus of pith instructions (man ngag) handed down within the Brang ti medical lineage. It appears to be the result of a meticulous work of redaction to preserve medical, alchemical and ritual practices of diverse origins, selected from a variety of earlier medical and tantric sources, to build a systematic and exhaustive anthology.  This presentation is aimed at providing an analysis of the contents of this anthology to illustrate how in the Tibetan context of thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, medical knowledge is intertwined with cognate literatures on poisons, alexipharmic remedies and medical panaceas, whose roots stretch back to the reception and elaboration of Indian medical and tantric sources on alchemical transmutation, Bhūtatantras and Gāruḍatantras. Moreover, this contribution intends to provide the framework within which to analyse the described recipes as an example of foreign medical and pharmacological knowledge conveyed and preserved in Buddhist tantric medical writings.