Dear Readers,

 The days of the prolonged Indian monsoon are about to come to an end. Along with the autumn sun appears the outcome of long weeks of thought and creative endeavour - this present issue of AyurVijnana. Articles, interviews and reports have been collected by a dedicated editorial team from authors from various walks of life. We thank all our contributors for having shared their diverse opinions and knowledge in this international forum on Indo-Tibetan medicine.

 We have received encouraging letters from the world over. As there are no subscription fees and our circulation of AyurVijnana is complementary, we are developing a national and international mailing list of individuals and institutions that are actively involved in and dedicated to Indo-Tibetan medical studies, research and practice. Please understand that we are only able to continue sending AyurVijnana to those who continue to correspond with ITTM. Exchanging letters, views or articles, and making any form of contribution that you feel appropriate, will keep this network alive, without letting it sink into a commercialised activity.

 For future issues, we encourage the participation of Ayurvedic researchers and practitioners in India and abroad. Our intention is to achieve an interesting balance between Tibetan and Ayurvedic medical cultures that still have much to share in spite of the distance between each other over centuries.

 On the anvil is the FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON TIBETAN MEDICINE, November 7-9, 1998 in Washington, DC, USA, where ITTM has been invited to present its research project activities during the day-long panel entitled Issues of Translation and Epistemology in Tibetan Medicine and at the Database Workshop.

 The Washington congress demonstrates an increasing interest in Tibetan medicine among Western scientific and medical communities. The case with Ayurveda is similar. Whether this will result in commercial exploitation, with these unique medical traditions being reduced to New-Age alternative healing therapies cut off from their historical roots, or whether they will find their niche in the Western medical world as respected medical cultures and ways of life, is yet to be seen and proved. But, we feel it is important to document and discuss this process, to pinpoint the dangers and highlight opportunities, and broaden our consciousness to perceive the potential of such treasures of Asian medical traditions in retrospect and prospect.

 Tibetan and Ayurvedic medical clinics are being set up in various countries. A recent letter from a  physician who is in the process of establishing a Tibetan medical organisation in Russia, talks about the difficulties in communication between Tibetan and non-Tibetan doctors practising Tibetan medicine: "I do not see clearly the relationship between the bearers of the tradition - Tibetan medical doctors - and us, their European followers. As we know by experience, the Tibetans are not interested in our professional growth in an area of activity which they consider their own. It is understandable that people who have relied on their oral transmission for centuries and kept their  recipes secret, even from their own colleagues, are not likely to contact us openly. What we are interested in is not just a seven-day course but the deep knowledge of Tibetan medicine itself."

 That Tibetan medicine is indeed a serious matter of research, is evident from the highest "Summa cum laude" award given to Dr. Katrin Jaeger by Heidelberg University, Germany, for her Ph.D. thesis on Tibetan paediatrics.

 We now look forward to your responses and hope that the contents of this issue will stimulate further dialogue on these subjects.
 

Barbara Gerke

EDITOR

New Dimensions in Cultivating   Medicinal Plants  by Tadeu Caldas, UK
Revival of Tibetan Medicine in Russia  Interview with Seraphim Sidorov, Moscow, Russia
Indian Institute of History of Medicine  Momin Ali, Hyderabad, India
Challenges with Tibetan Medicine in German speaking Countries  Egbert Asshauer, Hamburg, Germany
Interview with Dr. S.Wangdu Changbhar,  Tibetan Herbal Clinic, Calcutta, India
Article: Ancient Wisdom - Modern Healing  Eliot Tokar, New York, USA
Books on Tibetan Medicine  Barbara Gerke, Kalimpong, India
ITTM - Guidelines:   How to prepare yourself for a visit to a Tibetan Doctor