Going to the Source: Tibetan Healing, Faith, and the Clear Sky of the Mind with Dr. Tenzin Namdul
Some conversations feel like the start of something larger, and this episode of Headwaters Journal is one of them. Dr. Tenzin Namdul joins not only as a guest but as the newest member of the Headwaters Journal board, bringing with him a lifetime spent between Tibetan medicine, Buddhist contemplative science, and Western research. Together with host Arndt Braaten, Tenzin opens the door to Tibetan Buddhism as a tradition of health and healing, one where faith isn’t the central category but where balance, compassion, suffering, and impermanence carry deep meaning.
Who Is Dr. Tenzin Namdul? From Tibetan Medicine to a PhD in Medical Anthropology
Born to Tibetan parents and raised in Dharamsala, India, Tenzin first dreamed of studying Western biomedicine, but medical school admission there often depended on wealth. Instead, he trained at the Tibetan Medical and Astrological Institute, where tuition was covered through His Holiness’s trust fund and sponsors. A turning point came in 2008 when he studied a senior Tibetan monk who remained in meditation after being clinically declared dead, an experience that pushed him to seek formal research training in the U.S. Starting over as a freshman at the University of Minnesota, he discovered anthropology, then earned his PhD in medical anthropology at Emory University, where his research moved from death and dying into aging and neurodegenerative disorders.
Tibetan Healing Courses and Study Abroad at the University of Minnesota
Today Tenzin leads the Tibetan Healing Initiative at the Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality and Healing, founded in 1994 by Dr. Mary Jo Kreitzer. The initiative offers three courses that look at whole-person health through Tibetan medicine and Buddhist contemplative science alongside modern healthcare. He also leads a study abroad program, begun in 2005 by Dr. Miriam Cameron, that takes students to the Tibetan Medical College in Dharamsala for two to three weeks of learning directly from Tibetan doctors, an experience many describe as life transforming.
What Does Faith Mean in Tibetan Buddhism?
In Tibetan, the word closest to faith is tepa, and it is never meant to be blind. Tenzin explains that anything we encounter should first be examined with curiosity and critical investigation, then weighed by whether it is well supported and shared by someone we trust. The host connects this to stepping onto the frozen bay of Lake Superior in winter: a tradition’s wisdom may have held millions of people for thousands of years, yet each of us still has to discover whether it will carry our own weight.
How Tibetan Medicine Connects the Mind to the Root of Illness
Tenzin describes Tibetan medicine as so intertwined with Buddhist psychology that it would collapse without it. The medical texts trace illness back to the mind, which begins clear and pure but gradually becomes absorbed in a self-centered sense of “me,” giving rise to the afflictive emotions of desire, anger, and confusion. Understanding the mind’s true nature, described as clarity and cognizance, is cultivated through hearing, contemplating, and meditating, and it is this understanding that builds genuine personal agency.
Why Focusing on Others Makes Us Happier, According to Science
Tenzin points to the growing science of happiness, including research at Yale and the University of British Columbia, showing that people who shift their attention toward others are happier, less lonely, and more resilient. This echoes the Buddhist teaching of interdependence, the recognition that none of us is an independent self. From our parents and teachers to the postal worker and the cashier, we exist because of everyone around us, and seeing that clearly opens the way to compassion.
Impermanence and the Mind as a Clear Sky
The host shares a beloved image from Tenzin’s book, Tibetan Medicine and You: the mind is like a clear sky, and our troubles are clouds that will pass. Tenzin ties this to impermanence, reminding listeners that our bodies, relationships, and circumstances are always changing, down to the cells being replaced as we speak. Holding that truth lightly makes happiness more sustainable and can even restore faith in ourselves on the days we are hardest on our own hearts.
Standout Quotes
“There’s nothing that is permanent. And the only thing that is permanent is impermanence.” (Tenzin Namdul)
“Anything that we come across has to be investigated, has to be looked at through the lens of curiousness and critical investigation.” (Tenzin Namdul)
“The more we try to put effort in helping others, the more mentally resilient we are, and the happier we are.” (Tenzin Namdul)
“I as an individual am nothing if it’s not for everything in my surroundings.” (Tenzin Namdul)
“Sometimes we are so harsh on ourselves that we lose faith in ourselves.” (Tenzin Namdul)
“We need to come up with new questions to deal with the old ongoing problems.” (Tenzin Namdul)
“Don’t focus on the clouds. Focus on the clear sky, because the clouds will pass but the clear sky will remain.” (Arndt Braaten)
“We are not competitors. We’re colleagues.” (Arndt Braaten)
“Go to the sources. Go where the water is fresh.” (Arndt Braaten)
