Past and present

Chapter 2 Past and present

















CHAPTER CONTENTS  
A brief history 5
Jivaka Kumar Bhaccha 6
Thai Massage today 8


A brief history


Thai Massage is one of the three branches of Traditional Thai Medicine. The others are naturopathic (including dietary) medicine and spiritual practices. Traditional Thai Medicine is intimately entwined with Theravada Buddhism, the esoteric and monastic branch of Buddhism practised in Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka. In Thailand traditional medicine is still generally offered under the auspices of the Buddhist monastic community.


It is not known exactly when Buddhism came to Thailand. Some accounts suggest that Asoka, India’s first Emperor, sent missionaries in the second century BC. Asoka embraced Buddhism in response to the terrible cruelty he saw during the conquest of Kalinga. He came to be known as ‘The Prince of Peace’ (Kinder & Hilgemann 1978).


A stone inscription from 1292 AD records the declaration of Rama Khamheng, King of Siam, that Buddhism be recognised as the country’s official religion (Gold 2007). Beyond that little more is known. When the Burmese invaded Thailand in 1767 they destroyed the old royal capital of Ayutthia and with it most historical and medical texts.


In 1832 King Rama III gathered what fragments of the medical texts survived and had them carved into stone and set into the walls of the Wat Pho, the main Buddhist monastery in Bangkok. These carvings comprise 60 figures and are believed to indicate treatment lines and points on the human body with explanatory notes (Fig. 2.1) (Brust 1990).


image

Fig. 2.1 Three of 60 epigraphs carved on stone at Wat Pho.


Reproduced from a photograph by John Glines with permission



Jivaka Kumar Bhaccha


Most Thais venerate the North Indian physician Jivaka Kumar Bhaccha as the father of Thai medicine. The Foundation of Dr Shivaga Komarpaj preserves Jivaka’s name in its Thai version. The foundation runs the Old Medical Hospital in Chiang Mai where it offers courses in Thai Massage.


Jivaka Kumar Bhaccha was a member of the community (sangha) that gathered around the Buddha 2500 years ago. His story is included in the Vinaya Pitaka, a Theravadin document that records the life of that original sangha and lists the 227 rules governing monastic life.


According to this account Jivaka’s father was King Bimbisara, a contemporary of the Buddha, and the ruler of the Magadha Empire in North India. King Bimbisara was a passionate man who lusted after beautiful women. One day he was travelling by elephant in the countryside when he came upon the house of a wealthy merchant. The merchant was away on business. The merchant’s wife, who was alone, saw the king and told him she wished to present him with a garland. The king asked her to come outside but she refused and, instead, requested that the king come inside. When the king entered the house they were both overcome with lust and slept together.


A few months later the merchant’s wife went to the king and told him that she bore his child. The king gave her a linen cloth and a ring in acknowledgement of their relationship. He told the merchant’s wife ‘if a daughter is born, she is yours. If a son is born, bring him to me dressed in the linen and wearing the ring.’

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Jun 4, 2016 | Posted by in MANUAL THERAPIST | Comments Off on Past and present

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