Yeshi Dhonden (Tibetan:ཡེ་ཤེས་དོན་ལྡན,Wylie:ye shes don ldan; 15 May 1927 – 26 November 2019)[1] was a Tibetan doctor oftraditional Tibetan medicine, and servedthe 14th Dalai Lama from 1961 to 1980.[2] In 2018, the Indian government honoured him with thePadma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India.[3]
Yeshi Dhonden was born into a family of peasants on 15 May 1927 in Namro, a village located inLhoka, Tibet, south of theYarlung Tsangpo River.[2] He was sent to Sungrab Ling Monastery at the age of six and took novice vows as a Buddhist monk two years later.[4][5] At eleven, he joined the Chakpori Institute of Tibetan Medicine,Lhasa, and studied medicine for nine years. He was taught by Khyenrab Norbu. Dhonden displayed strong memorization skills during the study of thefour tantra.[6]
At twenty he was recognized as the best in class at the Chakpori Institute of Tibetan Medicine, and was made an honorary doctor of the Dalai Lama. From 1951 onward, he practiced medicine in Tibet in his native region, where he became known for his great efficiency after he had treated an influenza epidemic on the Tibetan-Bhutanese border that year.[7] When the14th Dalai Lama went into exile in 1959, Dhonden chose to accompany him and help the Tibetan refugees in India.[8]
The President, Shri Ram Nath Kovind presenting the Padma Shri Award to Dr. Yeshi Dhonden, at the Civil Investiture Ceremony, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on 20 March 2018.
InDharamshala, India, he refounded theTibetan Institute of Medicine and Astrology in 1961 and served as its Director till 1966. He resigned from the Institute and established a private clinic in 1969. He traveled to the West to present lectures on Tibetan medicine. He was considered an icon on traditional Tibetan medicine and practices, and renowned for his contribution to cancer treatment.[10][11][12] He was a foremost expert and proponent ofSowa Rigpa, which is a traditional Tibetan medicine system created as a combination of the ancient healing systems of India and China.[13][14][15]
From 1960 to 1980, he was the personal physician of the Dalai Lama.[16]
On 1 April 2019, he retired from medical practice due to declining health.[17]
^Snelling, John (1999).The Buddhist Handbook: A Complete Guide to Buddhist Schools, Teaching, Practice, and History. Inner Traditions.ISBN9780892817610.
