Dr. Yeshi Dhonden

Dr. Yeshi Dhonden, personal physician to His Holiness the Dalai Lama (1960-1980), is a renowned traditional Tibetan Medical doctor and one of the worlds foremost living authorities on Tibetan Medicine. He was born in 1927 to a prosperous farming family in the village of Yamdro in a district called Hlo-go, close to Lhasa, Tibet. At age six his parents sent him to a small monastery comprised of approximately 400 monks. Because of his exceptional abilities in memorization, at age eleven he was sent to Men Tsi Khang the Medical Collage in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. While there, he memorized the four Medical Tantras and then entered into formal training under the director of the college, Kyen-rab Nor-bu.

Dr. Dhonden began his medical practice in 1951, returning to his home district and developing a high reputation for his great skill. When His Holiness the Dalai Lama fled from the Chinese Communists in 1959, Dr. Dhonden also decided to leave Tibet for India where he began treating Tibetan Refugees.

In 1960, at the request of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Dr. Dhonden was appointed to be his personal physician and he moved to Dharamsala. There he also took on the challenge of founding Men Tsi Khang, the Tibetan Medical College. He as both Director and principal teacher until 1979.