Illness and Enlightenment: Exploring Tibetan Perspectives on Madness in Text and Everyday Life

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Susannah Deane

Illness and Enlightenment

Exploring Tibetan Perspectives on Madness in Text and Everyday Life

Susannah Deane

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Hardback

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English

Berghahn Books
01 February 2025

Tibetan Buddhism; Social & cultural anthropology; Care of the mentally ill

Tibetan understandings of nyoné — ‘madness’— encompass a broad range of concepts. Perspectives on the causation and treatment of madness as an illness are informed by Tantric and medical understandings of mind-body structure and (dys)functioning, as well as people’s relationships with non-human entities. In addition, ‘madness’ may be seen as a sign of enlightenment in the case of some Tantric practitioners. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in the Tibetan region of Amdo in northwest China, as well as examination of Tibetan medical and religious texts, Illness and Enlightenment explores the multi-faceted concept of nyoné through key Tibetan concepts of wind, heart, and mind, as well as human-spirit relationships.

By: Susannah Deane
Imprint: Berghahn Books
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm,
ISBN: 9781805398400
ISBN 10: 1805398407
Pages: 288
Publication Date: 01 February 2025
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Susannah Deane completed her PhD at Cardiff University. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on mental health and illness within Tibetan communities in China and in exile. Her publications include Tibetan Medicine, Buddhism and Psychiatry: Mental Health and Healing in a Tibetan Exile Community (Carolina Academic Press, 2018).

Reviews for Illness and Enlightenment: Exploring Tibetan Perspectives on Madness in Text and Everyday Life

“The book takes up an interesting, important, complicated and somewhat understudied aspect of Tibetan cultural and religious life.” • David DiValerio, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee