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

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.

Subject: Medical Anthropology Anthropology of Religion

Area: Asia

LC: RC451.C62 T5334 2025

BISAC: SOC002010 SOCIAL SCIENCE/Anthropology/Cultural & Social; SOC057000 SOCIAL SCIENCE/Disease & Health Issues; MED102000 MEDICAL/Mental Health