Heterogeneity of Institutionalizing Sowa Rigpa Education in Nepal Himalaya

Sowa Rigpa, publicly known as Tibetan medicine, is a healthcare system that has been (re)formed and (re)shaped through centuries-long practices along with cultural, economic, political, and social dimensions in and beyond the trans-Himalayan region. Thus, Sowa Rigpa is not a homogenous entity but an open and contingent assemblage that is always subject to changes amidst the mobility of people, goods, and ideas. Its practices in the Nepal Himalaya exemplify a continuous process of indigenous identification, wherein everyday bordering and networking by an ensemble of actors are exercised by re-inventing traditions, re-assembling ideas and materials, re-negotiating ownerships and re-making norms, and rules and policies. This chapter focuses on the educational system to explore how educational organizations sustain and reshape the Sowa Rigpa identification in Nepal. Two cases of educational organizations were studied. The qualitative data were collected from semi-open interviews, oral narratives, and textual and discourse analysis. The heterogeneity of Sowa Rigpa in Nepal is observed at the organizational levels. Two main groups of identicers are responsible for reforming institutionalizing layers of Sowa Rigpa. The modern Sowa Rigpa organizations provide healthcare and education to attract non-Himalayan communities and overseas students, dominating the monastic-trained healer’s organizations. This reflects divisions between indigenous Himalayan communities and formal educational organization-trained practitioners and between contemporary Nepal’s rural Himalayan and urban regions.