Tibetan medicine lures patients seeking drug-free cures

Dharamsala, India

BEFORE dawn in the Indian Himalayas, scores of patients clutching small vials of urine queue patiently to see Yeshi Dhonden, a Tibetan monk who became a legend as personal healer to the Dalai Lama.

Tibetan medicine, known as Sowa-Rigpa, draws on centuries-old techniques such as blood-letting, cupping, and moxibustion - burning herbs on energy points of the body - to try to heal ailments.