Herbal Training by Pasang
Rewalsar, Himachal Pradesh, India
Pasang
Pasang is a Tibetan herbalist who resides in the small town of Rewalsar, surrounding the holy lake of Tso Pema (Lotus Lake). The area is sacred to Hindus, Sikhs, and Buddhists alike. It is also a haven for over 300 plants with medicinal applications in Tibetan medicine, Ayurvedic practice, and Western medicine. Pasang has resided in Tso Pema for over 18 years, and he knows them all. Throughout the year, he travels the Himalayan Foothills of Himachal Pradesh, harvesting herbs and flowers for various doctors, and teaching wildcrafting tours. His yearly tour begins from the Punjab border, and continues inward to Mandi and Rewalsar.
Letting the Herbs set the Pace
The herbs and flowers and the weather of the foothills set Pasang's schedule. His specialty is harvesting the plants at precisely the right time so they will be at their most effective for medical use. Too, he prefers to focus on the leaves and flowers of the plants, leaving the roots behind so that there will be more plants in the future. Plants that are in full season are also harvested for cultivation, so that more can be grown at home without disturbing the wild plant growth areas. For approximately 11 months of the year, he harvests plants and teaches, taking the twelfth month off as a vacation. Before the birth of his son, Pasang used to spend more time on the road, spending three to six months at a time in various parts of Himachal--Manali, Dharamsala, Ladakh. Now he limits his visits to actual herbal tours with students, and visits by doctors.
Many Medical Disciplines
Pasang is careful to stress that he is an herbal specialist only. His knowledge encompasses everything about the plant's life cycle: how they grow, where they grow, the best times to harvest them, and the best methods for washing, drying, and preseriving them. He leaves the teaching of medical herbalism to doctors. Often he will conduct "tandem" wildcrafting classes in which he teaches about the plants while an accompanying doctor explains their medical usage. He takes pride in working with doctors of many different medical disciplines: Tibetan, Ayurvedic, Western, and Mexican/Latin American. He has worked with such notables as Dr. Yeshe Dundun, doctor to His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Pasang also does business selling herbs to doctors in Delhi, Ladakh, and other places, with the approval and oversight of Himachal's Forest Department.
Wildcrafting Tours
There is no regular schedule for wildcrafting tours. The timing of any particular tour is very much dependent on the weather, and the plants that are in season. That said, Pasang is open to scheduling tours of almost any length, from short camping tours of a few days to much longer trips, and almost any location within Himachal Pradesh. So the cost of a wildcrafting tour can very greatly.
On a wildcrafting tour with Pasang, the plants and flowers themselves are the text to be studied. Pasang carries his knowledge in his head--the result of beginning his herbal training with three years of tours in the foothills, during which he was allowed to observe, but not harvest plants himself. He carries a small collection of plant identification cards, with colored illustrations labeled in chinese and Tibetan, of such plants as "Kangla" ("Snow Flower") and "Dali Meto" (a plant that is also a source of incense).
Contacting Pasang
Once the students and their touring gear are in Rewalsar, it's possible for Pasang to set up a wildcrafting tour with as little as one or two hours' notice. In Rewalsar, the easiest way to contact him is to ask for him at the family restaurant, Topchen, situated directly across from the Nyingma Monastery. He is also reachable by telephone and by email.
Pasang
Phone (Rewalsar, India): +919816354343Email: topchenrestaurent@yahoo.co.in
Topchen Restaurant, Rewalsar
(just across from Nyingma Monastery)