Special numbers

[Stephen Hodge]

> >On Thu, 11 Nov 1999, Jonathan Silk wrote:
> >
> >> well, of course there are 404 diseases in Buddhist texts...
> >
> >Oh?  Didn't know that.   Are they listed?  Where is this?
> >
>  I have never seen a list, but there is (somewhere--all my notes are
at
> home) an explanation -- I believe it comes from 4 x 101, but I (as
they
> say) disremember why at the moment...

They are mentioned in the Tibetan medical texts such as the bDud-rtsi
sNying-po (Ch 12) -- "there are classifiactions of 101 ailments with
reagrds to the 3 hunours, 101 with regard to principle ailments, 101
with regards to the locations, and 101 with regards to general
categories of ailaments".  I have also seen 101 allocated to each one
of the 3 humours and a further 101 for combinations.

Hope this helps.

Best wishes,
Stephen Hodge