Porcupine Bezoars – The Best Medicine?
In Chinese traditional medicine, there are some incredible sources of natural remedies for all kinds of ailments. One of these many interesting remedies believed to be able to cure various conditions is called a bezoar.
A bezoar is a mass of food found trapped in an animal’s stomach system, usually from consuming grass and herbs. In particular, bezoar stones found in porcupines are believed to be used to cure cancer, diabetes, dengue fever, typhoid, epilepsy, hepatitis as well as many other conditions.
In Malaysia, there is a high demand for porcupine bezoar stones and medicinal shops can charge as much as RM700 for under a half gram! There is a lot of money to be made from obtaining these stones and people are very keen to make a profit from those looking to find quick-fix miracle cures.
However, the high demand for porcupine bezoars means that countless porcupines suffer needlessly in order to meet that demand. Recent news stories have given heart-breaking insights into such suffering. People who try to profit from the bezoar stones keep the poor animals in cramped cages and the porcupine is butchered for its meat and the stones are removes from its stomach to be sold on. (You can read one such story here: http://dailychilli.com/news/1364-how-bezoar-man-caught-rearing-porcupines-in-cages).
Recently, I have had bouts of illness and have been searching for remedies so my health can improve quickly. However, whatever I experience when I am ill is nothing compared to the terrifying trauma and brutal treatment poor porcupines are faced with. If I were to use porcupine bezoars in order to heal, I would not feel good about my health and recovery at all, knowing that a porcupine had suffered a horrific death. Especially when I can find alternative methods and remedies. Hence I refused to use this. It is your choice, but have compassion for animals please.
Porcupines suffer tremendously and there is no 100% guarantee that the bezoar stones will cure people of their condition. There are many other ways in which we can treat our ailments and illnesses. Why do we need to force unnecessary suffering upon porcupines and other animals to tend to our health? It makes no sense that we should feel positive about our own health improving when the cause for this is an animal having been slaughtered on our behalf.
In our practice, we pray to take on the suffering of all beings so that we can develop compassion and loving kindness towards all sentient beings. Imagine how hypocritical it would be to pray for the benefit of all sentient beings while we are happy for a poor defenseless animal to die a horrible death for our own gain. That doesn’t provide any benefit for the porcupine at all – only terror, suffering and pain!
When we are ill, we should definitely look towards getting better as quickly as possible. No-one wants to suffer; everyone wants to live in peace and without pain. We should keep this in mind when considering all other beings too: they also want to live in peace and without suffering. There are many, many ways that we can treat our illnesses and conditions and as spiritual practitioners, we should always endeavor to check that the treatment we seek out is free from causing suffering to other beings.
Tsem Rinpoche
Porcupines kept in captivity, to be killed and harvested for their bezoars. Some people claim that the porcupines undergo surgery to remove the bezoars and that no lasting damage is done to the porcupine, but we can never be sure that is the case.
Close up of a porcupine bezoar
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Selling these on Lazada. I just sent a message telling them how neanderthal they are. The Herb Shop on Lazada.
Wow …incredible benefits of bezoar that has many healing properties. Glad to come across this article , which is new to me. Many Chinese medical practitioners believe that bezoars, which accumulate in the digestive tract, have medicinal abilities to cure diabetes, dengue fever, and cancer. According to leading wildlife trafficking experts, the small, spiny rodents are at risk of becoming extinct in long run due to the demand of bezoars. The high demand for porcupine bezoars seems to be very popular. It’s certainly a worrying issue as the sales appeared widespread in Asian countries. Not only the bezoars and recently their meat is considered a delicacy in certain countries . There are many, many ways that we can treat such illnesses instead harming these tiny endangered species which are suffering at farms. Their meat and bezoars can be harvested for human consumption is a terrible thought.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this.
Of course they don’t have any medicinal benefits, only a neanderthal believes that witch doctor nonsense!!? Unfortunately there’s a prevalence amongst certain peoples to cause pain and suffering.
It’s really sad to see that some people can believe something that is totally fake and yet ignore it.
It is has not been proven that porcupine bezoar can cure diseases, but still people will pay more than a thousand just for less than a gram, what’s worse the innocent porcupines are killed just for that! Just because you think that a medicine that comes from a once alive being is going to help you, it isn’t always true. There are other alternatives that you can take to heal yourself other than relying on another being.
So you actually killed a being for your own sake? That’s because you think that you have a reason to live right? So shouldn’t other beings have the right to live? Are we as humans the only ones who are allowed to live? No, we aren’t. Every being has the rights to live, so respect their lives, don’t murder them just because you are sick, because killing another being to heal you just isn’t fair.
Remember, every being pervading the whole of the universe has the rights to live, do not for your own sake murder an innocent being.
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People are getting more and more ridiculous and superstitious nowadays, I’m not saying being superstitious is bad but we have to differenciate what is right and wrong. How is catching these animals and taking the bezoar out of them good? I really do not understand, just like bear bilea and paws, how are they good?
I believe if the animal is treated with humane consideration it should be okay. If it has to be slaughtered for its bezoar instead of humane surgery then the slaughter should be swift and painless. It should be done in private,not in the presence of other porcupines waiting their turns to be slaughtered. It is cruel,unethical and downright crude.
There must be a reason for the porcupine to grow a bezoar – perhaps to help human beings.
“There must be a reason for the porcupine to grow a bezoar – perhaps to help human beings.”
I’m astonished by some people’s self assumptions that humans are almighty and all other creatures live to serve humans…
FYI, porcupines aren’t the only being to grow a bezoar; goat, dog, cow, macaque, even humans, get the idea? So does human live to help another being since we do grow bezoar as well?
The idea here isn’t gaining by inflicting the least amount of pain on others. But that the whole idea of this bezoar thing, there’s no real scientific evidence to it yet based on superficial believes alone, humans are capable of such cruelty.
I agree with you Blise… humans can be most inhumane. It is very arrogant of us to disrespect other living beings and to think they exist to be eaten by us humans. That is a huge assumption and a mistaken wrong view. In Buddhism every sentient has the potential to be a Buddha – an enlightened being, even a worm. Hence when we kill something, we are indirectly killing a potential Buddha in the making, this is why we refrain from killing or hurting anything as much as possible. I am sure if the tables are turned and we are the porcupine, we will not be too happy if someone takes something from our body without our consent. We as humans being the top of the most so called ‘intelligent’ species on this planet, should be protectors of the weak and small and not be the ones to abuse and take advantage for we are all living on this same planet.
Those two, cute little guys in that photo are hedgehogs, NOT porcupines.
[…] have been proven to have medicinal properties, used as remedies to cure ailments such as cancer, diabetes, dengue fever, typhoid, epilepsy, hepatitis as well as many other conditions. They can develop naturally over time from deposits that accumulate from substances such as food […]
[…] Whether you believe in magic or not, perhaps you can also spare a thought for the poor porcupines? […]
How much you sell per gram?
Hi, FYI I just bought some at http://www.soonhingcheong.com.my near Central Market in KL. 0.2g for rm 360. This is the only shop in Msia and be careful when buying this stuff, it could be fake.
Dear Rinpoche, now even porcupine? Now days of people are crazy (I’m sorry, Rinpoche saying this) especially China people. They will eat any animal as long they think eating some animal will heal or make the body to be healthier. Like my science teacher, she said the purpose that god created animals is for humans to eat them. For me, this teacher is too selfish. We should never ever eat any animal.
Taking it as a medicine is ok but not for leisure.
Poor little porcupines, some people are just so cold-blooded to kill these creatures. They are even harmless to us, to make medicines is just an excuse. If one day, humans are also a cure to some deceases, so does it mean we have to kill people? It doesn’t make sense, there must be other ways.
The most horrible thing is to consume their meat, since when humans became so pathetic? I really cannot imagine how harsh the killing process would be as porcupines have very long and sharp quills..
Thank You for sharing Rinpoche.
Love, beatrix.
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Thank you
When I was really ill 3 years ago, I went to many hospitals and specialists to figure out what was wrong. None of the doctors knew. One said that it was stomach reflux, another said abdominal spasms etc.
Frustrated, my mum and I went to Chinese doctors. They said that my wind was off – the chi was going the wrong way – and that the internal heat of my body was low.
They then prescribed me the porcupine bezoar. They said that it didn’t hurt the porcupines, and that it was highly effective to add heat back into my body.
It was incredibly expensive, more than this blog quoted. It was more than RM1000 for just a little bit of the porcupine bezoar. They said that I was to boil it and drink it like tea.
I didn’t buy it mostly coz of the cost – but I’m really glad that I read this article. There’s so much unnecessary pain involved in getting the bezoar. I would rather suffer the effects of my karma, than to be part of an industry that inflicts so much pain onto someone else.
They are beings too, and deserve as much care and as little pain inflicted on them, as the person next to you.
Thank you for sharing this article, Rinpoche.
Come on, there are lots of herbs which can do the job. Go to another TCM practitioner who can give you a different medicine. Of course the animals are killed to get the bezoars.
hello
I need information about import this medicine who can help me?
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I got some bezoar powder from a friend few weeks ago after trying desperately to lower down the high fever of my child. The powder worked wonderfully within an hour. I was fascinated and hence I am trying to read up on the Internet about it.
I have the view that bezoar only exists in porcupine which grows up in thick jungle and eats nTural herbs and roots to cure itself in their entire life. Porcupine that lives in cage or fed in farm will not have any bezoar grown in the body. To have a sizable bezoar, I think the animal needs to be quite old in an average lifespan of 5 years. I am still researching into this topic, but I don’t believe that the animals are fed and killed for the bezoars.
Yes, you’re right. The porcupines need to eat certain medicinal plants, and that’s where the curative properties of the bezoar comes from. Even if they are wild and live in a different area and eat different plants, the bezoar won’t be any good. There is no such thing as doing surgery to remove the bezoars, you know those who catch them will surely kill them. As if they’re going to send it to the vet for expensive surgery, LOL!
In everything we do, there is positive and negative effects due to the nature of our existence. It is 100% correct you don’t eat meat. HH the Dalai Lama, the highest authority within Tibetan Buddhism recommends we do not eat meat, so that is all we need to remember. Buddha said, we should not lie, or get attached to drinking, singing, dancing, intimacies,entertainments and that we should spend our energies to become enlightened. Are we doing all die and not just the meat part?? People tend to pick what is convenient from the Buddha’s teachings to suit themselves. If we are going to follow Buddha’s teachings or quote, we may ask are you following everything Buddha says? If you are not, then rejoice when others follow the best they can and as much as they can. Since it is the right path for 21st century Buddhists to follow the no meat path, let’s do it. We have so much variety of food. Let’s eat the no meat diet and get on with our practice and basically compassionately go passed the criticisms. It is very simple, do not kill. So hence animals will not die in front of you to eat them…There is no good karma in eating meat..full stop, but definitely there is good karma refraining from eat. Many of the tantras when engaged in the practice prohibit meat as taught by Vajradhara. Many rituals we do in the great Monasteries prohibit meat so the rituals are more effective…..Many who are not monks or not living in the monasteries would never understand that. Reading from books, net or from dharma centres would never be the same as in the monastery. Again, eating meat does not gather good merits for our spiritual practice, avoiding does. Listen to some of wonderful Tenzin Palmo’s views on not eating meat. She is the great yogini who meditated for the longest time in the mountains.TR
From wat u said, i get to understand tat buddhism is only concerned about oneself. How to achieve enlightment for oneself is the main aim of believers. Wat does tat do for the good of the world??
A good Dharma practitioner will not try a medicine which entails a lot of sufferings to an animal or have them killed so that a cure can be achieved. Like taking out a Bezoar from a porcupine with surgery or killing them to extract the Bezoar. I would think that would be selfish. The harmless small little porcupine will have to suffer pain or being killed for the relieve of sufferings of a man. I was told that there was another type of cure for pneumonia that is contracted after childbirth. You will have to collect the droppings of pigeons fry it. And boil it with hot water. Drink and it will cure you of the pneumonia.
I really drank one of those pigeon shit you mentioned and it cured my coughing problems
Natural medicine is great until you start harvesting from animals…
People should stop torturing animals.
Let everyone know re this ‘wonder’ drug…spread the awareness around asap and as far and wide as possible…please..it’s important ppl know what is going on and let them make their own choices.
I am t supplier of genuine porcupine bezoar u have to try and compare whats we call original bezoar, we needs animal to save human lives so to get it must have proper way s that all animals will continue to live proper