Though conceptualising, negative and stressful emotions arise that afflict man with nervous disorders and physical diseases. However, just like the Native American shamans, the shamans of Tibet hold a different view. They believe the source of the illness to be the energy imbalance that humans create between themselves and all existence, where they provoke the spirits of Nature. To heal people, the Earth and space, it is necessary to contact these spirits, in order to restore balance and re-establish harmonious relationship with them. This pollution affects people's inner being as well as the environment.
Shamans do heal adventitious, mental and physical disturbances, though only at a gross level.
The sick person is diagnosed by a doctor to ascertain if the illness has a physical etiology, through urine and pulse tests. However, if it is found to be due to a provocation of energy by a spirit, then it will be necessary to call a shaman healer. Through divination or astrology, or sometimes through meditation, the shaman will discover the nature of the disturbing spirit and the way to remove it, such as by payment of a ransom. The founder of the native Tibetan Bon religious tradtion was Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche, and a follower of his teachings is called a Bonpo. An ancient term for a master practitioner of Shenrab's teachings is Shen.