I may have discussed this before, but even so, it's a topic that is dear to my heart.
The Spartans had the agoge system, a particularly brutal crucible in which boys were taken from their families and literally and metaphorically whipped into Spartans. They were purposefully underfed and forced to steal food to survive. When caught, they were whipped, not for the crime of theft, but for the crime of being caught. That discipline was but a taste of their future as Spartans.
How does this have relevance to the life of a 25 year old Indian immigrant, leading a pretty comfortable existence in the 20th century? Perfect relevance. It holds the seeds for a lesson that is eternal. That without suffering, there is no growth.
Suffering? What suffering, you might ask? Everyone suffers. Did not the Buddha himself say that life itself is suffering? One person's pain may be less than another's, but that does not mean that he or she feels it any less.
That pain, however, presents an opportunity. It's easy to dissolve into self-pity with pain. Lord knows, I've done it enough times. It is far harder to use that pain and let it inspire you to greater heights.
Medical school has an interesting way of stripping you down and building you back up again. The first and second years are mostly acclimatization, but once you get to your third year, it's game on, my friends. Sleep deprivation, functioning and excelling mentally under fire. Some rotations, I can honestly say, felt like intellectual forced marches.
Were those rotations worth it? Yes. A hundred times yes. To earn the right to play God in another human being's life, the least we can do is offer up the best years of ours. They taught me a great deal about myself. They taught me to transcend pain and transcend sleep and channel my energies into excellence. Med school was, and is, my agoge, and I will never regret it.
The Spartans had the agoge system, a particularly brutal crucible in which boys were taken from their families and literally and metaphorically whipped into Spartans. They were purposefully underfed and forced to steal food to survive. When caught, they were whipped, not for the crime of theft, but for the crime of being caught. That discipline was but a taste of their future as Spartans.
How does this have relevance to the life of a 25 year old Indian immigrant, leading a pretty comfortable existence in the 20th century? Perfect relevance. It holds the seeds for a lesson that is eternal. That without suffering, there is no growth.
Suffering? What suffering, you might ask? Everyone suffers. Did not the Buddha himself say that life itself is suffering? One person's pain may be less than another's, but that does not mean that he or she feels it any less.
That pain, however, presents an opportunity. It's easy to dissolve into self-pity with pain. Lord knows, I've done it enough times. It is far harder to use that pain and let it inspire you to greater heights.
Medical school has an interesting way of stripping you down and building you back up again. The first and second years are mostly acclimatization, but once you get to your third year, it's game on, my friends. Sleep deprivation, functioning and excelling mentally under fire. Some rotations, I can honestly say, felt like intellectual forced marches.
Were those rotations worth it? Yes. A hundred times yes. To earn the right to play God in another human being's life, the least we can do is offer up the best years of ours. They taught me a great deal about myself. They taught me to transcend pain and transcend sleep and channel my energies into excellence. Med school was, and is, my agoge, and I will never regret it.
