Different Strokes for Different Folks ...

     “For each different type of person, Hinduism prescribes a different path (yoga). Here I will simply refer to four of the principal ones: 
          (1) Jnana yoga tries to achieve holiness through knowledge, by which is meant not factual information but understanding or vision. 
          (2) For bhakti yogis, feelings are more real than thoughts, so they approach the divine through love and devotion. 
          (3) In karma yoga, salvation comes through work, but work done not for gain but for its own (or God’s) sake. And finally there is 
          (4) royal or raja yoga, comprising meditation and inward exploration. 

     Can the four yogas ever meet, be fully combined? Probably not in the same person. Imagine Socrates and Saint Francis and Gandhi and Siddhartha Gautama meeting at some ethereal pub: they might agree on some common goal, but to reach it they would head off in different directions."

     Even members of the same family can have “such fundamentally different perspectives, the words sail past each other. The intimate conversation between husband and wife or brother and sister can be as mutually incomprehensible as different foreign languages. We need the different and complementary perspectives of the various yogas – and, ideally, of all religions – not only to reach God but to reach each other.”

       Smith H, Paine J. “Tales of Wonder - Adventures Chasing the Divine. An autobiography.” HarperOne, NY, 2009.

Wisdom - THE Most Important Attribute in Health Care, in Life

     "You're going to, sooner or later, learn humility. And the earlier you do, the better doctor you're going to be.
     In this, the Internet Age, we are drowning in information, but starving for wisdom. I urge you, as you forge long, successful and prosperous careers, to not just be smart, but be wise.
     In every interaction you have, embrace the ancient wisdom of Hippocrates: 'Whatsoever house I may enter, my visit shall be for the convenience and advantage of the patient.' "

       Andre Picard, convocation speech to the graduating class in medicine, University of Manitoba, May 14, 2015. 
       Globe and Mail, Tuesday, June 9, 2015.

     Wisdom in Health Care: http://healthyhealers.blogspot.ca/2015/04/wisdom-in-health-care.html

Well-being - a Lifelong Journey towards Wisdom

"Well-being in old age is to a large extent the result of 

psychosocial development and growth 

across the life course, 

conceptualized as wisdom."

Monika Ardelt PhD - speaking at the University of Chicago, Wisdom Research Forum, May 8, 2015

Optimism and Hope

      Huston Smith "recalled Czech president Vaclav Havel saying that ‘optimism’ suggests that we think things will turn out well, while ‘hope’ is a force that motivates us toward right action whether we believe things will turn out well or not. 
     And it was out of hope that Huston found motivation to keep working for change. We must, Huston argued, be like the doctors who fight to end disease whether or not they believe they will ever succeed. 
     ‘The fulfillment comes through doing what one can, not in wasting time predicting outcomes.’”

        Dana Sawyer “Huston Smith: Wisdomkeeper. Living the World’s Religions. The Authorized Biography of a 21st Century Spiritual Giant.” Fons Vitae, Louisville, KY, 2014. 

The Big Bang Theory of Health Care

     On the TV series "Big Bang Theory", Sheldon is hilariously inept in all matters outside of theoretical physics, especially his total befuddlement about human relations. Doc Martin, on the British TV series, is Sheldon's medical counterpart.

     “Life’s central issues … are issues of quality, dealing with judgments regarding the value of our thoughts and actions – political, moral and aesthetic. They deal with evaluative choices regarding the nature of existence and our place in it, rather than simply with descriptions of life’s quantitative aspects, like those of distance, size and weight.
     ... science fails in the face of all ultimate questions, and consequently, leaves the problems of life … completely untouched.”
       Dana Sawyer “Huston Smith: Wisdomkeeper. Living the World’s Religions. The Authorized Biography of a 21st Century Spiritual Giant.” Fons Vitae, Louisville, KY, 2014.

     So what proportion of us dentists and physicians have had solid liberal arts educations? 
     Since most of us have almost exclusively been immersed in the sciences, how receptive are our dental and medical students (& faculty) to correct this deficiency?: http://healthyhealers.blogspot.ca/2012/07/soft-skills-undervalued.html

Oingt, France

My Story - for Now

     "And that's the spirit in which I write, as a co-explorer, knowing that I'll probably see things differently as time passes and my questions get deeper still. I must be patient and remember the fragility of what I think I know. We have a duty to offer our own stories, however, just in case something we say does touch someone else in a positive way. Stories of struggle can be especially important, because we all struggle. In the same way, stories of how we have overcome our challenges might help inspire others to believe that they too can overcome."

       Rupert Ross. "Indigenous Healing. Exploring Traditional Paths." Penguin, Toronto, 2014.

Randy Charboneau

Who Makes Us Smile?

     “Only a very few people alive today can make me smile just to think of them: the Dalai Lama is one and Huston Smith is another. And when I reflect on it, I realize that this is partly because both celebrated teachers are voracious in their pursuit of wisdom and able to push back their own assumptions in order to learn from everyone they meet; both radiate a calm and openness that can come only from an inner shrine that is unwavering. More deeply, with both of them the sense of wisdom is infectious because they are light in every way: alive with mischief and sparkle, unimpressed with themselves and ready to see, and bear out in their every action, that delight is as much a part of life’s adventure as is sober rumination.”                                     Pico Iyer

        Dana Sawyer “Huston Smith: Wisdomkeeper. Living the World’s Religions. The Authorized Biography of a 21st Century Spiritual Giant.” Fons Vitae, Louisville, KY, 2014

 

Hermitage, France