Compassion as a Medical Practice

In a post about Classic Chinese Medicine, blogger Eric Grey offers the following wisdom he received from one of his teachers:

1. To achieve mastery in medicine, we must not only learn from the Classical texts and the wisdom of our teachers, but also allow this information to transform us on a deep level.
2. This transformation will be on many levels. Physically, we will “follow our own advice” and live in accordance with the ways that our teachers lay out for us. Emotionally and spiritually, we will walk the path of the Boddhisattva (i.e., one who embodies purest compassion and service to humanity).
3. This path is one that brings us into line with Shu - opening to our true nature through living the truth of our heart. This in part involves, and is productive of, behavior in line with the Golden rule.
4. This Golden rule indicates that we should treat others as we treat ourselves, or that we should not do to others what we would not have done to ourselves.
5. In some sense, all of this tells us to polish ourselves into the kind of doctors that can serve as great examples for our patients. But, we must also allow our patients to be a mirror for us - when we gaze into that mirror we must always be asking ourselves if we are treating our patients as we would want to be treated in similar circumstances.