Disease, Your Doctor, and the Art of Medicine

Illness is a great matter for one's person, as upon it hangs life and death. it is not unreasonable that the sages were extremely mindful of this.

In the various arts and crafts, there are many things that are of no practical benefit in everyday life. This claim cannot be made about art of medicine. Though you are not student of medicine, you should give medicine some study. Generally speaking , real scholars are supposed to understand everything under heaven.

The art of medicine is especially useful in our own self-maintenance, the support of our parents, and the welfare of others. Thus, it is far more beneficial than all the other arts put together. You should not be without an understanding of this.

However, a word of caution, if you are not a student of medicine and have not learned the art of medical treatment, you should not just take medicine as you like.

On Becoming a Doctor . If a person studying medicine comes to understand that he was not born with the right mentality or talent for such work, he/she should immediately abandon the field. A man without talent will not understand the way of medicine well. He will only make many mistakes and hurt those beloved of heaven, and this is a grave crime. We should all have a deep respect for the way of heaven. There are many other professions from which a person can choose, and he/she should direct his/her efforts to one of those fields.

If a student of medicine only trifles with the art, he turns his back on the way of medicine and will damage others. Not only that, but he himself will be unhappy. If a man is muddled and does not understand this art, but rather fabricates things, makes a show of whatever talents he has, criticizes some doctors, and is obsequious to others in order to gain their favors, he is to be held in contempt.

Though a man/woman may be the child of a doctor, if talent is lacking he/she should not follow a family profession with inexpert skill.

To this answer: Becoming a medical doctor for the sake of my own benefit and welfare would be like a poor and humble person serving his lord for the sake of a stipend. In truth, although he does this work for the benefit of a stipend, once serving his lord, he forgets about himself and does the job solely for the sake his liege. This is a matter of fidelity to principles, and a man will sacrifice his one life regardless of the size of his stipend. This is the way of a retainer. if a retainer works hard for his lord, the latter will respond to this debt of gratitude, and the retainer will receive his stipend automatically without asking.

In like manner, once a man / woman becomes a doctor, he should single-mindedly work to cure men's ills and put all his energies into helping them live healthy, not die prematurely but die naturally. This is exactly like serving a lord by forgetting one's own self and striving single-mindedly with loyalty and righteousness. Once engaged, a good man/woman should not weigh things out from the standpoint of his own benefit and welfare.

If youas a doctor do cure the sick and help the ailing, you will receive your own benefit and welfare naturally from these activities themselves, and this without seeking for them at all. Simply put, practice the art of medicine with single-mindedness and be not greedy in seeking your own benefit and profit.

Generally speaking, the practice of medicine requires the single-minded following of it way. A doctor should not dally with other concern. If a doctor takes a patient into his charge, then he should not be distracted by other matters. If he is not single-minded, his practice will remain unrefined.

If he will thus commit to the lengthy period of twenty years in both medical study and actual treatment, he will become an effective doctor, his treatments will be beneficial, and he should be able to help many people.

Practicing like this, a doctor will gain fame completely on his own. He will be called in for consultation by noble high families and important people and will be warmly respected and trusted by elites and commoners alike. Thus he will receive plentiful recompense and have more than he needs for his entire life.

The use of the mean and narrow techniques for the treatment of the limitless diseases in this present world is hardly worth discussion.

A man or woman cannot understand the art of medicine unless he or she reads widely and thinks over what he or she has read. if he or she has not established the principles pf the art in detail, the way will not be clear.

It is absolutely necessary to study medicine both in broad terms and in detail, and the man or woman who chooses to study medicine must make this his or her great purpose from the very beginning.

Though breath and detail are two different things, a doctor must be equipped with both . His or her intention must be great and his or her mind aware of detail.

There are people who have read widely in poetry anthologies and have a great knowledge of the subject, yet they are poor poets. The art of medicine is exactly the same. There are doctors who have read many books on medicine and yet are not skillful. This is because they have not really used their minds to pursue the way of medicine and have no detailed knowledge of the subject. However, there is no one who has understood the way who has not studied extensively.

A doctor will make few mistakes if he/she bases himself/herself on the old and is well-informed about the new. A master is the man who warms up the old, but understand the new. A master of medicine is exactly the same.

Criticizing another doctor and praising one's own art is the practice of a man/woman of little character. It indicates a narrow mind. People who hears such scornful talk will surely find it despicable.

Both medicines and foods are either efficacious or not, according to a person's constitution and disease. They cannot be determined to be universally good or bad.

Choosing a Good Doctor Many ways to preserve your health: being mindful of disease and judiciously selecting a good doctor, not just a doctor. It would be dangerous and foolish to entrust the future of your parents - for whom there is no replacement - or your future to a mediocre doctor, with/without PhD , not withstanding. To place your parents, or children into the hands of a physician whose level of skills is unknown to you would be unfilial and unloving.

You must know something about medicine if you are going to take care of your parents or family. This is reasonable. Medicine is the art of human-heartedness. The foundation of medicine is focus not on own profit and welfare but on human-heartedness and love, both of which focus on helping others.