Life Wisdom: Holding on to Our Vows with Firm Determination
Take the oath of service: When I begin medical practice I solemnly swear to dedicate myself to serve all mankind. I will practice medicine with conscience and dignity and consider the health of my patients my top priority. My doctors-to-be, congratulations! I always harbor a heart of piety as I put the stethoscopes on each doctor-to-be; I have an abundance of well-wishes for you. I wish you well.
In the future, you’ll be doctors! I praise doctors and have high hopes for them; I hope, in the future, you will use the love in your heart to interact with your future patients. Life is full of suffering, and being ill is the worst one of all. My hope for every doctor to-be is that you’ll safeguard people’s life and health with love.
Hope is only possible when there is love, and only with love can one’s life be wholesome and beautiful. Of course, beauty comes with wholesomeness, and wholesomeness comes with beauty, and that comes from a sincere thought from the heart. I believe that, for everyone in the audience, you chose to study medicine with a sincere thought that came from your heart. The goal to study medicine is to save lives. Like I just said, illness is the worst suffering in life.
It is the same for me, I’ve felt the pains and suffering of being ill. Ever since I was young, I’ve always had a fragile health and suffered from (heart) disease and aliments. Hence, after I became a monastic, my thoughts have always been on how to alleviate the suffering in the world. The suffering in the world is(typically) from poverty and illness.
When a person is ill, he needs the care and love from doctors and nurses. Let us sooth their pain gently, so they can understand that this kind of love is a sincere love; this is very important. I also hope with my sincere heart; for this class of medical students, please give with such love and this love will bring out the most valuable meaning in your life.
Recently, I have been telling Tzu Chi volunteers: “Take an inventory of” “the meaningful (acts) you’ve done in your life.” Life can be meaningful or not; when a person’s life is not meaningful, his time on earth is wasted; with birth, aging, illness, and death, his life passes in the suffering of these four stages. Take me for example, I’ve lived with my (heart) disease all my life, and with other ailments that started in my middle age. They’ve brought me much suffering, which has gotten worse as I get older. In the past, I could still visit places despite being ill because we were building schools and hospitals, so I went to many places with my illness.
Now, I think that I’m old and I lack the strength to be going to places. However, in these few days, I again said to our senior Tzu Chi commissioners and Tzu Chengs, “Don’t give in to old age.” “The value of our life is unlimited.” So, everyone needs to make use of one’s life. While we’re able to breathe, walk, talk, and do things, we turn them into goodness. Let us breathe well, live well, do good deeds, and speak good words. (Doctors-to-be), since the start, you’ve been hearing good words，such as the beneficial teachings from your teachers. They are encouragements to you. The teachers are very mindful in teaching you. They are also doctors. They are both good doctors and good teachers, and they are your role models. So, I have great hopes for you doctors-to-be.
You need to harbor gratitude all the time and be grateful to your parents for giving you life and raising you. I often say, “I’m grateful to my parents.” How do I repay them for their kindness? As they’ve given me a body, I need to reciprocate for the body they’ve given me. What does it mean to reciprocate for the body they’ve given me? I am to do a lot of good deeds and live a meaningful life. It means that I’m to use the body they’ve given me to do good deeds to repay the kindness of my parents and to live a meaningful life. I hope (you) doctors-to-be can also make such an aspiration. When I placed the stethoscope around your neck, I hoped it weighted heavier.
As I placed the stethoscope around your neck, I wanted to pat you on your shoulder and hoped that you take up the responsibility of treating patients, their illnesses, and moreover healing their hearts. I hope, while you treat your patients, not only do you alleviate the pain from their illness, but also heal their hearts, which is to comfort them so that they do not experience anxiety while being ill. I hope you doctors-to-be can carry the spirit of love on your shoulders.
In Tzu Chi, we talk about creating blessings for the world and to use our wisdom. This is called cultivating both blessings and wisdom. We need to have both. Blessings are the mark of a successful life. We also need wisdom, which is to do good and create blessings for the world. This is very important. May everyone have the love to love all living beings in the world. The worst kind of suffering is that of illness.
Everyone, doctors are like living buddhas and are very noble. Therefore, I respect you. I also hope you can love one another, encourage one another, and make vows together that in the future, no matter which hospital you work in, as you face patients in suffering, you are to give them your love with the spirit of a great healer.These are what I want to say to you all. It’s my reminders to you as well as my blessings. May everyone become great healers in the future and save all livings beings in suffering in the world. I give you my blessings, thank you.
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