A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN ENDOCRINOLOGIST
Starting the day off with readings from
Yoga Sutra, commentary by Yogendra from Yoga Institute in Santa Cruz.
What is the congruity here with the
American Indian thinking? In talking about Kleishas, Yoga Sutra lays out
IGNORANCE that which enhances the KLEISHAS or structural defects in
ourselves/our ways of thinking. The one that we have to watch for is the EGO
which when fired will lead us to wrong paths. HUMILITY is the natural antidote
for cooling down of your ego; think about it, Ego or I-ness cannot flourish in
face of Humility.
I am a Doctor to the Indians, and I think
of ways to help them deal with illnesses and I have noticed that HUMILITY is
what pays off when you are dealing with ancient population.
(Michele, a fantastic colleague to work with. I wish every patient with Diabetes had an Educator the calibre of Michele)
A tall 6 foot 5 inches full blooded Indian
who is 47 years old comes into see me today and after a talk that touched on
the history of his people, his ancestors remembered and counselling him about
the optimism regarding the health, he gets up and hugs me. That meant so much,
makes the daylong journeys to get to the Indians worthwhile.
"For me, the essence of a medicine man's
life is to be humble, to have great patience, to be close to the Earth, to
live as simply as possible, and to never stop learning."
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-- Archie Fire Lame Deer, LAKOTA
It was not even 11 am in the morning, a nice get
together over lunch with Indian colleagues and very light hearted
conversation carried on.
Once you feel this humility, you begin to think
of those who are close to your heart and life and begin to look at them with
grateful eyes for being present in your life.
It is so good to be with the Indians and they are
such good teachers.
I thought of the very large circle of my family
and friends, in the Indian way related to me.
And felt enormous love for them and respect for
my friends in Beijing and Reading for their struggles.
I felt closer to two friends from Asia, MC from
KL and PJ from Bogor.
The day had cooled down a bit when we left the
clinic and I was informed of a sweat lodge ceremony where some of my Indian
family would be. At 6 30 pm, the western skies donning their usual beautiful
colours I drove up to the next village.
Was good to see my friends but as if it was pre
ordained, an extraordinary man of knowledge was there, visiting them. I was
so excited about meeting him. Chatted about two hours with him about the
history of the tribe. We agreed on many things, such as:
We are not clever enough to understand everything
the Indians can teach us
And that,
We need them much more than they need us,
whatever little help and counsel we offer.
As I was about to leave, an older Indian lady
came in and greeted me; she talked about her grandfather who had taught her a
whole lot about the ancient ways of her people.
By this time, my heart was brimming with emotions
that I had not experienced in a while: humility as the base, love and
affection for all those who have crossed paths with me in my life and those
who are still present.
The lady continued: I live in a farmhouse outside
the village and I am raising four grandchildren. I wanted to connect a washer
and drier to the water pipes but I cannot get any one to come and help me
without charging me an arm and a leg.
Suddenly I thought of my friend Joe from Bogor,
it is as if he was standing next to me and saying: hey Doc, act on this!
May I have your address? I have a patient who is
a handyman and I could ask him to come by your house and check it for you.
I had already made up my mind, my patient/friend
will come and see me tomorrow at the clinic and I will ask him to go by and
check out the situation and I will pay for the work to be done connecting the
water pipes etc. including the material to be bought.
I felt grateful to Pak Joe in Bogor because he
would have done the same thing.
I could only agree with the incredible
genealogist/historian whom I met today:
I need these ancient peoples much more than they
need me.
Paul Brill, the Incredible Genealogist who has an encyclopaedic knowledge of Omaha Kinship. He has mapped at least 8 generations of Omaha! The other person in the photo is my Omaha Brother
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