Jain Center Los Angeles CA 2008 09 Pratishta Souvenior

Author(s): Jain Center So CA Los Angeles
Publisher: USA Jain Center Southern California

Page 131

Jainism in the Life of a Medical Student
Ashmi Doshi
When I was younger, more naive, and much more sheltered, I once asked my mother why she insisted we go to Pathshala and learn religion. Being the skeptical adolescent I was, interested in social theory and individualism, I questioned the role of religion in our modern society: "Was it not traditionally created to control the masses, to instill fear and keep the common, ignorant person in their place?"
My mother, accustomed to my questions, responded, "There will be things that happen in your life in the future, and you will be unable to reason it out, to find tangible answers so easily. That is when you will need religion, it will give you answers and comfort you when nothing else is able to."
Although headstrong, I was by no means defiant or disrespectful, so I listened to her. I continued to study, attend Pathshala class, and a few years later I graduated high school and moved across the country to college, and then to medical school. Over the past eight years that I have lived away from home, I have developed tremendously, gaining knowledge and skills.
Throughout my medical training, I have experienced first hand the gamut of the human experience - the most painful, horrible situation, the life threatening accident that changes someone's life forever, and, in contrast, the ability of someone to intervene, to potentially save someone's life, and the relief after a serious situation passes. It is incredible, and often times incomprehensible how these things unfold in front of your eyes, and I feel so grateful and privileged to be able to be in a position to assist some way or some how.
For me, being brought up with Jain values and philosophy, I am able to find solace in religion when both those extremes of situation occur. The knowledge that there is structure in the universe beyond the micro managed environment of the physician or surgeon, the understanding of body and soul, and the realization of the interconnections between cause and effect, of past and future, are a few of the things that have allowed me to find peace, support, and relief. Although I am still developing my skills for my future career, I already know that my mother was very wise in her words so long ago.
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I am very thankful for what I learned through JCYC, Pathshala, Gujarati, and Culture Classes. The teachers, volunteers, and supporters have made a tremendous investment into our lives as first generation Jain-Americans.
Ashmi M. Doshi is a Jain Center of Southern California Pathshala alumna and a 4th year medical student at University of California, San Francisco. She can be contacted at ashmi.doshi@gmail.com.
Sometimes, my grandma borrows story books from the Jain Center library, and then she reads them to me.
Nidhi Rambhia, 8