I am grateful for the great thinkers of the past, and for the wisdom that can often be found there. Buddhism and Stoicism have helped folks endure horrific conditions.

But there is no virtue in experiencing pain. It is not better to reach some form of personal enlightenment by being forced to do so through adversity.

And I think this is also a different category because we're talking about childhood here. This is a period of time when a human is most vulnerable, fully dependent on those around them, and unable to even understand that the world could be different than it is. The impact into adulthood can be catastrophic, and the fact that some folks navigate this successfully via contemplative practice should be something we marvel over, not an ideal we should strive for.