Welcoming a Hindu Chaplaincy Pathway

As a devout community volunteer, I welcome the new GTU-HCI pathway for the training of Hindu chaplains for service around the world. This is a great happening for Hindus everywhere.

I would like to start with Gandhi ji's remedy for life's sorrows; "When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and when I see not one ray of light on the horizon, I turn to the Bhagavad Geeta and find a verse to comfort me, and I immediately smile amid overwhelming sorrow."

My journey in the practice of Hinduism was seeded in my early teens. This seed stayed nascent while I was completing my medical training. As part of my Sindhi cultural upbringing, I was also guided to follow the teachings of Guru Nanak and the chanting of the Jap Sahib and Sukh. In the late 1980s, I became a student of Vedantic Studies, and the learning has continued for over three decades.

After serving for 35 years as a physician at Kaiser, I considered limiting my hours and was looking for alternate ways of serving the community. In 2012, under the auspices of HAF (Hindu American Foundation), I signed up to volunteer with spiritual care services at Kaiser Hospital in Hayward, CA. After completing the formalities of training, I started volunteering about four times a month. The volunteer work planted the idea of specializing in spiritual care with the CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) program, which is required for chaplaincy credentials.

I decided to help establish a clear pathway to Hindu chaplaincy very actively. For this, I collected information from the Hindu Mandir Executive Council (HMEC), set up a committee of 12 members to establish a Hindu Chaplaincy curriculum and connected with Swami Sarvananda, who informed me of an upcoming Chaplaincy training being initiated at Satchidananda Ashram in Charlottesville. This was to be credentialed by the Hindu University of America based in Florida; however this training was not recognized by the ACPE (Association for Clinical Pastoral Education). In 2016, Kaiser started a credentialed CPE program at the San Leandro Kaiser facility, and I happily completed my CPE Level one and also contacted ACPE for the path to becoming a credentialed Hindu chaplain. So for all practical purposes, I had achieved chaplain credentials. But ACPE did not have an established process to ascertain my Hindu credentials.

Regardless, I have maintained my engagement in serving people, and I currently volunteer at Valley Medical center at San Jose. I encourage everyone to devote some of their time to selfless service and enjoy its great satisfaction. The new Hindu chaplaincy pathway is truly a blessing.

Sulochina Lulla, M.D., M.P.H.

Retired Physician & Volunteer Chaplain

Sulochina Lulla, M.D. M.P.H. is a retired physician living in the SF Bay Area. She is highly respected for her engagement with Vedanta groups and volunteer services. She has also inspired the founders of HCI to establish the Hindu chaplaincy pathway for spiritual care.