Kutumba · Journal of Spiritual Care
kutumba
Journal of Spiritual Care
Volume 5 | August 2025
From the Editor
Welcome to the 2025 Edition of Kutumba
Since its launch in 2023 as the journal of the Hindu Spiritual Care Institute (HSCI), Kutumba has grown in parallel with HSCI's mission. This edition reflects a sharpened vision—rooted in tradition, responsive to change, and committed to the evolving discourse on spiritual care. We are living through a time marked by fragmentation, loneliness, and a widespread search for meaning. HSCI responds by integrating classical Hindu insights with the best of modern chaplaincy education and technology.
This issue inaugurates a new editorial direction as Kutumba transitions toward becoming a peer-reviewed journal. We invite readers to submit work that reflects on chaplaincy, theology, care, and cultural transformation.
Ashok Chandrasekhar, Editor-in-ChiefHSCI Honorees — Karma Yoga 2025
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Inspirational Role Models — Karma Yoga Honorees 2025
Uriah Kim, PhD — President of the Graduate Theological Union, honored as Guest of Honor and Keynote Speaker for providing visionary leadership for a prominent interfaith university and guiding it through major societal transitions.
Chinmay Pandya, MD — Pro Vice-Chancellor, Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya, recognized for his inspired stewardship of Gayatri Parivar, DSVV, and guiding a selfless global community toward scientific spirituality.
Dilip Amin, PhD — Interfaith Marriage Guide, recognized for pioneering interfaith marriage guidance and empowering future Hindu speakers with mentoring and training.
Chinmay Pandya, MD — Pro Vice-Chancellor, Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya, recognized for his inspired stewardship of Gayatri Parivar, DSVV, and guiding a selfless global community toward scientific spirituality.
Dilip Amin, PhD — Interfaith Marriage Guide, recognized for pioneering interfaith marriage guidance and empowering future Hindu speakers with mentoring and training.
Past honorees include Mukund Acharya & Mihir Meghani (2024), Naras Bhat & Sulochina Lulla (2023), Padmashri MR Rajagopal & Madan Arora (2022), Rita Sherma & Seifu Anil Molares-Singh (2021), and Mahesh Bhavana & Bruce D Feldstein (2020).
HSCI Honorees Archive7th Graduation Ceremony
7th Graduation Ceremony at HSCI
We invite you to join us with your family and friends to cheer our new graduates. In addition to the graduation oath ceremony, we will celebrate our Guest of Honor President Dr. Uriah Kim of GTU Berkeley, the 2025 HSCI Karma Yoga Honorees Dr. Chinmay Pandya and Dr. Dilip Amin, the new Master of Arts (MA) degree in inter-religious chaplaincy, HSCI fellowships for qualified MA candidates, and publication of the first ever Hindu Chaplaincy Guide (HCG).
Chaplaincy Education at HSCI and Elsewhere
Chaplaincy Education
The CHT Course: Reimagined & Restructured
Since its inception in 2018, the Certified Hindu Chaplaincy Training (CHT) course has seen ongoing enhancements. A major transformation was introduced for Cohort-7 in 2024, driven by the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence and the growing complexities of spiritual care. The curriculum is now organized into six Mandalas, each focusing on a core area of learning and application. The first three develop essential knowledge, skills, and tools rooted in Hindu traditions. The latter three explore key life events such as birth, education, career, marriage, elder care, aging, and end-of-life.
Each scholar is assigned a dedicated faculty mentor who guides them through the entire course. The service component is supported by TrayaCare, HSCI's proprietary AI-driven virtual meeting platform.
Joshi & NarasimhanBridging Tradition and Compassion: The First-Ever Hindu Chaplaincy Guide
In a historic milestone for the global Hindu community, HSCI has released the Hindu Chaplaincy Guide—a comprehensive and scalable resource designed to support chaplains, caregivers, and spiritual companions in delivering compassionate, culturally competent care rooted in Hindu philosophy. Far more than a static manual, it is a dynamic and evolving document reflecting the confluence of Hindu wisdom and modern chaplaincy best practices. Key sections include Foundations of Spiritual Care, Core Competencies, Sacred Tools and Practices, and Ethics and Sustainability.
Hindu chaplaincy is a ministry of presence—meeting individuals where they are, regardless of religious or cultural background, and offering support with openness and compassion.
Neeti Soota — Hindu Chaplaincy GuideTrayaCare
Spiritual Care Without Limits: HSCI's TrayaCare Global Telechaplaincy
Historically, spiritual care has been confined to specific locations—hospitals, universities, and faith centers—and available only during regular working hours. To address these limitations, HSCI is launching TrayaCare, a video-based telechaplaincy service. Using secure and private video technology, TrayaCare connects individuals with trained, supervised chaplains regardless of location or time. The platform breaks barriers of space, time, access, and language, while keeping privacy and security central to every interaction.
$757B
The Estimated Annual Cost of Unmet Spiritual Care
Traditional models address only 2.15% of required spiritual care interactions. Of the 3.17 billion annual interactions needed by patients and caregivers, just 68 million are currently delivered—leaving over 3.1 billion interactions unmet. The financial cost is staggering, encompassing excess healthcare costs, caregiver productivity losses, burnout, mental health needs, and system inefficiencies.
New MA Concentration in Interreligious Chaplaincy
Beginning in the Fall 2025 semester, the Graduate Theological Union (GTU) will launch its redesigned Master of Arts (MA) program, now a 36-unit degree completed over three semesters. Within this enhanced program, GTU will introduce a new MA Concentration in Interreligious Chaplaincy. Students who have already earned a certificate from HSCI may be eligible for advanced standing—up to 12 credits toward the MA degree. The HSCI Board has approved up to six scholarships for qualifying applicants.
Combining resources with HSCI allows GTU students to bring cutting-edge, rigorous theological and religious scholarship to bear on the most effective practices of spiritual care. The GTU is immensely fortunate to have this collaboration.
Dr. Christopher Ocker, Dean of the Graduate Theological UnionChinmaya Mission
Chinmaya International Foundation (CIF) Hindu Chaplaincy Program
Swami Chinmayananda envisioned an India that would both learn from and contribute to the West. Hindu Chaplaincy in Chinmaya Mission formally began in 1997, when Vilasini Balakrishnan applied to the U.S. Department of Defense for CMW to become an ecclesiastical endorser of Hindu chaplains for the military. CIF has developed a 24-credit Certificate in Hindu Spiritual Care (CHSC), delivered through live Zoom sessions and self-paced online study. Since its inception, the CHSC program has welcomed three cohorts totaling 120 students from around the world.
Hindu Chaplaincy Beyond Traditional Settings
Emerging Trends in Chaplaincy: A Profession Broadening in Scope and Depth
Chaplaincy has evolved from geographically located pastoral communities in the Christian tradition to a multi-dimensional, multi-faith, and often secular profession. The change has occurred in three areas: where services are provided (corporations, universities, trauma response teams, disaster zones, athletic events), a broader range of communities served (Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism), and changing methods of providing services (technology and AI are redefining how care is delivered, including telechaplaincy and psychedelics).
The chaplaincy profession is in the midst of a profound transformation. It is broader, deeper, and more complex than ever before. From city streets to virtual platforms, from trauma units to environmental action, chaplains are being called to accompany people in their most vulnerable moments.
Ashok ChandrasekharAI & Spiritual Care
AI in Health Care and Wellness: Merging Machine Intelligence with Hindu Spiritual Care
Artificial Intelligence is revolutionizing modern medicine—restoring empathy, advancing diagnostics, and personalizing care. This article explores how AI not only enhances medical practice but also supports Hindu spiritual care and chaplaincy, reaffirming ancient wisdom in a digital era. Ambient listening tools automatically transcribe conversations, enabling doctors to maintain eye contact and truly listen. AI-driven sensors adjust beds and monitor vitals. This is not technology for novelty's sake, but a revival of medicine's compassionate core.
AI is not merely a technological trend—it is a reimagining of care that blends precision with presence. In harmonizing Hindu chaplaincy and advanced medical AI, we affirm that healing involves both code and consciousness.
Naras Bhat, MD82%
Reimagining Corporate Chaplaincy: From Company Towns to Human-Centered Wellbeing
Burnout has reached crisis proportions, with up to 82% of employees in recent surveys reporting significant emotional exhaustion or disengagement. Chaplaincy—uniquely positioned outside both HR and clinical roles—offers something precious that transcends both past paternalism and present-day transactional care: the ministry of presence, nonjudgmental listening, and deep relational trust. A reimagined chaplaincy program is pluralistic, holistic, proactive, and skills-based—integrating ancient Dharmic wisdom with modern workplace realities.
At its foundation, this model acknowledges that business success and human flourishing are not in opposition, but interdependent. Chaplaincy, when reimagined through the lenses of data, ancient wisdom, and pluralistic inclusivity, is a quiet but powerful lever for transforming both workplace culture and the lives of those at its heart.
Chandrasekhar, Rastogi & Mahendru
Psychedelics & Chaplaincy: A Reemerging Path to Healing
What was once pushed underground due to legal concerns within the U.S. is now reemerging as a potential legitimate pathway for healing, especially for physical and psychological distress, addiction, and treatment resistant mental health concerns. Psychedelic chaplaincy offers a potential bridge between spiritual care and psychedelic-assisted therapy. Hindu traditions offer unique frameworks for understanding altered states, ranging from samadhi to meditation-induced consciousness shifts, providing natural preparation for supporting individuals in psychedelic states.
For Hindu chaplains and those in training, this field offers an opportunity to apply spiritual principles of consciousness and healing where spiritual dimensions are a central area of focus, rather than marginalized.
Zachary Ginder, PsyDA Message from the Dean
Dean's Message
Selfless Service is the Heart of Karma Yoga
As a graduate of HSCI's graduate certificate courses, I will serve anyone who seeks my help, regardless of their ethnic origin, religious affiliation, or social standing. I will serve to the best of my ability, with compassion and humility. I will abstain from any behavior that could cause harm, and exercise care to maintain strict confidentiality and respect for all concerned.
The scholars took to the program very sportingly, and we are assured of their lifelong commitment to selfless service. We deployed the latest technologies to provide spiritual care without limits to everyone in the world. As the need for spiritual care rises, so will our ability to serve. We are bringing Silicon Valley thinking to service learning: innovation, relentless drive, and eyes on the ball. This rise in Dharmic Intelligence will be a force for greater good in the decades to come. Congratulations to the graduates. May your service be an inspiration to all.
2025 CHT Graduates
Malini Cadambi-Daniel
Sanatana Das
Avashni Maharaj
Meera Maharaj
Naresh Maharaj
Shantanu Raje
Anurag Saxena
Vandhana Sinha
Joe Swetman
Hindu Chaplaincy Guide
The First Hindu Spiritual Guide
Published in 2025, the first Hindu Spiritual Guide is available globally on Amazon and the HSCI website. It describes, in practical terms, the protocols of chaplaincy and spiritual care as well as the practices founded in Hindu tradition. The guide is written for both Hindu and non-Hindu chaplains, covering the core values at the heart of the Hindu tradition: Universe is a Family, Harmony with Nature, Blessings of the Elders, Respect for Knowledge and Teachers, Respect for All Forms of Life, Karmic Balance, Offering and Gratitude, Age-Appropriate Living, and Life Balance.
The solution is clear: we must bring spiritual care to where people are—at home, in their communities, and on their own time. Telechaplaincy is not optional; it is the only scalable model that can address this vast and growing care gap.
Hindu Spiritual Care InstituteEditorial Board
Punit Mahendru, PhD, Lakshmi Srinivasan, MD, Ashok Chandrasekhar, PhD (Editor-in-Chief)