Kutumba · Journal of Spiritual Care
kutumba
Journal of Spiritual Care
Volume 6 | August 2026
Editorial
The Road Less Traveled: Shifting the Paradigm of Hindu Spiritual Care
Instead of following legacy formats, HSCI is carving a professional model for global Dharmic and Hindu chaplaincy. At the center of this evolution stands a singular theme: Compassionate Presence as a Bridge connecting ancient sacred wisdom with modern clinical realities to bring comfort and understanding to a fragmented and contentious world.
These frameworks are only the skeleton of our work; the living insights of our practitioners bring this model to life through the articles featured in this issue.
Ashok Chandrasekhar, Editor-in-ChiefFrom the Institute
HSCI 2025–26
A milestone year on three academic fronts: the GTU–HSCI affiliation now grants 12 credits to CHT graduates entering GTU's new 36-unit MA in interfaith chaplaincy; HSCI has been approved as an APC/BCCI validator for Hindu credentials; and a third initiative extends the Institute's reach through new memoranda of understanding.
A Message From the Dean — Dharma Chakra, The Wheel of Duty
The Institute turned in three ways this year: technology, pedagogy, and service in the field. On the chaplain's role in a world where patients consult an AI before their diagnosis is confirmed — not to compete with the machine on information, but to offer what it cannot.
The One Who Makes the Path
A recognition of Neeti Soota, CHT 2021. When she entered the CHT course at HSCI in 2020, the US pathway for a fully credentialed Hindu chaplain did not exist. Six years later she stands at the top of a ladder she helped build.
President's Address — Hindu Tradition at Work
An agreement with the seven Claremont Colleges to provide Hindu chaplaincy services to their students; preparations for a Hindu-centric CPE course as an affiliate of CPEI; BCCI recognition; and MOUs with SAHMS in South Africa and VHPA in the US.
HSCI Honorees — Karma Yoga 2026
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Inspirational Role Models — Karma Yoga Honorees 2026
Abhijit Dam, MD, PhD — honored for his pioneering work in Hindu palliative and hospice care, and related nursing training, in rural eastern India.
Payal Sawhney, LCSW — Executive Director, Saahas for Cause, Southern California. Community-Building Sevika, honored for providing trauma-informed lifelines to South Asian immigrants.
Rita D. Sherma, PhD — Keynote Speaker and past Karma Yoga Honoree (2021), whose decades-long effort has established Sanātana Dharma studies with academic rigor across American higher education.
Payal Sawhney, LCSW — Executive Director, Saahas for Cause, Southern California. Community-Building Sevika, honored for providing trauma-informed lifelines to South Asian immigrants.
Rita D. Sherma, PhD — Keynote Speaker and past Karma Yoga Honoree (2021), whose decades-long effort has established Sanātana Dharma studies with academic rigor across American higher education.
Past honorees include Chinmay Pandya & Dilip Amin (2025), Mukund Acharya & Mihir Meghani (2024), Naras Bhat & Sulochina Lulla (2023), Padmashri MR Rajagopal & Madan Arora (2022), and Rita Sherma & Seifu Anil Molares-Singh (2021).
HSCI Honorees ArchiveCompassionate Presence as a Bridge
What They Taught Me…
"She was a few hours from the end of her journey. I walked into her room, sat beside her, and took her hand. I said nothing. There was nothing to say."
The Joy of Serving
After 50 years of medical practice, including 44 in Pediatric Surgery, a retirement given to spiritual care at the hospital where he had practiced — and the hospital chaplain who told him he still needed formal training.
Living with Mystery: Reflections on a Hindu Chaplain's Pastoral Theology
A reflective essay on how the Hindu tradition has shaped the author's ministry as a chaplain — including why karma cannot be read as a running tally tracing present suffering back to a specific action in a previous life, and what that question teaches instead.
The Quantum Connection
From an intensive care unit in the year 2000 to grassroots homecare programs in rural India: a critical care specialist's saṅkalpa to escape the clinical death, the End-of-Life Dreams and Visions of dying individuals across Indian subcultures, and the founding of the International Death Doula Foundation.
The Accidental Chaplain and the Practice of Compassionate Presence
V.K. was a renowned physicist facing a terminal disease. Sitting at his bedside, moving his IV stand, listening to him lecture, then debate, then genuinely ask — the author was, without knowing the term, practicing the on-switch.
Bhagavad Gītā and Psychological Well-Being
Beginning from karmaṇy evādhikāras te mā phaleṣu kadācana (Bhagavad Gītā 2.47), an examination of how mindful engagement with action resonates with the Gītā's invitation to remain absorbed in one's duty while letting go of attachment to results.
The Community
2026 Graduates, HSCI Faculty & Functional Leaders
The Cohort 8 graduating class in their own words, alongside the faculty and functional leaders who carry the Institute's work — from the HCRC Library and Archives to admissions, technology, and the tele-chaplaincy service.
Volume 6 Authors
Contributor biographies for this issue.
Graduation Ceremony & The Hindu Chaplaincy Guide
Details of the 2026 graduation ceremony, and the first Hindu Spiritual Guide — published in 2025 and available globally on Amazon and through the HSCI website — which sets out in practical terms the protocols of Hindu chaplaincy.