Our Story
Founded in 2018 in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Hindu Spiritual Care Institute (HSCI) is a pioneering service-learning institution dedicated to meeting the spiritual care needs of the global Hindu diaspora. HSCI is a US-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization managed by a team of volunteer faculty and professional administrators. The institute serves as a robust spiritual care platform for training chaplains and counselors, and for providing tele-chaplaincy and spiritual care services worldwide.
To date, HSCI has trained over 250 chaplains and counselors across the United States, Canada, India, Australia, South Africa, Singapore, and the Philippines. HSCI has also established a clear pathway to Hindu Chaplaincy through its collaborative partnership with the Graduate Theological Union (GTU), a premier institution in the field.
Looking ahead, HSCI aims to build a global spiritual care knowledge system, develop innovative care delivery technologies, and create a network comprising 108 chaplains and 1,008 counselors.
May 1, 2018 — The founding board meeting of the Hindu Community Institute (now HSCI), Saratoga, California
February 28, 2026 — HSCI board meeting, same room, eight years later
Our Vision
Based on Hindu tradition values, HSCI aspires to establish:
- A system for spiritual care as a shared community asset
- A Learn-Serve model for global family
- An institution operated with excellence
Our Mission
To build and grow a volunteer-run service-learning institution providing education and training in Hindu and interreligious spiritual care, improving quality of life, developing leadership, bringing technological innovation to spiritual care, and fostering strategic partnerships.
Core Values and Beliefs
- Hindu Tradition: Nurturing and making Hindu tradition available to future generations globally
- Society & Spiritual Care: Providing compassionate support as an essential societal function
- Institutions: Lasting institutions maintaining sustained impact beyond individual interests
- Service: Essential human act with latent capacity in most people
- Collaboration: Sharing best practices and knowledge among traditions
In Their Words
"I was quite amazed and almost overwhelmed by the scope of what you have thought and what you have already done."
Dr. David Frawley (Padma Bhushan) — Graduation 2021
"To have a course on these sacred texts to develop spirituality, all for the purpose of serving the community, serving our country, serving the world, is just such a remarkable initiative and one that we desperately need in today's age."
Congressman Ro Khanna — Graduation 2021
"I feel like I am at a birth. The world is now a better place because of you, because of what you've said yes to."
Dr. Bruce Feldstein, Jewish Chaplain, Stanford — Graduation 2020