Hindu Approaches to Spiritual Care

Chaplaincy in Theory and Practice

Lucinda Mosher, Vineet Chander

• Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781785926068
• Topic: Theologie & Religion
• Subtopic: Religiöse Beratung

Showing how spiritual care is practiced in a variety of different contexts such as healthcare, detention and higher education, as well as settings that may not have formal chaplaincy arrangements, this book offers an original and unique resource for Hindu chaplains to understand and practice spiritual care in a way that is authentic to their own tradition and that meets the needs of Hindus. It offers a Hindu perspective for all chaplains to inform their caregiving to Hindus.

The book explores the theological and metaphysical roots of Hindu chaplaincy and puts forward the case for Hindu chaplaincy as a valuable spiritual practice. It covers the issues that arise in specific locations, such as college, healthcare, prison, military and the corporate sector. Chapters also examine Hindu pastoral care offered in other, 'non-chaplaincy' settings, such as LGBT centres, social justice work and environmental activism.

Made up of some 30 essays by chaplains, scholars and other important voices in the field, Hindu Approaches to Spiritual Care provides spiritual caregivers with a comprehensive theoretical and practical approach to the relationship of Hinduism and chaplaincy.

Part One

FOUNDATIONS
OF CARE

The Necessity of a Hindu-
American Chaplaincy

Rita D. Sherma

A New Kind of Dharma Leadership1

For American culture to fully exemplify E Pluribus Unum, three elements need to coalesce: (1) the acknowledgment of certain commonly held foundational principles for the wellbeing of all, enshrined in law and the collective consciousness; (2) the acceptance of various expressions of such values in different cultural and religious forms; and (3) the evolution of American forms of the world’s religions.

Without the affirmation of pluralism as a value, America’s claim to represent human liberty is compromised. But without moral and spiritual common grounding, the US will become a nation of “many solitudes”—with fragmented identities and brittle boundaries between its many communities. Just as many generations of Jewish Americans have forged different forms of American Judaism, and new systems of American Buddhism have begun to take hold, there may yet be a day that opens to the emergence of an American Hinduism (henceforth, Hindu dharma).

Do Hindus Need Chaplains?

The Hindu diaspora is a largely well-educated, law-abiding, and financially comfortable community in the US. Therefore, a sense of invulnerability exists, especially amongst those blessed with good fortune. But everyone, regardless of status, suffers illness, old age, infirmity, and bereavement. Many encounter additional trauma such as discrimination, divorce, and natural and personal disasters.

Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Buddhists can turn to religious communities who are equipped to help individuals transition from what I call “grief to grace.” But to whom does a Hindu in America turn? Throughout Hindu history, networks of relationships provided security. In India, there existed, for most, various psychological, material, financial, informational, and relational networks composed of extended families, multi-generational contacts, ashrams (retreat centers), and the support of religious groups associated with one’s family.

In the diaspora, many of these traditional support systems are either missing or inaccessible. This can be due to time constraints from heavy work schedules; family discontinuity (separation, divorce, and the loss of connection with relatives); community ruptures; geographic distance, and resource limitations in the nuclear (rather than extended) family. These realities particularly impact second, third, and future generations, as well as those who marry outside the confines of the community.

To be sure, many spiritual resources are available within the American Hindu dharma to heal the body, mind, and spirit. Yet, without a human hand to hold when life’s tribulations strike, and a trained guide along the way, it is difficult to access this richness of traditional resources. Swamis who arrive on these shores offer wisdom about life and liberation. They are not meant to serve as counselors for life’s myriad and diverse trials and traumas. Priests who come from India and are employed by temples (mandirs) serve a useful function; but their task is to perform complex rituals of worship, devotion, celebration, rites of passage, sacraments, and so forth.

These leaders are not at all trained in family counseling, grief and bereavement assistance, or providing support for addiction recovery work. The success of the Hindu community leaves an appearance of immunity from problems—as if Hindus float through air as they go through life. So when Hindu Americans experience crises and catastrophes, particularly later generations, they have nowhere to turn except for their elderly parents, who may themselves be in need of care. Who is there to help diaspora Hindus now, on new and distant shores?

From such reflections the idea of Hindu chaplaincy has arisen. Hindu chaplains can be priests who take additional training, retired persons who seek to offer service (sevā), and those who would like to step forward as new examples of spiritual leadership among American Hindu communities. There will always be a need for priests, as well as gurus, monks (swamis), and other religious teachers. But the vacuum of intensive personal care, compassion, and counseling from spiritual leadership that lies at the heart of the Hindu community in the American diaspora can only be filled by properly trained Hindu chaplains. These individuals would study foundational rituals; Hindu philosophy, ethics, principles and practices; and care and counseling for those in need.

What Is a Trained Chaplain?

A professional chaplain is a representative of a particular religious tradition with skills in counseling and spiritual care for those in need or undergoing crisis, a solid background in basic principles of clinical psychology, along with the wisdom, philosophy, and spiritual practices of his or her particular tradition. Chaplains thereby can assist individuals, couples, families, and faith communities in coping with and surviving difficult or painful circumstances. In the US, one finds not only Christian chaplains, but also Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim, Native American, and Pagan chaplains, amongst others.

Building on those models, one might say a properly trained Hindu chaplain would be educated in an accredited institution that offers:

• APC (Association of Professional Chaplains) requirement for a 72-unit accredited theological degree in Hindu Theology (a Master of Divinity equivalence)

• the training in spiritual care needed for the application of Hindu scriptures, theology, ethics, and practices to pastoral care and chaplaincy

• instruction in prayer and worship proper to the tradition (e.g., prārthanā or Hindu prayer, pūjā and vandana or worship, mantra recitation, or the ability to use sacred sounds in a pastoral context).

If ordained, the chaplain must also be able to officiate at sacramental rites such as marriage, life-cycle rites, and protective or benedictive ceremonies (saṃskāras and pūjās).

An Evolving Hindu Dharma in America, and Its Care

The American Hindu temple can no longer serve only as a place of worship and social religiosity. It needs to become the primary sanctuary for the Hindu heritage community as a whole. This long-range challenge will take decades, but it must be initiated now. The development of Hindu chaplaincy is an important step in that direction. Hindu chaplains would not only serve as sources of solace in difficult times and counselors in life crises, but as resources for individuals and families who need to be connected to resources, institutions, and persons who can help with all sorts of questions, issues, and activities.

Additionally, the presence of professionally trained Hindu chaplains will allow for a new kind of Hindu presence at the American interfaith table and in government agencies, educational institutions, and other important organizational bodies. Chaplains can represent their traditions for a host of political, social, interreligious, and charitable functions. For Hindu dharma in the US, this task is now often filled by non-ordained individuals or by ordained priests from India who are unfamiliar with the cultural and linguistic norms of the West. As a result, Hindus have a diminished religious voice in America.

So while respecting the role, dedication, and professional capacity and commitment of traditional priests, an American Hindu chaplaincy would still push forward the progressive and global edge of the dharma by opening new doorways to religious leadership by women, people of different ages, jatis, ethnicities, professions, and to future generations of Hindus. A chaplaincy program that is comprehensive and well-conceived could provide intellectual and pastoral space for the application of Hindu principles to contemporary problems and needs, in India as well as the diaspora.

1 First published by the online journal The Interfaith Observer on September 6, 2013 (https://interfaith-observer.squarespace.com/journal-articles/2013/9/6/the-necessity-of-a-hindu-american-chaplaincy.html, accessed on October 6, 2018). As offered here, the essay has undergone slight revision by its author and is included in this volume with permission of The Interfaith Observer.

Theoretical Foundations
for Hindu Chaplaincy
in Advaita Vedanta

Varun Khanna

In this chapter I will propose that not only does Hinduism have the provision for spiritual care (and more broadly, social engagement) theoretically, it is in fact a necessary and often overlooked component of Hindu tradition that must be extracted and developed to meet the demands of modern-day society. The adaptation of Hindu practice has been a feature of Hinduism for millennia, with the creation of new theories, practices, and even sects over the years adding to the plethora of traditions within Hinduism, which has contributed to the survival of the overarching tradition and the vast and diverse range of philosophical and practical expressions therein. Of course, one must acknowledge that spiritual care in Hinduism does already exist—not, perhaps, in the form of “chaplaincy,” per se—but as a component of the traditional guru-śiṣya (teacher–student) relationship, or within the role of a “family guru,” or even within the role of a priest at the local Hindu temple. However, the point is not only to acknowledge where it already exists as an ancillary component within these traditional roles of Hindu practice, but to extract that component and develop it as an independent role adding to the scope of traditional Hindu leadership.

What Is Hindu Chaplaincy?

To understand Hindu chaplaincy, one must understand what it means to be Hindu, and what it means to be a chaplain, and why this combination is a necessary one within the framework of Hinduism. There has already been so much academic and popular work on what it means to be Hindu that to reproduce it here would be amiss. However, for the purpose of this chapter, I propose to think about Hinduism as an overarching term comprised of several distinct and diverse traditions, which are growing in number even today.1

With this in mind, it would seem that for almost every Hindu view, there appears to be another opposing view that is equally Hindu. To even use the name “Hindu” for all of these views together—and to accordingly call oneself Hindu, then—is to acknowledge ...