Hindu Chaplaincy course in Melbourne

June 22, 2018 by Surinder Jain ·

Hindu Council of Australia, Victoria chapter is conducting a refresher course for Hindu Chaplaincy on 23 and 30 June in Melbourne. This course is a part of an ongoing commitment by Hindu Council of Australia to increase the number of trained Hindu Chaplains in Australia. Hindu Council offers scholarships for practicing Hindus to train as Hindu Chaplains. Further information about the scholarship can be obtained at http://hinducouncil.com.au/new/hindu-chaplaincy/

Location: Sankat Mochan Temple – 1289A North Rd, Huntingdale VIC 3166 Map Link

Time : 10.00 am to 1.00 pm

Dates : Saturday 23 June and 30 June

There will be a short break in both the sessions where light refreshments will be served.

If you would like to join this course and become a chaplain, please contact Mr Makarand Bhagwat.

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Filed Under: Community Engagement, Events & Programs, HCA Chapter in VIC Melbourne, Hindu Chaplaincy, News from Hindu Council, PostOnSocialMedia · Tagged: Chaplaincy, Community, Hindu Council of Australia, Vic

Hindu Chaplains visit patients in Hospitals

May 2, 2018 by Surinder Jain ·

Hindu Council of Australia got an urgent request today from a relative of a terminally ill patient to speak to a Hindu Chaplain in order to understand and seek some guidance help for a terminally ill family member presently in north shore hospital. Our Hindu Chaplain Ms Jayanthi Ramanan had a long chat with the relatives and consoled them. The request was fulfilled in a matter of hours.

By Sardaka (talk) 08:44, 17 January 2012 (UTC) – Own work, CC BY 3.0, Link

Hindu Chaplains visit Hospitals at Westmead and Royal North Shore hospiyals in Sydney. Two more Hindu Chaplains have been placed in Blacktown hospital and we soon expect that Hindu Chaplains will become available in Cocord Hospital and in Liverpool Hospital also.

Hindu Chaplains provide an invaluable service to Hindu families in times of such crisis.

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Filed Under: HCA Chapter in NSW Sydney, Hindu Chaplaincy, News from Hindu Council · Tagged: Chaplaincy, NSW

Liverpool police community engagement

April 13, 2018 by Surinder Jain ·

By:Somesh Sibal

Liverpool police community engagement program was attended by Somesh Sibal of the Hindu Council of Australia’s Chaplaincy team along with members of about 15 different cultural and religious groups in the area. The program was organised on 29th March 2018 to meet the new Liverpool area commander Superintendent Paul Albury. Paul addressed the attendees. Among the topic discussed how to have healthy community engagement with police with respect to both police and community.

Liverpool police is currently working on improving protocols to:

Greetings: What are the protocols with greetings each other within the culture (physical proximity and touching)

Cultural Influence in Interaction: Are there any religious/cultural practices which may influence the way people interact with police?

Protocol for entering church/temple: Are there any special considerations when entering church/temple.

Protocols in Searching temple/Church: Is there any protocol to follow in case police need to search the temple/Church, including religious objects such as statues, altar, tabernacle etc.

Role of Religious and community leaders: What is the role of religious and community leaders in case community protests, demonstrations or any other circumstances involving police and community confrontation.

Providing Specimens: Does providing blood samples, body fluid or any other specimens for investigative purposes present problems? Are there any dates or religious significance when we should not approach an individual for an interview?

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Filed Under: Community Engagement, Events & Programs, EverGreen, HCA Chapter in NSW Sydney, Hindu Chaplaincy, Interfaith, News From Australia · Tagged: Australia, Chaplaincy, Community, Hindu Council of Australia, HinduTemples, Interfaith, NSW, Police

Quarterly update from Victoria Chapter

April 9, 2018 by Surinder Jain ·

A quick update from Victoria chapter on activities during the first quarter of 2018

1 Quarterly participation at Multifaith Advisory Group within the Premier’s Cabinet Office

2. Feb 18 : Participation in the multifaith consultation called by the PM on freedom of religion, chaired by Philip Ruddock

3. Presentation of Certificate of Honour to HH Mahant Swami of BAPS by HCA on behalf of participating organisations – 10 Feb

4. Ongoing Chaplaincy funds distribution from Spiritual Health Victoria to volunteer health care chaplains through ISKCON Melbourne.

5. Review of last year’s contact made for prison chaplaincy to identify ongoing needs. Currently ISKCON handles this on their own.

Upcoming events

1. 18 March 18 – Spiritual Discourse by Sri M , visiting accomplished Yogi from India.

2. International Yoga Day 21 June

3. Diwali in Vic Parliament with BAPS – date TBD

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Filed Under: Events & Programs, HCA Chapter in VIC Melbourne, Hindu Chaplaincy, Interfaith, Yoga ·

Hindu Chaplains send a copy of Bhagwat Geeta to a Hindu prison inmate

March 16, 2018 by Surinder Jain ·

A request was received by Hindu Council of Australia through its web site from a Christian Chaplain in one of the prisons. A Hindu inmate in the prison wanted to obtain and read a copy of Bhagwat Geeta. Our Chaplaincy team immediately sprung into action. Somesh Sibal from Hindu Council procured a copy of Bhagwat Geeta and sent it to the authorities. He has now received a confirmation of receipt of the Bhagwat Geeta. Congratulations Hindu Chaplains and Congratulations Hindu Chaplaincy team.

Inquiries are now being made now to find out if the inmate would like to see a Hindu Chaplain on a regular basis. Hindu Council of Australia has over 25 trained Hindu Chaplains who provide services in Sydney and Melbourne.

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Filed Under: Community Engagement, Hindu Chaplaincy, News From Australia · Tagged: Chaplaincy

Gargi Woman Jayanthi Ramanan

March 11, 2018 by Surinder Jain ·

Winner of Gargi Woman Award 2018 – (Carer)

By Bharathi R

Jayanthi Ramanan has been awarded Hindu Council of Australia’s Gargi Woman Award 2018 for her outstanding contribution as a carer. The award consisting of a plaque was presented to her by Member of Parliament – Parramatta Hon. Geoff Lee and by Anita Sharma NSW Vice President of Hindu Council of Australia.

She used to work as an IT consultant, took early retirement. She saw a Christian chaplain helping a friend in a hospital. In anguish, she thought why no Hindu chaplains in Sydney. She did her own research and took many months to find out about how to become a Chaplain. Finally she took the training and became a Hindu Chaplain. Now, she inspires others to become chaplains and more than 12 people have taken to Chaplaincy on her encouragement. She conducts regular workshops and information sessions and guides would be chaplains. She is a good role model for youngsters on how to break barriers and integrate with the main stream. Hindu Council of Australia appreciates her for being the first women to come up with the idea of starting a Hindu Chaplain service in Sydney.

Jayanthi left the stage immediately after receiving the award, reason – she got a call for help from a terminal patient from a hospital.

Jayanthi ramanan has been awarded the Gargi Woman Award for her outstanding service to the community as a carer.

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Filed Under: EverGreen, Gargi Woman Award, Hindu Chaplaincy, Hindu Women, News From Australia · Tagged: Chaplaincy, GargiWomanAwards, Hindu Women

Hindus missing out Big time on School Chaplaincy

February 23, 2018 by Surinder Jain ·

The National School Chaplaincy Programme (NSCP), is an Australian federal government programme which funds chaplains in Australian primary and secondary schools. The chaplains are to provide “support and guidance about ethics, values, relationships and spirituality”.^[1] The grants are $20,000 a year for schools and $24,000 for schools in remote areas.^[2]

Hindus are missing out big time on School Chaplaincy. Hindu students form 2.5% of school students in NSW but there is not a single known Hindu Chaplain in any of the schools.

While the NSCP is formally not religion-specific, the chaplains employed under the programme are disproportionately Christian. In 2011, one study stated that 96.5% of the chaplains employed under the programme were Christian, while only 64% of Australians identified as Christian (based on the 2006 census). By contrast, 0.01% of the chaplains were secular, whereas 19% of Australians identified as having no religion. Buddhism, the second largest religion, is followed by 2% of Australians, but only 0.03% of the school chaplains. Islam was followed by 1.7% of Australians, but only 0.9% of school chaplains. Judaism is the only religion which had a roughly proportionate representation, with 0.45% of the Australian population following the religion, and 0.5% of school chaplains.

(Source Wikipedia and Census)

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Filed Under: Hindu Chaplaincy, Interfaith · Tagged: Australia, Chaplaincy, Educational

Chaplaincy Information session

February 4, 2018 by Surinder Jain ·

An information session for prospective Chaplains was organized by Hindu Council and Global Organization for Divinity (G.O.D) at the later’s temple today. It was attended by about 20 people. A couple of speakers from G.O.D introduced the idea of a Hindu chaplain and explained what a chaplain does and what a Chaplain does not do. Jayanthi Ramanan, Chaplaincy Coordinator of Hindu Council, and a Chaplain herself explained her journey to become a Chaplain and to start a Hindu Chaplaincy movement in Sydney. She explained that Hindu Council is a nominating authority to nominate Hindu Chaplains to Hospitals, Schools etc. To be nominated, the person has to be a practicing Hindu, should have completed an Introductory Course and should be approved by the Hindu Council. She explained a brief outline of the Introductory course. [Read more…]