Mumbai

 At a meet focused on spirituality in medicine, for which health and medical professionals from across the world had gathered recently in New Jersey in the USA, the global diaspora extended support to humanitarian programmes driven by ISKCON.

The meet, ‘Transformation, Leadership & Spirituality in Medicine’, held on June 21, keynote speaker Radhanath Swami of Mumbai’s Shri Radha Gopinath Temple delivered a talk centred on his experiences in the field of medicine, according to an International society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) release here.

Swami talked about ISKCON’s efforts in providing relief to the earthquake victims in Nepal who, he added, needed not only medical attention but also holistic spiritual care.

Speakers at the event said that the healthcare model of the future will be very different as it will be based on health and wellness as opposed to the current model of sickness and disease.

That, it was pointed out, is evident from the ‘Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability’ (LOHAS) movement, a USD 300 billion US marketplace focusing on the interconnections between larger global cultures and political systems.

“Based on wisdom from ancient Vedic literature, every human being is looking for pleasure or happiness. Pain and disease interfere with that happiness. Material things may give the body and mind fulfilment but ‘to love and be loved’ through compassion is the only thing that leads to overall fulfilment,” Swami was quoted as saying in the release.

He said that health and fitness were no longer limited to within the domain of medical professionals. Rather, it is being influenced and shaped by many diverse people, he said.

Among the eminent health and medical professionals who attended the meet were John Cosby, an expert in Ayurvedic and Family Medicine, Dr Dhaval Dalal of Bhaktivedanta Hospital, India, Joel M Evans, senior faculty member, IFM & CMBM and Penni Feiner, executive director, Kula for Karma.

PTI