Spirituality & Medicine

The medical learning environment poses unique challenges wherein the transmission of information from teacher to student is critical and yet psychological safety is a core principle required for effective learning. Drawing from the Bhagavad Gita, this piece seeks to highlight how Lord Krishna, the teacher, and Arjuna, the learner, depict the idyllic teacher–student relationship, exemplifying the essence of psychological safety.

Dr. Kalra shares his personal journey, explaining how his understanding of near-death experiences and the power of consciousness informs his approach to medicine. He emphasizes the importance of addressing spiritual needs and engaging in open conversations about death and dying with patients

Religiosity/spirituality, at its core, deals with the health of the mind, and in parallel with the exercises required to maintain a healthy body, the goal of religiosity/spirituality is to prescribe activities in order to maintain a healthy mind.

For early career physicians, these moments of professional duty spark hope and ambition, a drive to overcome the natural history of disease, and the need to win in a perceived game against nature. Observing death and loss over time may lead one to deeply introspect and reflect on the haunting question—do we really end with the physical body?

The monk replied, ‘Most importantly, I learned the value of only staying focused to one's own intended action; the Bhagavad Gita calls it Karmayoga. If we can all train ourselves to say what we think, and do what we say (alignment of thought, word, and action), and offer all our doings (actions) for the greater good, detaching ourselves from the results of our actions, there may never be burnout, depression, and suicide.'

The charioteer Krishna (right), the Personality of Godhead having a dialogue with prince Arjuna (left) during a righteous war. The narrative of Krishna–Arjuna dialogues forms the 700-verse scripture, the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita, ‘The Song by God’, and covers a broad range of spiritual topics, including a myriad of ethical dilemmas and philosophical issues encompassing human life.

Spirituality and faith often provide an overarching philosophy that permeate all facets of life, including cultural and moral norms, which impact perception of health and disease, lifestyle, and habits, as well as healthcare choices (such as injunctions to avoid certain treatments that oppose spiritual/religious beliefs).

Krishna the charioteer, steering Arjuna, the famous archer, during the Kurukshetra War. In what would come to be known as the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna enlightened Arjuna on his dharma—the inherent order of reality that is nurtured by right thought and action

What is the intention or purpose of the sense of Schadenfreude? Perhaps it goes back to the deeply-rooted culture of cultivating ‘the best’; when several ambitious, intelligent, focused, and goal-oriented individuals are put together to work in one department or division, the innate reflexes come to the fore.