New York, N.Y – December 12, 2007 - Uma Mysorekar, MD, the president of the Hindu Temple Society of North America, writes in the fall issue of On the Beat, a New York Organ Donor Network publication, that Hindus should support organ, eye and tissue donation because the act of saving the lives of others is an important form of charity and compassion, a dual central tenet of Hinduism. In the groundbreaking article, Dr. Mysorekar says that Hindus “should do whatever (is) possible to eradicate the sorrow of others.”

The Hindu Temple Society, located in a largely Asian population in Flushing, Queens, is one of the largest Hindu centers in the United States. Dr. Mysorekar hopes to impact not only Hindus in her community, but also those further afield. Approximately 837 million people or 13 percent of the world’s population are Hindus. In the United States alone, there are nearly 100,000 people waiting for life-saving organs. Each year, more than 6,000 people die because of the shortage of organ donors. Thousands more need eyes and corneas, as well as tissues such as skin, bone, and heart-valves.

Dr. Mysorekar, a practicing obstetrician/gynecologist, describes in her article how the sharing of body parts is not a new concept for Hindus. “Since time immemorial, the verses of the Vedas from our sages have reinforced the concept of donating our bodies,” she writes. “A well-established story tells us about Emperor Chaivy who did not mind giving anything that he possessed including any part of his body. In the 21st century, we call this modification a “transplant.” Thousands of years ago, they called it charity.”

In calling for more organ, eye and tissue donors, Dr. Mysorekar—who has been invited by both former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush to represent Hinduism at interfaith conferences sponsored by the White House—emphasizes the importance of how good deeds and the cycle of life are intrinsically interconnected in the Hindu religion. “As it states in the nine beliefs that dictate our way of life, all life is sacred, to be loved and revered,” she states. “Hinduism is a way of life with a strong belief in life after death and the laws of Karma, good and bad actions. The soul, unlike the body, is eternal.”

While Dr. Mysorekar acknowledges that some adherents of Hinduism fear that organ donation may disrupt what happens to them in the next life, she argues that good deeds prevail. “In my opinion, God knows whatever Karma we have done,” she says. “For our part, the goal after death is that the soul must merge with the Lord Supreme. This is the ultimate peace and enlightenment.”

Dr. Mysorekar concludes her article by writing that “death is a part of the living because the soul never dies. Life and death are equal. We should therefore make our lives useful. Since one of the main tenets is charity for any human life, we can make the best of it even after death. If Hinduism is a way of life, we can give a portion of ourselves to others. When we give charity by way of our bodies, it is an act that serves not the individual, but humanity at large.”

According to the New York Organ Donor Network, the nation’s second largest federally designated nonprofit organ procurement organization, more than half the families they approach to authorize donation decline to do so. In many instances, families express the unfounded notion that their religion does not support organ and tissue donation.

“The truth is that every major religion supports donation as the highest form of humanitarianism,” says Elaine Berg, president and CEO of the New York Organ Donor Network. “The most effective way to overcome the myths that the public may have on donation and religion is through education. And it is encouraging that Dr. Mysorekar has joined other religious leaders in New York in calling upon the followers of her faith to embrace donation as a fundamental societal value.”

Among the other influential religious figures who lend their support to the Donor Network’s campaign to clarify the stance of religion and donation are Cardinal Edward Egan, the archbishop of New York; Dr. Reverend James Forbes, Jr., former senior minister of Riverside Church, New York City; Rabbi Moshe Tendler, professor of medical ethics, Yeshiva University; Sheikh Omar Abu-Namous, the imam of the Islamic Cultural Center of New York; and Robert Thurman, chairman of religious studies, and Jey Tsong Khapa, professor of Buddhist studies at Columbia University.

Media contact: Martin Woolf, Phone 646-291-4460 or e-mail MWoolf@nyodn.org.

READ THE ARTICLE ABOUT DR. MYSOREKAR >