FW: Nuclear Priest

[Guest guest]

govindarajan chilkoor [govind_cg]

Monday, March 20, 2006 4:45 PM

Mukund; Madhavakannan

" Nuclear Priest "

 

SrI:

 

Adiyen came across the article about Sri Dr.Venkat Kannamalla who needs no

introduction...This article appeared in Science and theology news...

 

http://www.stnews.org/Commentary-1694.htm

 

dAsan

Govindarajan Chilkoor

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A nuclear priest

 

Lest one think that this melding of science and religion occurs only in the

life of Christians, Hema Easley of the Journal News in New York brings us

the story of a Hindu priest who also happens to be a nuclear physicist:

 

After spending the weekend in complex Hindu rituals and ceremonies [in New

York]( http://www.ranganatha.org/2004_SYagjam_Photos.htm ), [Venkat]

Kanumalla goes to a Boston suburb to work as a nuclear oncologist.

 

For Kanumalla, there is no contradiction between science and religion

because ultimately both seek the truth.

 

" At a higher level, both science and religion are the same, " said Kanumalla,

recounting the response of physicist Robert Oppenheimer, chief scientist of

the Manhattan Project, when he witnessed a nuclear bomb detonation for the

first time. Oppenheimer famously quoted a verse from the ancient Hindu text

of the Bhagavad-Gita, which describes the omnipotent power of God.

 

" I am the Eternal Time who can change anything:

create, maintain and destroy, " said Kanumalla.

 

While in his professional life he has been quite successful, his private

life continues to be dominated by a strong religious sensibility:

 

..While immersed in religion, Kanumalla maintained his interest in physics,

studying radiation and earning a doctorate. In 1984, Kanumalla moved to the

United States and trained in the application of nuclear physics to the

treatment of cancer.

 

Over the next few years, he taught at the City University of New York and

then at the New York Medical College in Valhalla. Later, he also worked as a

nuclear oncologist at Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern and in hospitals in

West Virginia, Edison, N.J., and Boston.

 

..Since taking the job of chief physicist at the Caritas Holy Family Hospital

in Methuen, Mass., earlier this year, Kanumalla has been driving to Pomona

[New York] every Friday evening to officiate as the temple priest.

 

For more on Robert Oppenheimer and religion, see the STNews.org story " Atoms

and ethics. " For more on Hinduism and science, see the STnews.org book

review " Hinduism and Physics merge in 'God & Science'. "