Our mission statement in our 501 c3 articles of incorporation states that PRIIMe’s Mission is to conduct groundbreaking scientific research on spiritually based interventions and their impact on modern health, and to publish and to teach scientifically proven Vedic teachings for the benefit of humanity.
Life and Health: The Missing Link
Venugopal Damerla, MD was born into a family of physicians in Southern India. During his early childhood, he witnessed his grandfather’s (a self-taught homeopath) close connection with his patients, made a huge impact in his ability to find healing to their suffering.
As a child, Dr. Damerla was practicing contemplative meditation as taught by many ancient teachers starting at age 14. He suffered a of chronic asthma. Acute asthma attacks hampered his student life, until he began a regular practice of audible mantra repetition as taught by A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. In just two years of taking meditation practice, he stopped having asthma attacks all together. This led him to embark on research that is attempting to decode the mechanisms involved in the observed benefit.
Today, we are fortunate to be stewards of human history. Modern medical technology has advanced to be able to measure what was previously impossible. We can use this to reconcile long-standing conflict if lifestyle has any bearing in causation of stress-related chronic medical and psychological disorders through rigorous clinical research. Our aim is taking popularly accepted measurable parameters in health and how they change in states of imbalance and disease. Simple inexpensive strategies like meditation, plant-based diet, time in the natural world, conscious communication, and aligning with our inner nature can strengthen our physiology and help us to self-regulate.
I have been meditating seriously with various techniques for over 30 years, including Sufi, Tibetan, Sikh, Thai Vipassana, and Vedic. But when I found the Maha Mantra, my sense of insecurity disappeared and I felt connected to and held by a greater loving force. We want to see how this shift in consciousness can be quantified.
Babette Goldstein-Damerla M.Ed.
Co-founder