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| AHYMSIN NEWSLETTER, ISSUE - June 2014 | ||||||||
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Can Technology Help Us Be Kalyana Mitras?by Denise Martin-Harker
This little article was born from an email conversation with Carolyn Hume. She suggested that I write something to share what we have been up to here in the UK Centre …Hmm she always seems to manage to persuade me to write an article! After attending Swami Veda’s conference on Kalyana Mitra in November last year, we were inspired by the idea that we can all help each other more than we realise – and that help comes ‘most simply’ and ‘most beneficially’ in the form of staying connected. Yoga and the teachings are always pointing us in the direction of staying connected and remembering that we are all connected…‘We are all one’, ‘We all come from that same Divine essence’, ‘We can all learn from each other and every experience’. And Swami Veda reminds us many times that we are ‘One Family’. Many of us do not live round the corner from each other, so this is an alternative to meeting everyday at a physical centre. This way we still share together, smile together, ‘be’ together and learn from each other. Using technology in a positive way to bring us closer, keep a focus and a potential for learning rather than technology as yet another distraction in this busy world. Before going further in explaining our Kalyana Mitra project, I would like to share something from my mother that helped me see the beauty behind Kalyana Mitra, its meaning and why this project mattered. She continued ‘Just like Marriage these Relationships are built on supporting each other, not to be seen to be doing the right thing or to look like a good person or because you feel like you ‘should’. You do it because of Love, because it feels right, because of duty and because we can all help each other – it is part of what we are here to do. And we all need help along the way’ It seemed to me she had described the essence of Kalyana Mitra – Love, Support and Relationships. It’s about helping each other in whichever way works. So back to Kalyana Mitra as a virtual centre …The idea is really simple and any centre who has a website could easily add something similar. We are happy to share how it was done (My father in-law wrote the code…so it truly is a family related project!). PracticesWe share Practices of the Week and various other ideas for Practices that fit into people’s busy schedules. We also include some great CAKE recipes…as we are called EatCake&Meditate we decided Cakes needed a mention! ConversationsWhere people ask Questions – or comment on life, practices and learnings, and we all stay connected. ThoughtsIdeas that have come up from the Retreats here and our own Practices with articles, poems and writings to further provoke sharing. We will also include guest articles from Teachers in the Tradition A lovely saying used in the UK summarises the idea behind this project…
And here are a few of the beautiful words that have bubbled up on the Conversations page so far…
There is, of course, some effort in keeping the momentum going –someone needs to keep the ideas and thoughts moving, comment on Conversations, answer Questions, write Practices of the Week and articles tailored to the community you are part of. The beauty of this is that through the writing you are recalling the teachings from the tradition, this in itself is sadhana, it keeps your sadhana alive and refreshed ….Now I realise why Carolyn encourages me to write articles –it’s to support my sadhana … “Thanks Carolyn!” If you would like to know more or take a look at the virtual centre please email us info@eatcakeandmeditate.co.uk Thanks for inviting us into the family… Denise Martin-Harker ______________ Editor’s Note: Denise is a leader of the Himalayan Yoga Meditation Group of UK. She and her husband, Alex, live in Broadstairs, a coastal town about 80 miles (130 km) east of London, England. They have a center that offers individual and small group retreats (“yoga retreats by the sea”) and workshops. We invite you to visit their website at http://eatcakeandmeditate.co.uk/
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