GLOBAL NEWS
NHE Activities in East Asia
By Tang Tamminga
Actually I don’t know where to start, so much is happening, planned and unplanned but all flowing perfectly well by the Grace of the Universe and with the good intentions all gradually merging into one force!
Taipei
In Taipei, Karuna Guo, founder of the Neohumanist Education Association Taiwan, has been developing her Intuitive Art Training at universities and academies and now has been requested by the Government to open a two year course to train professors in guiding others to draw from the heart. They recently had an exhibition of their works and attracted much public interest. Their choir practice and performances are still ongoing. The programs usually consist of her own take on classical Chinese tunes and texts. She has attracted so much support that the Association is planning a nationwide Neohumanist Education seminar in November 2014, in Hualien.
Lien Chin-fa continues his work with handicapped people throughout the island. This is a group that needs much emotional and social support as well as spiritual inspiration. Their general meeting, just completed this month, usually attracts lawmakers from both sides of the political spectrum as well as government officials, apart from over a hundred members. The new chairman, A-he is a retired CEO of an insurance company, and uses his managerial skills to further yoga for handicapped people through the publication of a DVD and other resources.
In Taipei, we finished the intermediate Teacher Training Course in Kids Yoga in March and had 16 graduates. Several of them will open kids yoga and QTE classes in the summer, bringing the total of regular AM kids yoga activities in Taiwan to over 40 different places. The next course is planned for June in Taichung and the advanced program will be in November 2014.
Malaysia
In Malaysia, Shi-hui and Anna have been enormously active. They are busy networking, teaching and organizing service projects (every December they have a ‘Give back project’ where they invite parents and kinds free of charge to their workshops, attracting hundreds of people!) We had ten days of workshops (non-stop) with new people, old friends and plenty of kids. Participants at the programs included teachers from Sumatra and Vietnam. The photo is of the Ananda Sutram workshop (we used the drama format – it made all the concepts very simple and visual!)
New Publications!
Apart from that, we have started publishing again! After many years of hesitation we published three storybooks about Little Star – and wrote a guide for parents and teachers (Tools for the Heart – downloadable from RainbowABC.com). Each story is arranged around a theme for further activities. The three themes are: My Special Place, Changing the Colors of the Mind and Gifts of the Heart. The reason we did this is that we experienced that 80% of children do not automatically connect in Quiet Time to the concept of Cosmic Love. By introducing other ways of connecting to the intuitive self (through imagery and fantasy) we hope children will find it easier to go within and at a later stage will be able to explore the Ocean of Bliss. The story books are available upon request from .
The Tools for the Heart Training is a very revealing and sometimes emotional experience for the parents and teachers as well as it is for some the first time to really connect to their inner selves. In the picture you see some of the teachers displaying their ‘Heart Drawings’. We found it is a good introduction to teaching meditation, where we learn to let go of all colors of the mind.
The Balance Kids Program is now ready to be launched in China. After the first phase of training we realized that China requires a unique format and repackaged our program. Lots of exciting activities lie ahead.