KarmaCaffe-- Spiritual Sangham Online

            Sangham is a Sanskrit term for a community of devotees, who gather to chant, have scriptural discourses, recite texts, and meditate. This support system is vital during all stages of sadhana, spiritual disciplines. However, the unfortunate reality is satsang--associating with God-inspired persons--is not always possible.

Thanks to the magnificent world of high technology, connecting people with shared interests from all parts of the world is now possible through numerous networking sites, such as Myspace, Facebook and Friendster. A new site, karmacaffe.com, was created for the sole purpose of bringing spiritual people together via the Internet.

Most of us know the meaning of the term café. It is a restaurant, coffeehouse, or a place that serves beverages, such as coffee. KarmaCaffe is an online Internet café that serves spiritual brew for the body, mind and spirit.

The term karma refers to the fruit of our action. The simple meaning for karma is cause and effect, or action and reaction. That is, for every action, thought, and emotion that we have, there is a corresponding result that is set in action by having those actions, thoughts, and feelings.

When we realize this, we see that it is our responsibility to be mindful of everything we say, do and think. When we realize we are creating karma every moment of the day, we learn to watch our behavior and to control our thoughts and in doing so, we can create our own world the way we want to experience it.  So we actually have some control over our fate or destiny, by the use of our will.

There are actually four types of karma. The first, sanchita karma, is the sum karma from all our lifetimes that is affecting us in our present life.

Prarabdha karma is that portion of sanchita karma that is affecting us in the present moment. We cannot do much about it; this is our destiny. As ye sow, shall ye reap.

While prarabdha karma says, “You made your bed, now you have to lie in it”, kriyamana karma is yours to control. Kriyamana karma is sometimes called “instant karma”. Whatever we do or have done in this lifetime will affect us in this lifetime.

Agami karma is the action that we perform in this lifetime that will affect our future incarnations. Karma is also experienced individually as well as collectively (group karma, such as family or country).

KarmaCaffe is seva, the spiritual service of Sidhartha Pani, Subrat Pani and Chandi Devi to improve kriyamana and agami karma for themselves and seekers everywhere.

KarmaCaffe is a spiritual environment that evolved in Sept. 2007 as a new online social networking site. It differs from other social networking sites in that it is dedicated entirely to spreading spiritual consciousness and self-awareness throughout the world through modalities that may appear different on the surface, but have the same result--to create blissful, peaceful and healthy lives. This can be achieved through meditation, mindfulness, yoga, music, art, writing, and nutrition, for instance.

While KarmaCaffe shares many features common to other popular networking sites, there is a clear distinction. Myspace, Facebook and Friendster attract a younger base, while sites such as LinkedIn are geared to professionals. The purpose of KarmaCaffe is to provide a communication system for spiritually minded individuals to connect with others who share their passion on a personal or business level.

“Although there are thousands of spiritual minded people on myspace”, explains Chandi Devi, one of the founders of the Caffe, “it took great diligence for me to find friends who shared my love of spiritual practices. I sorted through a maze of people and made some fantastic friends there, but it became more like just collecting friends, like having a stamp collection! After I reached 400 friends, which is actually a ‘low” level, I thought, now what? I could continue collecting more friends, but what was the purpose? It was a rather impersonal networking system. I did feel there was a void and KarmaCaffe was created to fill that void. Our sole purpose was to create an online community where healers, mystics, seekers and yogis could come together in a real spirit of camaraderie to share their knowledge and experiences.”

What sets KarmaCaffe apart from others is that it is not a voyeur site. You are encouraged to promote your interests and interact with other. To do this, the site went one step further and created their own interactive radio show, “The KarmaCaffe Spiritual Hour” where members are invited to call in and talk to featured guests, ask questions that are of concern, and share their knowledge.

In addition, there are future plans to conduct live conventions where members can meet, promote their work and take spiritual vacations together.

While many sites discourage self-promotion, KarmaCaffe encourages its’ members to promote their businesses, books, CD’s etc. through the creation of their three profile system of personal, business and social profiles. The personal profile is basic information about you. The business profile is where you can advertise and promote your business and the social section profiles your relationship status. If you are looking for a life mate or activity mate, this is where you can describe yourself and the person you are looking for.

Knowing that creating profiles can sometimes we challenging, the team at KarmaCaffe has step-by-step directions to assist you. If you get stuck you can find answers in blogs and forums or write to the editor.

The mission of KarmaCaffe.com is beyond connecting like minds, but it is to share and expand awareness through a proactive and interactive process.

With a commitment to create harmony in body, mind, and spirit, the motto at

KarmaCaffe says: See only Beauty; Know only Truth, and Feel only Love.

http://karmacaffe.com
chandi@karmacaffe.com