Koha, Mana and the fruits of the Evolutionary Salon

Some amazing conversations today about how to move forward from this gathering, which is including questions of sustainability of movements like this, in financial ways, energetic ways and in reflective, inquiry and learning ways. I have spent the morning in small groups, informally constituted thinking about how to move a gathering like this into a “bodhisangha” and enlightened community.

One way we are thinking of doing this is harnessing the power of gifts, and today we are playing with three modalities of giving. There is the Buddhist dana, which is the gift given for the gratitude of teachings received. There is the gift that works in gift economies, the act of paying forward. And there is the gifting I saw happen in Maori hui in New Zealand, the giving mode of the koha.

As I understand it, and saw it practiced in New Zealand, koha is a practice that comes from agricultural times. “Ko” means “to plant” and “Ha” means “breath” or energy.” These days, at the end of a hui (or a meeting) the practice is that a koha is given and it often accompanies an intention. We’re playing with that idea today and we’ll see how it shows up in the moving forward of the “bodhisangha” and the other action requiring sustainability coming out of these conversations.