Taraloka runs on the Buddhist principle of generosity, or dana in Sanskrit. Taraloka only exists because of a flow of generosity from so many individual women, each giving in their own way. Those who teach and lead retreats here are not paid, but do it out of generosity and for the love of it. Taraloka relies on hosts of volunteers - women who give their time and energy to cook, garden, clean, do maintenance, or organise on retreats. And to keep running, Taraloka relies on money freely donated by the hundreds of women who come on retreat. This is called the generosity or dana economy.
This is not a commercial business where a consumer pays for a service. Taraloka does not exist to make money. Taraloka is a collective project, created and run on the inspiration, idealism and generosity of all those who have come on retreat here, volunteered here, taught here or lived here. Our economy of generosity is a way of living out the deep truth of the interconnectedness of all life.
Each of us who comes on retreat at Taraloka has the opportunity to touch something deep within ourselves - something indescribable, loving and free. And when we go back to our familiar lives, the effects of this ripple out into the world. This is why Taraloka exists.