Dana Economy: paying for your retreat
Dhanakosa operates in the spirit of generosity, or dana (a Sanskrit/Pali word meaning giving or gift). This allows us to be open to anyone regardless of individual financial circumstances, by allowing people to pay what they can afford.
The vast majority of our income comes from donations made by friends and visitors such as yourselves, so we ask you to make a donation towards the running of the retreat centre, as part of your contribution toward your retreat.
Our suggested donations for 2025 (in addition to the booking fee) are (higher/lower level):
- Week retreats: £670 / £430
- Weekend retreats: £310 / £215
- 2 week retreat: £1200 / £800
If you cannot afford to give these rates then please feel free to give what you can. Likewise, if you are able to give more, then please consider doing so.
We ask people to make a donation on booking or in advance of arrival, either online or by phone. It is also possible to give a donation while you are here. Donations can be made by credit/debit card, cheque or cash.
ongoing donations
You may also wish to support Dhanakosa ongoingly through a regular donation. Please see giving to Dhanakosa for more information.
the dana economy explained*
The practice of generosity takes us beyond ideas of separate self and constitutes a basic ethos at the heart of community. So, a dana economy is a gift economy, or an economy rooted in generosity.
The economic forms of consumerism and capitalism strongly condition our relationship to the world. They encourage us to experience ourselves as producers or consumers, and a sense of separateness from others. Rather than emulate this, we want to support economic relationships which contribute towards a culture of sharing.
We don’t want to enter into relationship with you as the providers of a service for a consumer. We want to enter into a wholehearted human relationship with you. We believe in this way we can help transform both ourselves, and our world.
To support this intention, rather than offering our work as a service to be bought, we ask for contributions to make this work possible. Through your donation, you support this endeavour. This is guided by the basic principle of the Dana Economy; “give what you can, take what you need”.
* thanks to Ecodharma for their inspiration
Gift Aid
Dhanakosa is a registered charity. As such, if you pay income tax we can claim Gift Aid on your donation. This is a tax rebate we claim from the Inland Revenue that means, in effect, that the Inland Revenue increases the value of your donation by 25% by giving some of the tax that you have already paid to us.
To do this we need you to fill in a short declaration which we hold on file. This is usually done when making your donation, either by email or at Dhanakosa.
Please note that Gift Aid can only be claimed on donations. As the booking fee is not a donation, Gift Aid cannot be claimed on this money.