The Gift Economy

Some twenty years ago when I first began to think seriously about Spiritual Economics as a gift economy I wanted to put it into practice. At the time I was teaching hatha yoga which gave me the perfect opportunity to do so. Here is how I lived that ideal.

I offered a series of eight classes for $80, and the students were required to pay in advance. Every time they came to class I gave them $10, so if they attended all of the classes there was no fee, but if they missed class they would forfeit the money. This provided additional incentive for their regular practice. The instruction I was giving was my gift to them, and they were then asked to gift in return, according to how they felt they were blessed by the class. They could give the gift to me, or if they chose, give the gift to someone else. They could give the gift in terms of money or donations of their time to others, according to how long it would take them to earn $8.

Some students reciprocated in very nice ways, giving a variety of gifts that they had made themselves. Some gave purchased gifts, while others were a bit baffled with this idea and simply gifted the money in return. It was such a pleasure for me to be able to live this ideal and it created a pleasurable mood of loving reciprocation with those whom I was teaching.

In its highest ideal, Spiritual Economics defines a gift economy based on loving service to the Supreme Lord. In that concept everything is done as an offering of love and offered first to the Lord. The results of such offerings to the Lord as called “prasadam” in Sanskrit, and are sanctified. This process is typically done with offerings of food in the process of archa seva, or Deity worship of the Lord in the temple. The sanctified foodstuffs are then distributed to the public, often without charge, in thousands of Hindu temples throughout India.

With the concept of Spiritual Economics as presented here, we go beyond the offering of foodstuffs to include almost anything that can be done or produced. Everything (with the exception of harmful or sinful activity) can be offered to the Lord for His pleasure and the results can then be used by ourselves. This act reciprocates first with the Supreme Lord as He is the person Who first gives freely to us—the earth does not ask for payment for her produce, nor the cow for her milk, nor the mountains for their minerals, the birds for their song, the trees for their fruits. God’s nature is arranged as a gift to us, and we in turn can further extend these gifts to others, if we but will. The Lord has further given us the body that we occupy, this earthly home that we live on, the air and water, our food, the minerals with which we fashion our necessities, and so on. It is all a gift and it is therefore fitting that everything should first be offered to Him. What is given back to us can then be further distributed freely as His prasadam.

By making God (Krishna) the central point of our lives we create the conditions that allow us to live in the spiritual world of Goloka Vrindavana after this life. This is the very highest goal that can be attained by human beings. It is a world of eternity, knowledge, and bliss, where every step is a dance and every word a song. Eternal life free from repeated birth, suffering, disease and death that characterize this mundane material world.

In that spiritual realm there are no banks nor money. No selfish sense of “I and mine.” Everything there is done on the basis of loving exchange. Our effort is to introduce this way of life here in this world. Nature in her pristine state offers a world of abundance. Human beings can also share in that world of abundance if they will follow the same way of life: the way of giving.

The entire Movement of Krishna Consciousness is a gift economy. For more than 40 years at temples all over the world, the Sunday Love Feast has been a gift to all who would participate. The Hare Krishna devotees have distributed tens-of-millions of plates of food without charge to hungry souls, and in recent years has extended this practice to disaster areas such as Sri Lanka after the tsunami, and Haiti after the earthquake. The entire practice of Krishna Consciousness is done as an offering of love to God (Krishna) and others. Indeed, according to the tradition itself, the very practice is the highest welfare activity that brings spiritual benefit to all living beings in this world.

The Gift Economy: An Idea Whose Time Has Come

While very few may currently understand this concept of Spiritual Economics as devotional service to the Lord, there are many who appreciate the idea of a gift economy, and are striving to live that reality.

Twenty-some years ago when I had first started to think about Spiritual Economics there was no internet. It was difficult to learn if others shared this idea and to find them. That has changed as we move into the new millennium. Twelve years ago, when the internet was still somewhat new, I searched for the expression “Spiritual Economics” and retrieved a very limited number of hits. Most of them were people like myself who were endeavoring to create an economic philosophy on the basis of their religion. In 2007 the search returned some 80,000 links, and a recent search (December 2012) brought up more than 385,000 hits. The idea is apparently catching on.

Though there are different definitions to the term “Spiritual Economics,” my use of the term is unique, as far as I know: an economic system based on the teachings of the Bhagavad-gita. But whatever the definition they all share a common theme of living in manner that is grounded in spiritual truths, however one may define that. My use of the term also includes the important element of the gift economy.

A dozen years ago there were also a limited number of hits returned for the term “gift economy” on a search engine. That expression now brings more than 80,000 hits. People all over the world are realizing that it is better to give than receive and are searching for ways to live their lives accordingly. I honor all of those who do so as they are living close to the ideal of Spiritual Economics whether they know it or not.

On this page I want to bring special attention to some of these people for the clever ways in which they have found to live their philosophy of life. I applaud them and appreciate them, and I hope that you will too. They are wonderful examples for how any individual can make this world a better place to live. When I have time I like to browse through their websites and read their expressions of Spiritual Economics and/or the gift economy. I hope that you will also, and support them in any way that you can.

Here are some of my favorite gifting friends:

• Lord Sri Krishna Who has gifted us everything in life
• Mom’s the world over – all mother’s give the gift of love, and never stop giving
• Dad’s the world over – who out of love do whatever it takes to care for their families
• Brothers and sisters the world over, who help each other to learn and love
• Friends the world over, who help their friends, especially in times of need
• Hare Krishna devotees the world over, who selflessly strive to give the most valuable gift of transcendental knowledge to everyone
• Birds the world over, who gift their song to sweeten a spring or summer’s day
• Cows the world over, who give delicious and healthy milk out of love
• The Internet and all those who offer their websites to the world as a gift
• Software producers who give the results of their work as freeware and shareware
• The Gitagrad Family of Eco-Spiritual communities: Gitagrad is a place where people live the ideal of the Bhagavad-gita. There, the gift economy of Spiritual Economics is practiced. Lord Sri Krishna is the first recipient of all gifts, which are then distributed as His prasadam.

I was very happy to find on YouTube that some parents are teaching their children progressive values for a new economy. Here is one very young person who understands the idea of a gift economy quite well. Without prompting from mom or dad, one of whom is likely holding the camera, this young lady explains her heartfelt desire to give a gift of love. We should hope that many adults will learn from her how to give from the heart.

• Food For Life: Food for Life is a group of hundreds of devotees of Lord Krishna who feed the hungry all over the world. Established by Srila Prabhupada more than 40 years ago, FFL has served more than 700,000 plates of delicious vegetarian Krishna prasadam!

• The SF Bay Area Gift Economy: SF Gift Economy is a local place for subverting the exchange economy, and creating and perpetuating a gift economy in the San Francisco Bay Area. The gift economy puts people first and things second.

• The Really, Really Free Market: Because there is enough for everyone. Because sharing is more fulfilling than owning. Because “free trade” is a contradiction of terms. Because no one should have to do without food, shelter, entertainment, and community. Because life should be a picnic, but it only will be if we make it happen.

• The Burning Man Celebration:  The essential cause of the Burning Man Celebration is the giving of gifts. We’ve intentionally designed Black Rock City to foster what we call a gift economy. We allow no vending, no advertising, no buying or selling of anything. We discourage bartering because even bartering is a commodity transaction. Instead, we’ve originated both an ethos and an economic system that is devoted to the giving of gifts.

• The Karma Kitchen and the other gift restaurants (see links at the bottom of the page): At Karma Kitchen your meal has been paid for by someone who came before you. Since it’s a gift, you can’t pay them back — but you can pay-it-forward by making a contribution that will allow future guests to experience the same generosity. It is this circle of giving that allows Karma Kitchen to keep going.

• Mali and the gift economy: dama is a vibrant economy and culture propagated primarily through a strong, though informal, women’s social network. Gift-giving is not based on exchange or equivalence between giver and receiver. The person who receives a gift will probably pass it on to someone else. Another person altogether, on down the line, will give back to the original giver. dama involves return, but from within a broadly defined community to which the gift has moved on.

• Pay It Forward: The Pay It Forward Movement is the real-life reaction to the release of Catherine Hyde’s book in early 2000, followed by the creation of the Pay It Forward Foundation, followed by the Warner Brothers movie.
• Altruists.org:  Is an optimistic, positive community with members from both the under- and the over-developed world. They are united by their commitment that a money-centred struggle for personal gain is NO way to make the world a better place. They try to ignore money and put people at the heart of what they do, concentrating on what will be of real benefit to others.
• Freecycling: The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 4,775 groups with 7,090,000 members across the globe. It’s a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns.
• Other Worlds Are Possible: Throughout the world, solutions to some of the greatest challenges of the day are either nascent or fully thriving. Organized people’s movements – sometimes with help from supportive government – are changing the structures which cause violence, poverty, inequality, and environmental destruction. At the same time, they are creating better quality of life in their communities. In other instances, people are preserving ancient cultures where individuals live in relative equity and harmony with other life and their communities, and without expectation of profit.

And 380,000+ more…