Hawai'i Insight Meditation Center - Agricultural Projects

A key condition of the Special Permit to rezone for our center requires that we put in place intensive agriculture projects. Vipassana Hawai'i has adopted the traditional ahupua'a system for land management. The ahupua'a model is a place of nurture and refuge extending between ocean and mountain, and inclusive of diverse bioregions of flora and fauna, streams and valley. It is an intimate interrelatedness between people and their surroundings. This serves as the guiding vision for our footprint on the sacred land entrusted to us.

We are committed to sustainability on multiple levels — of the ecosystem, of the community, of the Center itself, of our Buddhist lineage, practice, and values, including the livelihoods of the teachers who carry the tradition forward. Ours are living teachings, and must, like the land, be tended to be sustained. We installed a 300-ft-deep well for irrigation in 2009 and are ready to begin a nursery for orchards and gardens. This will be the beginning for like-minded people to live, work, and practice together in the awareness that what occurs here can and will have ramifications far beyond the Center's borders.

To support this vision we will also cultivate partnerships with local non-profits and school communities in order to provide rich volunteer opportunities here in Hawai'i. We already have a partnership developing with various local schools and organizations to provide an acre of land for cultivation of wet and dry taro plantings. This project will be used to train young children in traditional growing practices. This and many more planting projects will help to bring vitality to an already deep aspiration to preserve and protect the heritage of Hawai'i and our Buddhist roots.