Creating an ecovillage or a community is a deep and complex journey. It is creating a new reality and a life story that a group of people consciously co-designed and built up together. It encompasses all aspects of life, from a very deep level of reality (worldview, values, purpose and spirituality) all the way up to the very tangible level that deals with things like how to build shelters, grow food, and manage waste in ways that align with the group’s core values and beliefs.
Ecovillages around the world share some common principles, such as regenerating land and promoting biodiversity, growing food with regenerative farming practices, and managing waste and using it as a resource.
However, each ecovillage has its own unique flavor, as all have emerged from the deep personal journeys and realizations of those who create them. Although ecovillages share some common principles, each is designed uniquely based on the members’ specific mission, vision and values on which they agree together. The local cultural and ecological contexts are also crucial puzzle pieces to consider in designing an ecovillage.
We can find ecovillages around the world that seem to share many common principles, but they can be quite diverse in their manifestations based on their own unique contexts, opportunities, and limitations.
Learning the story of an ecovillage always involves learning the personal journey of its founder(s), as the community sprouts from within them.
Peace and Permaculture Dojo Eco-Community
Kai Sawyer is the founder of Peace and Permaculture Dojo in Japan. He was born and raised in Tokyo, Hawaii and Osaka. Having an American father and a Japanese mother made him look different from other Japanese people, so he was often perceived as an outsider. As a kid, he was constantly being told he was not Japanese or not ‘one of us’.
Growing up with this sense of alienation led Kai to search for a sense of belonging. As a young teenager, he intended to join the army in the USA in hopes that he would find that feeling of belonging from the camaraderie within the army. Moreover, he was attracted by the army’s service-minded mission as it was advertised to young people like himself.
Thinking of joining the US army, Kai went to the University of California – Santa Cruz. In his first year of college, the 9/11 attack happened in the US. While there was a strong call for a violent response, a strong anti-war movement also emerged–and Kai felt more connected to the latter. He was moved by the people who stood up for what they believed in and challenged the system. In 2001, he joined a demonstration against the bombing of Afghanistan, and this is where he really started to get in touch with his deeper values. From there he continued to explore further new value sets and new ways of thinking, seeing, and finding his sense of belonging.
Later on, Kai found himself on a solo retreat in the jungle of Costa Rica. There, he lived in very basic conditions and closely observed the ways of nature. He saw that in nature, everything is totally authentic, and never faked. He came to understand on a deep level that everything in nature is connected and part of the cycle, with no waste or pollution being produced through the process. This deep realization gave him the sense of belonging that he had been searching for for his whole life. He discovered that that sense of belonging he had been looking for was present without any effort. Kai’s takeaway from this experience was that life needs to be more simple. He decided to learn about organic farming, Permaculture, sustainable education, non-violent communication, gift economy, Dances of Universal Peace, meditation, and mindfulness, with the goal of creating a community in his home country, Japan.
Kai realized that the same sense of alienation and isolation he had felt as a child was all around him in Japanese society. He saw that many young Japanese people are under intense amounts of pressure and try so hard to fit in that they lose their sense of connection with their own feelings, dreams, purpose, and authentic selves. Indeed many young people in Japan suffer from depression, and suicide rates are frighteningly high.
The dojo – the ecovillage life
In Isumi, Japan, Kai and his family started Peace and Permaculture Dojo as a place for himself and young people in Japan to live together, in nature, with a simple, slow lifestyle. Peace and Permaculture Dojo was built with the intention of being a safe space for people to be themselves, free to express and explore the part of themselves that may be not validated or accepted by society. It was to be a place where all can feel a sense of belonging, live with mindfulness and awareness of nature in every moment, and where the living environment and lifestyle allow people to feel their connections with themselves and to align with the cycles of nature.
Life is slow and close to nature at the Dojo. The living room and kitchen are outside, which helps to keep the community aware of the presence and the changes happening in nature and her cycles. People chop wood to make fire and boil water for tea and for cooking. Chopping wood, drying, and storing it is important community work, as the community only cooks on fire. They use water collected from the rain and well only, no tap water. Fetching water for daily use is a daily task in which everyone participates, along with cooking, cleaning, gardening, and making compost.
For community members, it’s funny to imagine a life in a different reality, in which making a cup of tea only requires you to open the water tap, fill the electric water boiler, press the bottom to boil the water, and pour it in your cup, all in under 3 minutes. At the Peace and Permaculture Dojo, making and drinking a cup of tea can take hours. Dojo people don’t think of this as time-consuming, but life-enriching. It means being in the moment and interacting with nature visually, physically, and psychologically. That is the Dojo way of life, and the way of realizing the connections in nature and being a part of them.
On the human side, awareness of oneself and each other is part of day to day practice. Sharing circles in which members listen to one another and share their thoughts and feelings are a part of the routine at Dojo. There is also a space for deep conversations on topics such as ‘How am I here and now?’, ‘What can I do with my life?’, and ‘How can I make the world more wonderful?’
Daily life at Dojo may not be full of activities and things to do. Instead, the philosophy is geared towards being in the moment and feeling the connection and sense of belonging in each moment. It is a place to be in tune with oneself and with nature; when there is less to do, there is more to be. Less is more in this way. The Dojo’s Way attracts many young Japanese who come to have a break from their lives full of pressure from society and to slow down, feel themselves, and be attuned to and embraced by nature. This experience of a different reality affords them the time and space to ask the deeper questions: What can I do with my life? How can I make the world more wonderful?
Gaia Ashram and the Peace and Permaculture Dojo share the vision of creating communities in which people live in attunement with nature, as parts of nature’s cycle, and care for nature. This is necessary not only for ecological sustainability, but also in nurturing ourselves and healing from the wounds of separation and isolation from nature taking place within our psyches. Being in the moment with nature is a way to see earth’s wonders and to feel a sense of belonging as part of the whole. Mindfulness practices are a part of daily life in Gaia Ashram, Dojo, and many ecovillages around the world, although exactly how each ecovillage integrates mindfulness into their routines may be different.
Although ecovillages tend to emphasize nature-minded values as well alongside their own individual missions, the ecovillage movement also sees humans as parts of nature that also need to be nurtured and cared for–not only physically, but holistically. Many people feel they do not fit in with the mainstream society that views success in terms of monetary wealth, power over others, and higher social status.
If you’re more of an auditory learner, you can also listen to the full episode in Kai’s own inspirational words here: https://youtu.be/RXxvvDsioqA
curious to learn more?
If you are someone who would rather explore other forms of wealth, or if you are interested in living in communities in which collaboration is valued over competition, finding a safe space to be your authentic self while respecting others, or asking yourself the deeper questions like ‘Who am I? What does life mean to me? What do I want to do with it?’, then Ecovillages are where you can go for such a space.
We’d love to invite you to experience the ecovillage lifestyle at Gaia Ashram. Gaia offers a one-week program in which you can learn the philosophy and principles you need to design a holistic, regenerative lifestyle. The program also includes practical, hands-on learning experiences on the land in the afternoon. You can read more here: https://gaiaschoolasia.com/ecovillage-lifestyle-experience-week-2024
Gaia Ashram also offers Ecovillage Design Education, a 32-day certified program by Gaia Education. It is an intensive program learning ecovillage design principles from facilitators experienced in ecovillage movement. Check about it on this link ; https://gaiaschoolasia.com/ecovillage-design-education/
Asia Ecovillage Stories Series #1 – Peace and Permaculture Dojo, Isumi, Japan
Written by Sunisa Jamwiset Deiters and edited by Cait Charles
