The Act of Offering - A Conversation with Harry Einhorn

For Harry Einhorn, contemplative practice extends beyond temples, retreat spaces and formal rituals. Through meditation, movement, performance and shared experiences, he explores how spirituality can feel embodied, accessible and relevant to modern life. As a co-curator and practitioner with Black Turtle, a collective that brings together contemplative traditions, contemporary art and ritual practice, Harry creates spaces for people to slow down, listen deeply and reconnect with themselves.

At the Dhyana Event, held in collaboration with Wonderfruit as part of Paccaya Foundation’s tenth anniversary, Harry invited us to explore the act of offering and how this practice can shape the way we relate to ourselves and the world around us. Supported by the multidisciplinary artwork of Emily Avery Yoshiko Crow, guests were invited to reflect on what it means to offer — beyond the material, and as an act rooted in presence, intention and generosity.

On Offering in Buddhist Practice

• How do you understand the concept of offering within your practice? 

Offering is a practice of extending into the world beyond our personal territory. It’s also a practice of release and letting go. When we offer, we aspire not to be attached to any result, but are able to give anyway. In this way, by practicing generosity again and again, we begin to rediscover and tap into the natural wealth of mind, experience, and our intrinsic qualities of goodness, which counteract our habitual patterns of clinging and poverty mentality - the feeling of not having enough or not being enough. 

• How does intention shape the act of offering? 

Intention is crucial to the act of offering. Our tradition teaches that we should practice giving with no expectation of anything in return. This attitude is much more important than the object or amount being given. We also practice developing the intention that this act of giving benefits others and benefits the world. And of course, we ourselves are included in that. Of course this isn’t always so easy to do, which is why it’s considered a practice. Ultimately, the best offering is our unconditional presence. 

• Why should we offer? How does it benefit people’s lives?

Offering is a universal practice - we are all already offering our time, our attention, our efforts, and our resources. We are so interdependent - if we didn’t offer, nothing could happen, and society would collapse. The question is: what are we offering to, and why? When we make offerings in a formal or ritualized sense, this is an opportunity to reflect on the many offerings we make in our daily lives. The practice of offering can help us to open up and extend our warmth and inner richness, so we can bring that attitude and intentionality to the rest of our lived experiences.

On the Event and Collaboration

The Dhyana Event, held in collaboration with Wonderfruit and as part of Paccaya Foundation's tenth anniversary, opened a new channel for contemplative inquiry through creativity and participatory action. Supported by the multidisciplinary artwork of Emily Avery Yoshiko Crow, participants were guided into an exploration of what, how, and why we make offerings.

Through impermanent materials, participatory works, and site-responsive installations, the exhibition posed creation itself as an act of offering — placing impermanence, process, and intention above permanence and possession. Black Turtle facilitated contemplation on inspiration, intention, and generosity, inviting participants to share offerings in any form: from aspirations to movement, from the tangible to the intangible.

• Was there a moment during the event that surprised you — something unexpected that emerged from the participants?

It was touching to experience the participants’ willingness to spend deep reflective time with the art. It’s precious to be able to slow down and experience expressions of creativity and beauty together without so much talking.

Reflection

• If someone left this experience carrying one thing, what would you hope that is?

A sense of openness, an expanded view of offering and generosity beyond the material, and a flash of trust in their inner wealth. 

• What does 'offering as a way of being' look like in your own daily life, outside of formal practice?

Outside of formal practice, it’s aspiring to bring my presence, attention, inner gentleness and best intention to whatever I’m engaged in. And then, during the multiple times that I’m not able to do that, it’s a willingness not to give up and try again.