One spirit, many forms
A fifteen-year experiment in what becomes possible when generosity leads. Over a hundred retreats, across six countries, entirely in the spirit of gift.
Why “Moved By Love”
Gandhi’s spiritual successor, Vinoba Bhave, walked village to village across India, persuading landowners to gift five million acres to the landless — purely on the basis of generosity. He famously declared: “The sole purpose of all my work is to connect heart-to-heart.”
He was not merely offering introductions so people might befriend each other. What he meant was: create conditions where the human heart can expand, shift from transactions to relationships, allow that heart’s energy to flow — and create systems fueled by heart coherence rather than money, power, or fame.
The name “Moved By Love” was inspired by his biography. That is the vision behind these retreats: to connect heart-to-heart, for individual flourishing and for universal wellbeing.
“I claim that I am moved by love. I have nothing but love, not only for every person but also for every being — not only absence of hatred but positive love. There is nothing so powerful as love and thought — no institution, no government, no ‘ism’, no scripture, no weapon.”Vinoba Bhave
Over a hundred retreats, across six countries
Over the last decades, we have convened over a hundred in-person gatherings, with wide-ranging themes. It has rippled into retreats happening in countries like Vietnam, Japan, United Kingdom, Austria, and America.
Instead of organizing around a singular purpose, Moved by Love retreats organize around a process — that if we come together, not from the fullness of our material and spiritual identities, but from the emptiness of our essence, we make room for an exponential emergence in the space between us. The impact of this humbling approach has consistently amazed us over the years.
Same principles, different doorways
The same spirit of gift, coherence, and emergence has come alive across vastly different audiences, formats, and continents.
Gandhi 3.0 — Global Leader Retreats
Forty luminaries from a dozen countries, enveloped by thirty seasoned volunteers. No agenda, no desired outcomes, no price tag. Participants whose work collectively influences hundreds of millions — yet the invitation is to experiment with emptying.
Open Retreats
Fifteen years, hundreds of retreats in India. Themes range from Heart Intelligence to Spirit of Service. Thousands have graduated — business leaders, students, farmers, artists, seekers of all kinds.
Youth Retreats
Ages 18–30 — half from privileged families, half from the other side. The way they find common ground of kinship in just two days is profound. One youth shared: “I never felt any urge to check my phone for three days.”
Business Leader Retreats
CEOs and entrepreneurs gather not for strategy sessions but to remember why they started. Stories of gift-economy hospitals and radical reimaginings of profit consistently surprise even the most seasoned operators.
Educator Retreats
Teachers, school founders, and education innovators gather to explore what it means to educate from the heart. Including “Race to Embrace” retreats — where the starting line is compassion.
People with Disabilities
Deep kinship beyond sensitization. Young adults with Down’s syndrome feeling comfortable to mingle, mothers feeling truly seen, leaders discovering new strands of shared kinship.
Walking Pilgrimages
Walking without destination. Eating what is offered. Sleeping where place is found. If you think kindness is cool, let’s see how you do when you’ve given up your wallet, your phone, and your plan.
Your Community, Your Format
Any form of retreat can be fused with the MBL spirit. A qigong retreat can include silent dinner. A cooking retreat can run on gift. “Dharma is entirely interoperable.”
Many containers, one spirit
The retreats operate in several formats — from immersive multi-day gatherings to silent contemplations to walking pilgrimages. Duration ranges from a single day to ten days. The common thread is always Head (questions instead of answers), Hands (embodied practice), and Heart (deep listening).
“What to grow here?” vs. “What grows here?” Such a slight shift, and yet a seed for an entirely different paradigm.
Head · Hands · Heart
Primary format — 2 to 3 daysSilent Retreats
Contemplative immersionWalking Pilgrimages
Multi-day — Japan, IndiaImmersion + Retreat
5–10 days — cultural + collectiveRooted locally, connected everywhere
The MBL spirit has taken root on multiple continents — not as a franchise, but as a living transmission.
“We are not looking to contain this within any brand. Silent dinners have spread into many organizations. The Kabir Festival was inspired by this spirit. The Kuni format emerged independently in Japan. The seed scatters where it will.”
No staff. No budget. Just volunteers.
Moved By Love retreats are an initiative of ServiceSpace — a volunteer-run ecosystem that has gifted $80M+ in services since 1999. There is no paid staff, no institutional funding, no marketing budget. Everything is offered in the spirit of gift, powered entirely by volunteers who show up with open hearts.
We don’t seek scale. We seek depth. The retreats have never been advertised in fifteen years. People arrive through word of mouth, through serendipity, through a quiet pull they can’t quite name. Trust that pull.
Every heart has a door
Whether you come as a participant, a volunteer, or a host — the invitation is the same: show up with an open heart, and trust what emerges.