NONE BUT OURSELVES CAN FREE OUR MINDS.
MOHALU IS A NON-PROFIT ORG IN HAWAII CUTTING THROUGH THE ROOT OF SUFFERING: ONE TALK-STORY AT A TIME.
MISSION
Mohalu stands for freedom and the end of suffering: “Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery.” We hold talk-story circles where people unbind from limiting beliefs to awaken to their true nature as freedom. We also hold talk-story circles that echo the village of old: where no part of you is turned away, where you are safe to feel all that you feel, and where you can make the descent into the depths of your being to find wisdom and wholeness.
“What in you can never be locked up?”
Mohalu, “Your true nature.”
“Where can you be any version of you without fear?”
Mohalu, “Here.”
ORG BACKGROUND
Mohalu’s work stands at the crossroads of contemplation, the ancestral village, and more-than-human belonging – a space rarely addressed by education, mental health, carceral rehabilitation, or reentry programs – and makes way for people to uncover their innate freedom in the midst of systems of oppression.
Mohalu emerged from meeting people in the trenches of systems (e.g. Hawaii’s schools and prisons) that control behavior whilst neglecting belonging & wholeness. This work draws from years of wisdom, gathered by Craig Dias (braddah from Makaha, high school teacher, village facilitator) alongside all those who’ve walked with him, wisdom kneaded by those who sat in village circles, contemplated mystery, questioned mental prisons, fostered trust and safety in places that historically go without, and found a freedom that transcends circumstance.
Grounded in consent, mental & emotional safety, and autonomy, Mohalu is a collective, living organism who is constantly made and shaped by the needs, experiences, presence, and wisdom of each person who takes part. Mohalu is not a wishful experiment, but an unfolding with a track record.