What we’re about
Karmê Chöling is a residential meditation retreat center situated on 500 acres of beautiful countryside in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. With the Green Mountains as the backdrop, the land is enriched by rolling meadows, woodland walking trails, and a one-acre organic garden.
Originally home to the Abenaki people, the land was turned into a dairy farm before it became our retreat center. We have six meditation halls, bright and open common spaces, a range of living quarters for full-time residential staff and program participants, along with seven rustic cabins in the woods for solitary retreats.
We are a global community of meditators, spiritual practitioners, and people who believe that human beings are basically good. This nature can be brought into daily life so that it radiates out to family, friends, community, and society. We are committed to creating communities where we support one another on our spiritual paths and celebrate life’s journey together, and to creating a society that brings out the best in each of us.
Our Center brings together people from all walks of life to learn, through the practice of meditation, to be kind to ourselves and others. The center continues to offer programs for both new and experienced practitioners, with a community life rooted in meditation practice as a foundation for fostering enlightened society.
The first land center established by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Karmê Chöling has served the international Shambhala community for 50 years. Upon his passing, leadership passed to his son, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, and recently to the Shambhala Board.
The Karmê Chöling community values respect for all individuals; regardless of meditation experience, age, race, gender, ethnic background, sexual orientation or identity, capabilities, politics, religion or occupation.
In this time of great difficulty for ourselves, society, and the planet, our Center promotes teachings across many faiths and traditions, that can help us show up with fearlessness and gentleness and to meet the challenges brought on by the chaos of our world.
Upcoming events
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Tai Chi Series - Autumn Working With the Air/ Metal Element
Karme Choling, 369 Patneaude Lane, Barnet, VT, USThe Element of Air/Metal
Chi is the energy that animates all living things. Autumn is the season when our Tai Chi practice turns to the air/metal element. You see this work happening in nature. Thunderstorms rage across the sky, clearing away the heavy heat of late summer. Wind sweeps the land, regulating the temperatures, scattering seeds, and reshaping mountains. Our bodies work with air too: internally this element cleanses and renews us. Through Tai Chi, we can realign ourselves with these natural rhythms, restoring harmony and flow within and without.Connection Through Tai Chi
Often described as a ‘moving meditation,’ Tai Chi offers a profound sense of well-being, inner balance, and resilience against life’s stresses. But this practice is more than just a path to health—it is a doorway to a more vivid connection to the energies that shape both our bodies and the world around us.Cloud Fists and Wind Hands
In this weekend intensive, we'll cultivate air chi with the forms Cloud Fist and Wind Hands. When performed with the proper intention, these forms move air chi through the lung and large intestine meridians. We'll learn these movements step by step from the ground up. Then we'll explore their energetic basis, integrating aspects such as color, direction, time of year, the senses, and the corresponding internal organs and pathways.A Tai Chi Series
Guided by longtime practitioner and teacher Joseph Pascutazz, this workshop is part of a seasonal Tai Chi series—an ongoing journey through the five elements and their profound relationship between the human body and the natural world.Come move with us!
Registration:
https://www.karmecholing.org/program/tai-chi-series-fall-20251 attendee
Freeing Ourselves From Old Habits and Fears
Karme Choling, 369 Patneaude Lane, Barnet, VT, USShenpa is the mental and emotional "hook" that catches us when we react to situations with intense attachment, aversion, or reactivity. Shenpa occurs when we feel triggered—whether by anger, fear, jealousy, or other strong emotions— and causes us to become caught in habitual patterns of thought and behavior. When we’re hooked by shenpa, we are pulled into a cycle of reactivity, often leading to unskillful actions or words that reinforce our emotional entanglements. This moment of being "hooked" is crucial because, while it is a natural part of the human experience, it also presents an opportunity for awareness and transformation.
Drawing from Pema Chödrön’s book Taking the Leap and foundational Buddhist teachings of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, this retreat encourages participants to explore how to:- Liberate ourselves from limiting beliefs and reactive tendencies that create suffering.
- Transform difficult emotions by cultivating gentle, nonjudgmental awareness.
- Embrace uncertainty as a gateway towards personal growth and wisdom.
Through the practice of sitting meditation, personal inquiry, and group discussions, we will learn to gain insight into our habitual patterns, work with our fears, cultivate a deeper sense of compassion, and discover how to step into the unknown with openness, clarity and confidence.
Registration: https://www.karmecholing.org/program/freeing-ourselves-from-old-habits-fears
1 attendee
Past events
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