Shambhala Mountain Center facts for kids
The Shambhala Mountain Center was founded by Vidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche in 1971 at Red Feather Lakes, Colorado.
Shambhala Mountain Center was previously known as Rocky Mountain Dharma Center (RMDC) and Rocky Mountain Shambhala Center. The center is affiliated with Shambhala International.
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History
Trungpa arrived in Boulder, Colorado, in 1970 with a number of students from Tail of the Tiger in Barnet, Vermont, now known as Karmê Chöling. Students from neighboring towns and across the country became part of the Karma Dzong Meditation Center in Boulder. Among these were the members of a commune called the Pigmy Farm, located on the eastern edge of the city. In September 2020, several structures at the Shambhala Mountain Center were lost in the Cameron Peak fire.
Location
The property is located at Red Feather Lake on 600 acres (2.4 km2) of grassy fields, forest, ponds, and streams in the foothills of Fort Collins. The center has 35,000 square feet (3,300 m2) of building space for meditation, dharma talks, programs, and lodging. The geographic coordinates are 40°44′N 105°32.5′W / 40.733°N 105.5417°W.
Programs
The center hosts Shambhala Training meditation programs as well as yoga instruction, leadership training, children's programs, and various longer term retreats.
Death of Trungpa Rimpoche
After the death of Trungpa in 1987, his followers began a fourteen-year process of building a stupa at the Shambhala Mountain Center. Consecrated in August 2001, The Great Stupa of Dharmakaya is 108 feet (33 m) tall. It is noted on the Stupa and is common knowledge among Shambhala practitioners who have visited center that Trungpa's relics are entombed in the stupa following Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Trungpa's relics are permanently entombed in the stupa following Tibetan Buddhist tradition.
The Stupa is currently closed to day visitors due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Cameron Peak Fire which burned through Shambhala Mountain Center on September 26, 2020. The Stupa survived the fire undamaged but 14 other buildings were lost at SMC.
