Karme Choling

Karmê Chöling

A Shambhala Meditation Center

Awakening society by touching our humanity

Steeped in over 40 years of contemplative practices, Karmê Chöling offers retreats and programs that can awaken us to a deeper sense of self and community, restore us to our natural state of well-being and uncover the compassion and wisdom inherent in each of us.

Karmê Chöling hosts a large residential community living and working on more than 700 acres of rolling Vermont countryside. The peaceful and secluded land includes a one-acre organic vegetable and flower garden, woodland walking trails, and limitless stars that fill the night skies.

Located in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, Karmê Chöling is one of Shambhala’s largest rural retreat centers. Shambhala is a global network of over 200 urban meditation and 9 rural contemplative communities. Each of these aspires to create a more compassionate and sustainable world based on the view that every human being has fundamental goodness, warmth, and wakefulness.

Based on meditation, contemplative arts, community, interaction with the seasons, and a deep connection to the rhythms of the earth, Karmê Chöling offers a vibrant and energetic culture - one filled with appreciation, genuineness, natural interconnectedness, and humor.

Our Programs

• Introductory & Advanced Meditation
• Mindful & Sustainable Living
• Personal & Social Transformation
• Awakened Leadership
• Mind and Body Disciplines
• Contemplative Arts
• Family Camp, Teen Retreats & Children’s Programs
• Organic Garden Internships & Apprenticeships
• Residential and Cabin Retreats

Karmê Chöling offers residential staffing opportunities, volunteer programs, and community gatherings that bring people from all walks of life together to explore the possibilities of creating a sane and wholesome society. And it is home to the Mukpo Institute, a three-month residential study program in which the objective is to connect traditional wisdom teachings with the personal lives and real-world concerns of its students.

Come unplug, relax, reflect, and reconnect with your humanity. Leave reinvigorated with new skills and a fresh perspective that will give more meaning to your daily life.

Karmê Chöling welcomes everyone who has the inspiration and curiosity to explore what it means to be human…to uncover the inherent nature of ourselves and of society.

“ Shambhala vision is universal. It has no bias towards one type of culture or group. It is not ethnocentric and does not encourage one specific kind of person, race, or religion. Shambhala vision promotes a universality in relationship to basic goodness. All human beings are basically good and an enlightened society, at various levels of manifestation, can occur in any culture. “ Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche