Karmê Chöling Meditation Retreat Center

Karmê Chöling is a meditation retreat center nestled in the peaceful Green Mountains of rural Vermont. With over 700 acres of forests, fields, and streams, it’s a serene sanctuary from the noise and bustle of ordinary life. Here you can quiet your mind, open your heart and awaken to yourself and your world.

Our nonprofit retreat center was founded upon the principles of Buddhism in 1970. Karmê Chöling’s primary goal is to support people in the discovery of their own inherent wisdom and compassion, to nurture its development further through study and practice, and to encourage the insights and understanding gained to be taken out into all aspects of life, whether it be personal, communal, or societal.

We have a wide variety of programs to suit the needs and interests of our students, from introductory courses to deep retreats. We feature classes and instructions in meditation, mindfulness & contemplation practices, body awareness disciplines, and teachings from various wisdom traditions.

Karmê Chöling is home to a year-round residential community as well as hosting non-residential retreats for individuals and groups. Being at Karmê Chöling is an opportunity to live in a mindfulness-based community, applying the principles of kindness and awareness to daily life.

Featured Programs

Community News

• Senior Teacher Suzann Duquette’s Retirement Letter
  Happy New Year 2023! I wish you strong insights, continuity of practice, and a joyous heart in this Gregorian new year. I am writing to let you know that I will be retiring from the position of Karmê Chöling Senior… Continue reading
• Haiku: Artistic expression created out of contemplative practice
  Why do spiritual practitioners and followers of the arts alike turn to the ancient practice of haiku?“The form and style of contemplative haiku appeals to those interested in a Dharma art or contemplative practice as a way for personal enrichment… Continue reading
• Weapons of Compassion
    Compassion for Ukraine “When the war in Ukraine started, we immediately gathered our community online to do the practice of tonglen,” says Ella Reznikova, one of Karmê Chöling’s meditation teachers and a native Ukrainian. This online meditation and tonglen… Continue reading
• Does being true to ‘the spirit of the holidays’ mean opting out of tradition?
  As we enter another holiday season, more and more people are turning away from consumerism, and toward their meditation practice Choosing introspection instead of over-extension The holidays used to be a time of introspection and celebration within a community, a… Continue reading
• Grounding in the Path of Dharma
  Grounding in the Path of Dharma is a four day course developed especially for those meditation practitioners who are committed to their practice, but are struggling with the real-life dilemma of making that commitment fit into their day-to-day living. This… Continue reading
• Being a Student of Anyen Rinpoche
  By Cody Mekelburg I learned of Anyen Rinpoche in 2012 through some friends while living at (then) Shambhala Mountain Center and read his books The Union of Dzogchen and Bodhichitta, as well as Dying with Confidence. I was immediately attracted… Continue reading
• Dr. Eva Wong offers a lineage of wisdom at Taoist Program this fall
  Dr. Eva Wong integrates qigong, meditation and Taoist philosophy in program for new and returning students No matter where she goes, Dr. Eva Wong carries a thousand-year-old Taoist lineage with her. And when she arrives at Karmê Chöling this fall,… Continue reading