Originally known as "Tail of the Tiger", Karmê Chöling is a Buddhist and Shambhala retreat center in Barnet, Vermont

Barnet, Vermont

Barnet is a town in Caledonia County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,690 at the 2000 census. Barnet contains the locations of Barnet Center, East Barnet, McIndoe Falls, Mosquitoville, Passumpsic and West Barnet.-Geography:...

 that was founded by the Tibetan Buddhist meditation master and scholar Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and his students in 1970. Trungpa Rinpoche is widely regarded as one of the first Buddhist teachers to introduce Buddhism to North America in the 1970s. After Karmê Chöling, Trungpa Rinpoche went on to found a network of centers first known as Dharmadhatus, part of the larger organization called Vajradhatu, and currently known as Shambhala International. Karme-Choling continues to offer meditation programs and retreats in the Buddhist and Shambhala

Shambhala

In Tibetan Buddhist tradition, Shambhala or Shangri-la is a mythical kingdom hidden somewhere in Inner Asia...

 traditions to hundreds of students each year.

Facilities at the retreat center include over 600 acres (2.4 km²) of wooded land, seven meditation halls, a Zen archery range, an organic garden, dining facilities, single and double rooms, dormitory housing, and seven retreat cabins. The center also houses visitors and staff in tents on wooden platforms in the warmer months of May through September.

The center gives retreats, seminars, and workshops on meditation, gardening, archery, and theater.

Karmê Chöling is affiliated with Shambhala International, led by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

Sakyong Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche, Jampal Trinley Dradul is the head of the Shambhala Buddhist lineage and Shambhala International, a worldwide network of urban Buddhist meditation centers, retreat centers, monasteries, a university, and other enterprises, founded by his father, the Buddhist teacher...

 a holder of the Karma Kagyu

Karma Kagyu

Karma Kagyu , or Kamtsang Kagyu, is probably the largest and certainly the most widely practiced lineage within the Kagyu school, one of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The lineage has long-standing monasteries in Tibet, China, Russia, Mongolia, India, Nepal, and Bhutan, and current...

, Nyingma

Nyingma

The Nyingma tradition is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism . "Nyingma" literally means "ancient," and is often referred to as Nga'gyur or the "old school" because it is founded on the first translations of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Tibetan, in the eighth century...

, and Shambhala Buddhism

Shambhala Buddhism

The term Shambhala Buddhism was introduced by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche in the year 2000 to describe his presentation of the Shambhala teachings, originally conceived by Chögyam Trungpa as secular practices for achieving enlightened society, in concert with the Tibetan Buddhist Kagyu and Nyingma...

 Lineages. The current director of Karmê Chöling, Jane Arthur, took office in October 2006.