Karma Thegsum Tashi Gomang was founded by his Holiness the XVI Gyalwa Karmapa, head of the Kagyu order of Tibetan Buddhism. KTTG is dedicated to working to fulfill his holiness' vision that this beautiful and remote location would be an auspicious place for the preservation and continuation of the Buddhist religion and culture of his Tibetan homeland.
The Tashi Gomang Stupa, consecrated in 1996, is the Stupa of many auspicious doors, symbolizing the 84,000 paths taught by the Buddha to reach enlightenment. The Stupa is dedicated to HH The 16th Gyalwa Karmapa, and contains his relics and those of many Buddhist saints.

   "Karmapa" means "He who performs the activity of a Buddha." Since the 12th century, the Karmapa has held the position of supreme head of the Kagyu Order of Tibetan Buddhism, the lineage known as the "sacred word".

   The shape of the Stupa is an architectural rendering of enlightenment, depicting the Buddha crowned and seated in meditation on a lion's throne. The crown is the top of the spire, his body the rounded shape (bumpa), his legs the four steps of the terrace and the base of the Stupa his throne. The Stupa is open to the public.

Tashi Gomang Stupa
P. O. Box 39, Crestone, CO 81131
719.256.4694 • www.kttg.org

   Sri Aurobindo Learning Center (SALC) was founded in 1986 by Seyril Schochen. Headquarters are Savitri House and Savitri Solar Dome, where the work of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother is embodied in spirit and in action.
   Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950), India's foremost spiritual teacher of modern times, was accorded unanimous recognition during his Birth Centenary as "The Apostle of Human Unity" by all the Member Nations of UNESCO, under whose auspices the International Township, named for him "Auroville," was founded in 1968. Emphasizing action in the areas of trans cultural exchange and enrichment for universal peace, consciousness healing and evolution, and a new education for a new world, the Learning Center provides a library of the writings of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother (1878-1973), his spiritual co-worker and founder of Auroville.
   Since its inception, SALC has initiated projects and hosted events to further its purpose of becoming an Indo-American collaborative center for educational, scientific, cultural and spiritual researches for "a living embodiment of an actual human unity," as Auroville's Charter affirms. Events include musical performances, plays, dramatic readings, traditional, Indian and Native American dances, and guest lectures and presentations. All community members and visitors are warmly invited to attend the presentations.

The Sri Aurobindo Learning Center
P. O. Box 88, Crestone, CO 81131 • 719.256.4917

 Yeshe Khorlo, founded by H.E. Gangteng Tulku Rinpoche in 1995, is a non-profit spiritual organization dedicated to sharing the teachings of the 14th century Buddhist saint and King Tertsin (treasure revealer), Pema Lingpa. The termas (treasures) revealed by Pema Lingpa were instructions and blessings hidden in the 8th century by Guru Rinpoche who prophesied that they would be revealed at a future time when they would be of greatest benefit to the beings of that time.
   Rooted in the Nyingma tradition of Vajrayana Buddhism, the Yeshe Khorlo Retreat Center is established as a teaching seat in the west for Gangteng Tulku Rinpoche, the ninth body incarnation of Pema Lingpa. The center is also a place for all people to come and deepen their spirits' and awaken their inner goodness through meditation and retreat.
   The Yeshe Khorlo facilities include Choying Dzong, a Bhutanese style Lhakang (temple) and teacher's residence, an outdoor gathering space for teachings and empowerment, four retreat cabins for solitary-contemplative retreat and future three year retreat compound. Yeshe Khorlo offers weekly teachings, meditation instruction, and twice-monthly feast gatherings. Please call for a schedule of events, to make an appointment or for directions.

Yeshe Khorlo P. O. Box 87, Crestone, CO 81131
719.256.5224 • www.yeshekhorlo.org

   Spiritual Life Institute a small monastic community of men and women hermit monks was founded in 1960. Its central purpose is to foster the spirit of contemplation as loving awareness. The community is Roman Catholic in origin, Carmelite in spirit and universal in outreach. The Institute was established to foster a spirit of contemplation to help inspire and influence social, political and domestic experience. "Nada Hermitage" in Crestone and "Holy Hill Hermitage" in Skreen, Co. Sligo, Ireland are places for people to live in wilderness for a time, close to nature. Most of the monastery grounds are closed to the public.
    Advanced reservations are required for retreats. The Sangre de Cristo Chapel is open to the public and Mass is held every Sunday at 9am.

The Spiritual Life Institute
P.O. Box 219, Crestone. CO. 81131
719 256 4778 • spirituallifeinstitute.org

   Haidakhandi Universal Ashram is a spiritual community and pilgrimage center inspired by Haidakhandi Babaji and dedicated to the Divine Mother, who embodies the totality of all that is to be known. Residents at the Ashram follow the teaching of "live lives of truth, simplicity, love and service." Although the worship activities are based in Indian ritual, Babaji taught that all religions lead the sincere devotee to God. Living sustainably, the Ashram has an organic garden, their own water system, photovoltaic-derived electricity and solar heating. Service is the on-going aspect of the community, to provide facilities for pilgrims and seekers to pray, meditate, worship and serve.
A fire ceremony is scheduled at 10:08 am on the Full Moon and New Moon of every month as well as daily morning and evening devotional services (aarati). Please call for directions and the aarati schedule.

Haidakhandi Universal Ashram
P. O. Box 9, Crestone, CO 81131
719-256-4108 • www.babajiashram.org

The Vajra Vidya Retreat Center is being built on Camino Baca Grande on the way to the Karmapa Tashi Gomang Stupa The retreat center is under the direction of the Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche who is a Tibetan lama of the Kagyu sect of Buddhism. Thrangu Rinpoche has a close connection to the Karmapa who he is presently tutoring and will give a ten-day teaching in Crestone in July.
   At present only the north wing of the retreat center is being built. It has all the facilities to feed and house eight retreatants who will be doing their individual practices mainly in their rooms with beautiful views overlooking the SLV Valley and the Sangre de Cristo mountains.
Unlike many retreat centers, the meditation practitioners will each be doing their individual practices of varying lengths with the help of one of Thrangu Rinpoche's retreat masters.

Vajra Vidya Retreat Center
Clark or Pat Johnson 256.5367www.rinpoche.com

   Subud San Luis Valley is one of hundreds of Subud Centers throughout the world. The name Subud is a contraction of three Javanese words of Sanskrit origin - Susila Budhi Dharma - which means worship of God in a sincere and genuine way according to one's capacity. The reason that the phrase is Javanese is that the man who brought Subud to the rest of the world was an Indonesian lovingly known as "Bapak" (1901 <ETH> 1987). As a young man, Bapak felt an extraordinary energy enter his body, and eventually he felt he should share what he came to understand as coming from the power of God with others who asked to receive it. Subud embraces all religions, all races and all cultures. Although it is based on a spiritual experience, it is not a religion. Subud has no specific teaching, dogma or creed. Practicing what is offered in Subud is an extremely personal experience. Members get together in separate groups of men and women to practice the spiritual exercise called "latihan." What happens is a one on one connection with the Almighty. Bapak has said, "Every person will find for himself or herself the right way towards God, and what may be the right way for one may be completely wrong for another ...."

Subud San Luis Valley - Cheyenne Mendel at 719.256.5439

  Sage House is a Center for Indigenous Teachings and Development located in Crestone, Colorado. Our programs and projects promote awareness and preservation of indigenous culture, history, and traditional ways.

The Sage House vision is:

• To work toward common ground among people of all nations;
• To provide opportunities for cross-cultural sharing and teaching;
• To educate the children and honor the elders;To support the development of spiritual strength in all people;
• To empower others to develop the tools they need to follow their own assignments in the world;
• To develop and promote programs and projects that focus on healing, inspiration, education, cross-cultural understanding, and reverence for the earth and its inhabitants.

Sage House Center for Indigenous Teachings and Development

P.O. Box 1060 Crestone, CO 81131 - sagehouse.org

Full Circle Foundation for Conscious Health
offers personalized individual and group retreats, trainings, workshops and seminars. We hold monthly Shamanist Journey evenings- usually the 3rd Tuesday of each month in Crestone. Our mission is to integrate International earth-based wisdom with cutting edge technology to support the individual and community as we move into conscious health, which is the sum total of body, mind and spirit alignment. Travel study programs to sacred sites are available.

Local and International outreach programs for research, information sharing and healing exchange are ongoing. The goal is to synthesize all information collected to enhance the Spiritual well-being for the highest good of all.
Full Circle - P.O. Box 477 Crestone, CO 81131
719 256-4923 >Naomi Lake, director -> Naomi@naomilake.com

Blazing Mountain Retreat Center,
Dharma Ocean Foundation

Blazing Mountain Retreat Center (BMRC) is the retreat home of the Dharma Ocean Foundation. The mission of the Foundation is to embody, unfold, and widely offer the unique path to awakening and human fulfillment taught by Trungpa Rinpoche, Reggie Ray, and his senior students, creating a living continuity of the practicing lineage in our time. More information about Dharma Ocean programs held at BMRC can be found at: www.dharmaocean.org/programs

Nestled at the base of the stunning 14,000 foot Sangre de Cristo mountain peaks, the 16 acre facility bordered by greenbelt and protected land includes a 24,000 square foot Shrine Hall building and a 24,000 square foot Residence Hall building.

The center has been called one of the most beautiful retreat facilities in North America. With comfortable lodging, nutritious meals, and an online registration system, Blazing Mountain is a full-service retreat center that provides a unique environment for a deep, undisturbed, and undistracted spiritual exploration. It is an ideal location for meditation retreats, yoga retreats, and other contemplative activities that promote and inspire wakefulness in the world. For more information about renting the Center, visit: www.blazingmountain.org

PO Box 159
Crestone, CO 81131
Phone: 303.955.2574

Crestone Mountain Zen Center is a monastic community and was originally developed by the Lindisfarne Foundation with a chapel dome, an interfaith sanctuary based on elements of sacred geometry.
The Center is open to visitors from May 1 through November 30. Visitors are also welcome to join the daily zazen meditation in the early morning and in the evening. Please call ahead to inquire about the current schedule and to arrange visits or zazen instruction, since the center is periodically closed for retreats. Guided tours need to be scheduled in advance.
The Lindisfarne Chapel is open to the community except from January 15 through April 15, when the grounds are closed for the annual 90-day intensive Practice Period.

Crestone Mountain Zen Center -
P. O. Box 130, Crestone, CO 81131
719.256.4692 phone • 719.256.4691 fax
dharmasangha.org

The Vajra Vidya Retreat Center is being built on Camino Baca Grande on the way to the Karmapa Tashi Gomang Stupa. The retreat center is under the direction of the Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche who is a Tibetan lama of the Kagyu sect of Buddhism. Thrangu Rinpoche has a close connection to the Karmapa who he is presently tutoring and will give a ten-day teaching in Crestone in July.
   At present only the north wing of the retreat center is being built. It has all the facilities to feed and house eight retreatants who will be doing their individual practices mainly in their rooms with beautiful views overlooking the SLV Valley and the Sangre de Cristo mountains.
Unlike many retreat centers, the meditation practitioners will each be doing their individual practices of varying lengths with the help of one of Thrangu Rinpoche's retreat masters.

Vajra Vidya Retreat Center
Clark or Pat Johnson 256.5367
www.rinpoche.com

   Subud San Luis Valley is one of hundreds of Subud Centers throughout the world. The name Subud is a contraction of three Javanese words of Sanskrit origin - Susila Budhi Dharma - which means worship of God in a sincere and genuine way according to one's capacity. The reason that the phrase is Javanese is that the man who brought Subud to the rest of the world was an Indonesian lovingly known as "Bapak" (1901 <ETH> 1987). As a young man, Bapak felt an extraordinary energy enter his body, and eventually he felt he should share what he came to understand as coming from the power of God with others who asked to receive it. Subud embraces all religions, all races and all cultures. Although it is based on a spiritual experience, it is not a religion. Subud has no specific teaching, dogma or creed. Practicing what is offered in Subud is an extremely personal experience. Members get together in separate groups of men and women to practice the spiritual exercise called "latihan." What happens is a one on one connection with the Almighty. Bapak has said, "Every person will find for himself or herself the right way towards God, and what may be the right way for one may be completely wrong for another ...."

Subud San Luis Valley - Cheyenne Mendel at 719.256.5439

   Sanctuary House, at the foot of Crestone Peak, is an inter-religious retreat center in the round, a work of straw bale beauty offering four shrine rooms (Jewish / Christian, Buddhist / Zen, Hindu / Vedic and Sufi / Muslim) around an exact replica of the eleven-tiered labyrinth of Chartres (the original being on the floor of the Cathedral of Chartres in France). The labyrinth, emblematic of the spiritual journey every human being is asked to make, is a powerful and mystical walk into the center of the universe. It and the shrine rooms are always open to sincere souls.
At 7 in the evening, chant and meditation are offered on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, with Sufi zikr (Ceremony of Divine Remembrance) on Thursdays.

Sanctuary House - P. O. Box 332, Crestone, CO 81131
719.256.4420 or retreat info. 719-256-5199 • sanctuaryhouse.org

    The Crestone Baptist Church offers a place of worship for all Christian denominations. Services include joyful praises through song, loving fellowship, dedicated prayer and uplifting worship that encourage the Christian spirit. For youth, the church offers Sunday school lessons, children's sermons, Vacation Bible School and youth activities. The theme this year is "Rickshaw Rally -- Racing to the Son". Parents are welcome as well.
The Crestone Baptist Church provides a loving fellowship that welcomes everyone in celebration of worshipping Jesus Christ. Sunday School for adults and youth begin on Sundays at 10am, followed by Worship at 11am. On Wednesdays, dinner followed by a prayer meeting begins at 6:30pm. Lessons are also offered for all youth ages on Wednesdays. They include Bible-based lessons, crafts and activities that are age appropriate. The public is welcome.

The Crestone Baptist Church
P. O. Box 189, Crestone, CO 81131 • 719.256.4625

    Sacred Mountains Foundation Inc. is dedicated to the preservation of the Dineh (Navajo) culture through cross-cultural exploration. By following our vision and ancient guiding spirits, we came here to better serve our Dineh people and contribute to the greater good of all our relations. Our plan is to establish a place in Crestone community for developing organizational capacity, technical support, learning appropriate technology to share with our native communities. By achieving a workable balance between traditions and modern ways, we wish to revitalize an endangered indigenous culture to a sustainable future. It is also in the spirit of peace and unity that we join other local organizations in offering our teaching to youth of all ages for healing, good health, and happiness. Our ceremonies and other gatherings are held in Pinon, Arizona throughout the year in accordance with what is considered proper and traditional protocol.

Sacred Mountains Foundation
Director, Paul Tohlakai
719.256.5113. Thank you.

Little Shepherd in the Hills Episcopal Church> is the oldest spiritual center in Crestone, having a presence since 1885. Services were held in the old schoolhouse and were presided over by a circuit vicar. The current location is a log cabin built in the 1900's donated to the Diocese in 1949. The chapel is dedicated to Lady Julian of Norwich, a 14th Century English mystic.
The Episcopal Church has roots all the way back to Jesus and his followers descending from the Church of England. While maintaining it's Catholic origins, the Church of England moved away from oversight by the Pope during the 16th century. Called the "via media" or the middle way between the Protestant Churches and the Roman Catholic Church, the churches in the Anglican Communion maintain traditions found in both of these branches of Christianity.
The Little Shepherd of the Hills is a mission of the Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Salida. Father John Huffman is the vicar and mass is celebrated the first Sunday of each month at noon. The public is welcome. The chapel, located near the downtown crossroads, of Crestone is open for prayer and meditation.
Little Shepherd in the Hills Episcopal Church
719.256.4140 or 719.539.4562
www.mountainregion.org/littleshepherdcrestone.html


The Tarboche Memorial Park> contains a 30 foot flagpole, which is a smaller version of the great 80 foot pole at Tarboche in Tibet at the foot of Mt. Kailash (a major pilgrimage destination in south Asia), and it is considered by Buddhists, Hindus, Bons, and Jains to be the symbolic axis of the universe.
The pathway that encircles the flagpole at the Memorial Park is a modest outdoor museum, containing signs describing some of the tragedies that have befallen Tibetans following the occupation of their county by the Chinese.
Tarboche means "Place of Prayer Flags". When the many flags of the park flutter in the wind, prayers for the peace and well-being of all peoples are sent heavenward.
On the full moon of May-June the pole is taken down, and old flags are replaced with new ones. This year, the raising of the new center pole will occur at 10:30 am on June 14, 2003. The public is invited to participate and to join a pot-luck lunch afterwards. Throughout the year visitors are invited to walk the pathway. The park is located half-way down the hill on Two Tree Road.

The Tarboche Memorial Park - P. O. Box 1112, Crestone, CO 81131
719.256.5037 www.tarboche.org

The Pundarika Foundation was founded to preserve and support the lineage teachings of the Drukpa Kagyu Buddhist tradition. "Pundarika" represented by the emblem of three lotus blossoms, refers to the continual activity of the Buddha for the benefit of all. Both the name and the emblem signify the three means of Buddha activity through body, speech and mind. >

Rinpoche has been active in preserving the Drukpa Kagyu tradition which was destroyed and scattered after 1959 when the Tibetans were forced to flee their homeland. Rinpoche is the abbot of Ngesdon Osel Ling Monastery in the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal, the abbot of two nunneries in Nepal, as well as the abbot of one of the largest nunneries in Tibet. Rinpoche also heads fifty-five monasteries in eastern Tibetan. Ngesdon Osel Ling Monastery is his seat in the East. Crestone is Rinpoche's seat in the West and the Lama House was recently completed where Rinpoche and family are residing here for the next year.
There are five projects planned in the near future in Crestone on the Yeshe Rangsal Retreat Land: 1. A stupa to honor the great Dzogchen Master Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche 2. Retreat Cabins for solitary retreat, 3. A Three Year Retreat Center. 4. A Shrine Hall for teaching and practice purposes and 5. A Shrine to the proctrectress of the Yeshe Rangsal.
The Crestone Retreat Land Project encompasses 60 acres, which will become the seat of reflection and meditation available to Tsoknyi Rinpoche and his students.
Since 1991 Tsoknyi Rinpoche has been teaching in the Dzogchen tradition, and is one of those rare teachers whose lighthearted yet illuminating style appeals to both beginners and advanced practitioners.