Today, a group of Buddhist teachers and practitioners purchased 180 acres of rural Colorado land to start “Rocky Mountain Ecodharma Retreat Center.” The land is a nature preserve that is home to deer, elk, moose, bear, and beaver, and borders Arapahoe National Forest.
“It’s exciting to me,” says director and vice president David Loy. “We now have a center devoted to ecodharma, where we can meditate in nature, discuss together the ecological implications of Buddhist teachings, and consider what bodhisattva activity is needed now.”
The organization hopes to begin offering programs soon after closing on the purchase. Those will include ecodharma workshops, silent meditation retreats, low-cost retreats, and retreats for underserved communities. Loy will co-teach a retreat on ecodharma — Buddhist teachings that relate with nature — in early August.
The center has fundraised $215,000 out of the $940,000 needed to purchase the property and remodel the three buildings on site, which sleep twenty-eight.
