Crestone & San Luis Valley
Community Organizations
Our team at Mountainside Realty is dedicated to giving back directly to our nearest communities through the abundance created with our real estate transactions. Our brokerage has made a commitment to provide a balance of financial gains with community support. Each agent has a community based way that they choose to give back. There are many amazing organizations in Crestone, but overall, our personal pet projects include the Crestone Energy Fair, Crestone 4th of July Celebration, Crestone Community Thanksgiving, Crestone Free Box and a monthly free community meal at the Little Shepherd on the Hill Church. As a team, our goal is to elevate and enrich the lives of the community through these free events.
Below is a list of many of the things going on in Crestone, as well as some vital organizations.
*This is for informational purposes only, and does not represent an endorsement by any of the following organizations. Please let us know if your organization would like to be included on this page.
Spiritual Centers
Sri Aurobindo Learning Center
The Sri Aurobindo Learning Center (SALC) is a spiritual knowledge center dedicated to the study and realization of the Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Located in a serene mountain setting, SALC offers a sanctuary for meditation, a retreat house, a library, and hosts workshops and events focused on spiritual transformation. The center is home to the Savitri Solar Dome, a sacred space for invoking the Divine Consciousness-Force through Sri Aurobindo’s mantric poem Savitri. As a 501(c)(3) non-profit, SALC welcomes seekers to participate in its activities or enjoy a quiet retreat.
Karma Thegsum Tashi Goman Stupa
The Tashi Gomang Stupa embodies His Holiness the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa. In the words of H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche: “Within the stupa the teacher remains unchanging. The Buddha said that whoever sees the stupa will be liberated by the sight of it. Feeling the breeze around the stupa liberates by its touch. Having thus seen or experienced the stupa, by thinking of one’s experience of it, one is liberated through recollection.”
Haidakhandi Universal Ashram
The Babaji Ashram is located in the beautiful mountains of southern Colorado in Crestone in the United States of America. Haidakhan (Herakhan) Baba, also known as Mahavatar Babaji from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda, appeared in India from 1970 to 1984.
Babaji instructed us to build ashrams around the world where people could come for spiritual upliftment. On our magnificent 101 acres of land we have a beautiful temple dedicated to the Divine Mother, many call it the Lakshmi Temple. Our beloved murti of the Divine Mother, Haidakhandeswari, is life-size and was installed in 1989.
Little Shepherd in the Hills
Singing Rock of Ages in the shadow of Crestone Creek babbling along during the liturgy. There is a quality to the services at Little Shepherd of the Hills Episcopal Church unique to this diocese.
Of course they would be unique. Nestled at the base of the Sangre de Cristos, Crestone is a destination town. It's new age trendy and old west frontier at once, boasting as many Hindu prayer flags as horses. The setting has long attracted various disciplines of meditation with ashrams, temples and monasteries scattered throughout the winding roads. Built in 1885, Little Shepherd is the oldest of theses spiritual centers in this community that boasts of being the spiritual capitol of Southern Colorado.
Vajra Vidya
There is a deep inner relationship between the mountains and monasteries, the true embodiment of the spirit of the Himalayas. What monasteries and mountains have in common is Greatness, Simplicity, Strength, Aloofness, and Endurance. Wherever beauty, solitude, and grandeur conspire to produce an atmosphere of awe and religious inspiration there will be found a sanctuary, a hermitage or monastery, or a place of pilgrimage. These citadels of faith amidst the most challenging forces of nature are the fulfillment of nature on a higher plane, expressing its transcendent spirit through the ascending aspirations of man.” May these words also come to describe Thrangu Rinpoche’s Vajra Vidya Retreat Center in Crestone, Colorado.
The Center For Contemplative Research
The Center for Contemplative Research (CCR) is a nonprofit religious organization that provides the training and ideal environment for full-time, dedicated contemplatives to engage in long-term meditation retreats and collaborate in rigorous research with leading scientists and philosophers from a variety of fields, including physics, neuroscience, psychology, and phenomenology.
Chöying Dzong & Yeshe Khorlo Retreat Center
The main U.S. center of Yeshe Khorlo is Chöying Dzong, located in Crestone, Colorado. Established in 1995 under the direction of Gangteng Tulku Rinpoche, the mission and goal of Yeshe Khorlo is to cultivate the growth of the Buddha Dharma. Chöying Dzong, the name given to the temple by Gangteng Tulku Rinpoche in 2001, means Fortress of Dharmata. Dharmata is a Sanskrit word that refers to the innate pure nature of all phenomena and the very essence of mind itself. Dzong, or fortress, refers to the vessel or mandala that holds that space and maintains its innate purity for all who enter.
Shumei International Institute
The Shumei International Institute is a non-denominational spiritual fellowship and is part of a worldwide organization founded in Japan. Shumei’s philosophy revolves around three principal tenets: a spiritual healing practice known as “Jyorei”, fostering an appreciation for art and beauty and the practice of “Natural Agriculture”. Shumei’s Crestone Center is recognized as a sacred pilgrimage site by its many friends worldwide. “Inspired by the philosophy of Mokichi Okada, Meishusama, Shumei International Institute helps people of the world realize that they are world citizens able to act for the common good.” Shumei provides tours daily.
Crestone Mountain Zen Center
Crestone Mountain Zen Center (Dharma Sangha) offers residential monastic Zen practice and meditation under the guidance of Head Teacher, Zentatsu Baker Roshi, Dharma Heir of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi. Zen practitioners are welcome to join the daily schedule or apply for a variety of Zen programs.
Crestone Mountain Zen Center is located on the western slope of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in southern Colorado. Nestled against rugged 14,000-foot peaks and surrounded by 240 acres piñon pine and juniper forest, the beauty and seclusion of our Center is a unique environment for contemplation and inquiry.
Mangala Shri Bhuti
Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche is the founder and spiritual head of Mangala Shri Bhuti. He is a lineage-holder in the Longchen Nyingtik and Khen-Kong-Chok-Sum traditions of the Nyingma Lineage. Longchen Jigme Samten Ling, our long-term retreat center located in the spectacular foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in Crestone, Colorado, is the jewel of our organization. The name means, “a meditation place of the fearless great expanse.” Samten Ling is home toThe Sangdo Palri Temple of Wisdom and Compassionand the Tara Dzong.
Chamma Ling Retreat Center
Chamma Ling Colorado, a retreat center located along the beautiful Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range near the small town of Crestone, was founded by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche in 2001. Small and large group teaching retreats from the ancient Bon tradition of Tibet are offered throughout the year. Solitary retreat cabins are the primary focus on the center, offering the solo practitioner the powerful experience of stillness, silence, and spaciousness during personal retreats lasting from a week to many months. A beautiful Community House accommodates small retreats and local practice groups at various times of the year.
White Jewel Mountain Healing Sanctuary & Retreat Center
White Jewel Mountain is a nonprofit organization, founded in 2006 under the auspices of Ad.zom Paylo Rinpoche, and in association with The Manitou Foundation. White Jewel Mountain is dedicated to spreading the Adzom Drukpa lineage teachings, and the teachings of Ad.zom Paylo Rinpoche. We also strive to offer an inclusive and wide array of healing arts, transformative teachings, and retreats that will foster the growth of a more compassionate, cohesive, and sustainable community.
Way of Nature, Sacred Passages
One of the founding fathers of the environmental movement, John P. Milton has studied extensively many of the world's great spiritual traditions with enlightened masters and in deep communion with Nature. John's love of Nature led him to do his first vision quest at the age of seven. Through Way of Nature, John introduces students to the power of immersing oneself alone in Nature and Spirit, and allowing the innate wisdom of our Three Natures (Outer, Inner and True Nature) to emerge. John is a frequent lecturer, workshop/retreat leader, meditation teacher, T'ai Chi, Qigong and Tantra Master and author of many books.
Pundarika Foundation
Pundarika Foundation’s primary mission is to support the teaching activities and humanitarian work of Tsoknyi Rinpoche by:
• Keeping alive the wisdom of the Dharma
• Sustaining practitioners who preserve the teachings of the Buddha as a vital tradition
• Helping people experience inner peace, to better face the challenges of modern life with compassion and sanity
Ziggurat
The Crestone Ziggurat rises from a sandy hill on the southeast edge of the Baca Grande bordering on the Baca Grande Wildlife Refuge. Donated in 2001 to the 17th Karmapa by its builder, the Crestone Ziggurat is a landmark and destination for the many travelers who come to enjoy its panoramic views. It’s currently free and open to the public. Visitors climb a sandy hill to the tower, then a spiral ramp to the top, to enjoy stunning panoramic views of the Sangre de Cristo range and surrounding countryside. The Crestone Ziggurat, with its ochre color, clean lines and simple ‘swirling’ appeal, is a contemporary spiritual structure which provides space at the top for reflection, quiet contemplation and wonder – a tonic for our times.
The Nur Ashki Jerrahi Sufi Order
The Nur Ashki Jerrahi Community is an order of dervishes within the Halveti-Jerrahi Tariqat (Sufi Order), in the specific lineage and spirit of Shaykh Muzaffer Ashki al-Jerrahi, Shaykh Nur al-Jerrahi, Shaykha Fariha al-Jerrahi, and Shaykha Amina al-Jerrahi. We are based at Dergah al-Farah in New York City, Mezquita María de la Luz in México City, as well as in various lodges throughout the U.S. and worldwide. We joyfully welcome into our gatherings students of all sacred paths and sincere seekers of any personal orientation.
