About
The mission of Diamond Mountain is to provide you with everything you need to lead a wise and good life, and to become nothing less than a being who can go to all worlds and serve all living creatures, all at once.
The History
In 1999 Geshe Michael Roach, Lama Christie McNally, and a small group of meditators and caretakers set out on a great adventure. Their goal was to complete a traditional great meditation retreat. For three years, three months, and three days the retreaters practiced, following the traditions of Tibetan Buddhism and yogic philosophies. The quiet desert landscape where the retreat took place was named Diamond Mountain.
Following the 2003 completion of the Quiet Retreat, Diamond Mountain was relocated 50 miles east to a 1000-acre property near Bowie, Arizona. It was at this new home that Diamond Mountain transitioned from a long-term retreat center to a university. From 2004 to 2010 Diamond Mountain University held three academic terms each year. Course topics ranged from advanced Buddhist philosophy and Sanskrit language, to alternative building and traditional Chinese medicine. Each term, hundreds of students arrived to study, teach, and volunteer at the free school. In June of 2010 Diamond Mountain graduated its first class of over 100 students.
Today
Following the completion of a six-year curriculum Diamond Mountain transitioned back to a long-term retreat center. On December 30, 2010, after years of preparation, 39 practitioners entered the silent-retreat valley to embark on three years of meditation in what is the largest long-term retreat ever to take place in America, and the second 3-year retreat in Diamond Mountain history. Twice each year the retreat leader, Lama Christie McNally, temporarily breaks silence in order to give public teachings, along with Diamond Mountain Spiritual Director Geshe Michael Roach, within the retreat borders. These teachings are known as The Great Retreat Teachings and also include classes and meditations by Lama Sumati Marut, Lady Ruth Lauer, and others. It is a rare opportunity for a few short days to touch a world of deep spiritual insight that is, by its very nature, mainly a solitary place.
The caretaking and support of the Great Retreat is an enormous task and a rewarding one. Volunteers from all over the world come to Diamond Mountain to learn and help support the three-year retreaters. If you'd like to be a part of this historic event, please read about volunteering at Diamond Mountain or consider contributing to the Retreat Caretaking Fund or to the Diamond Mountain General Fund.