The center began in 1971 as the Rocky Mountain Dharma Center on 600 acres in the northern Colorado foothills, founded in Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche's organization, and grew into the Shambhala Mountain Center before renaming itself Drala Mountain Center in February 2022, from Trungpa's translation of drala as energy beyond aggression. Its centerpiece is the Great Stupa of Dharmakaya, begun after Trungpa's 1987 death and consecrated in 2001 after a fourteen-year build, with his relics entombed within; a Shinto shrine to Amaterasu-Omikami stands on the property as well.

The institution's recent history is part of the record: reports of clergy misconduct by Shambhala International's leadership broke in 2018, the center stood with the women who came forward and barred the Sakyong from teaching, and the Cameron Peak Fire of 2020 burned fourteen structures here before fire-thinning work partly checked it. The center separated from the Sakyong Potrang in 2021 under a self-governing board, renamed in 2022, and entered Chapter 11 that February citing the scandal, the fire and COVID. The stupa remains a pilgrimage site for Tibetan Buddhist and Shambhala practitioners.

Visiting

Drala Mountain Center runs registered retreat programs and day visits to the stupa; check current day-visit policy, which changed after the reorganization (970-881-2184).

Photo: The Great Stupa of Dharmakaya, [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GreatStupa.jpg), CC BY-SA 2.5, Michael Zimmer.

Associated traditions & practices

Esoteric Buddhism Sacred Site Pilgrimage Mantra & Mandala Practice