The Shelburne Falls Shambhala Center is a Tibetan Buddhist center focusing on meditation run by Gisela and Tony Walker since 2003. Their slogan “Making Enlightened Society Possible” highlights their beliefs of basic goodness being possible in anyone. They are less focused on one specific sect of Buddhism and more focused on bringing people together to practice meditation, mindfulness, and peacefulness. Their open minded views of welcoming anyone to their center are so strong that they are stated in their “About Us” page on their website saying, “everyone is welcome at our centre regardless of religion, spiritual tradition or teachers, path of practice, opinions, class, nationality, culture, ethnicity, race, language, age, gender, sexual orientation, or physical, perceptual or mental abilities.” This, to me, is a true indicator of their peaceful and intelligent nature.

The center was built specifically for their purposes and is downstairs of a retreat apartment they also own that is open for rental for private meditation retreats as well as group retreats. This sort of setting is indicative of their beliefs of integration of Buddhism into American culture. In America, in order to stay alive as any sort of business or center, one must pay. The center is run entirely by volunteers and so the only money they make is through donations (of members or otherwise) and the fee for renting the private apartment upstairs. Even so, their donations are not required for membership and are always sliding scale for their suggested donation as well which shows their continued commitment to creating a space accessible to everyone.

To learn more about this institution go to http://shelburnefalls.shambhala.org/ or email Anthony Walker at tarpachomen@gmail.com