Our Direction for Drala Mountain Center

“We are always in transition…”
— Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche

OUR MISSION—The Ground

Inspired by the teachings of the Buddhadharma, we seek to support all those who uplift human
experience with practices based on mindfulness/awareness, non-aggression, and sacred
outlook.

OUR ACTIONS – The Path

 Practice – provide methods for all people to connect with wisdom and inherent
goodness
 Retreats – support diverse wisdom tradition programs enhanced by the extraordinary
drala of our land
 Community – connect a diverse group of practitioners to share wisdom and celebration
 Great Stupa – freely share a living monument of peace, compassion, and wisdom
 Eco-Forestry – continue our leadership and collaboration with conservation agencies

OUR GOAL – The Fruition

To create a “virtuous circle” where, step by step, working with like-minded individuals, we demonstrate success and abundance in supporting our mission.

FACING REALITY – It’s Been Tough!

DMC has faced especially brutal challenges over the past few years – 1) a threatened shutdown
over wastewater management, 2) a shutdown because of the Covid Pandemic, 3) a shutdown
because of two major wildfires, including the very destructive Cameron Fire, 4) Community
upheavals, 5) Multiple organizational realignments.

So why do we carry on? Mostly it’s because so many of us are relentlessly in love with this land.
Maybe it’s what happened to us here, or what happens for others, maybe it’s for our teachers,
or maybe it’s just being grateful that it exists at all – a place that tries to shed a bit of light in a
seemingly darkening world.

OUR STRATEGY – Raise Windhorse (Energy) and Create a Virtuous Circle

Despite these obstacles, the reality is that our center was one of the first to plant the genuine
flag of dharma teachings in the West and we have so many reasons to be proud of what we
have accomplished and what we can accomplish in the future. Thousands and thousands of
people have discovered inherent goodness here benefiting themselves and many others. How
amazing is that!

Our mindset is focused on creating a virtuous circle where we’ll initiate a chain of positive
actions and events – step by step — that reinforces itself. A positive thing happens, leading to
another positive thing, reinforcing the system. We will build a virtuous circle and watch our
strength grow over time.

OUR ACTIONABLE TACTICS – Open Up and Invite More Energy

Below are the 7 actionable tactics that will support our strategy:

1. BUILD NEW PARTNERSHIPS – Teachers & Associated Practice Organizations
 Invite/supplicate teachers and their respective communities from other wisdom
traditions to conduct programming events at DMC in 2025. Specifically, we’ll be
reaching out to eminent and well-known teachers from the Kagyu, Nyingma, Zen,
and Mindfulness traditions

2. BUILD NEW PARTNERSHIPS – Educational Organizations
 Reach out to college and university Buddhist Study departments to explore January
term and field study programs

3. STRENGTHEN EXISTING PARTNERSHIPS
 Existing Program Partners
 Naropa University
 Regional Conservation Agencies

4. IMPROVE DONOR CARE AND COMMUNICATION
 Provide meaningful, monthly updates including financial updates, progress reports,
success stories
 Strengthen financial processes and governance to ensure transparency and accuracy

5. IMPROVE STAFF CONDITIONS
 Expand workforce to reduce burnout
 Ensure practice and study opportunities

6. EXPAND ONLINE OPERATIONS
 Invigorate the online programming that successfully ran during Covid

7. IMPROVE PUBLIC RELATIONS
 Leverage social media to more broadly disseminate our activities and support our
brand

Does our strategy and associated tactics resonate with you? If so, please act today and show us
your support with your generous donation or volunteer activity.