Mission & Lineage

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Diamond Mountain offers a space for deep spiritual practice, a refuge from the stress and agitation of modern life. Guided by Buddhist values that hold kindness, service, and contemplative wisdom in the highest regard, our vision is to provide you with all the conditions necessary to nurture your inner growth for a happier life, regardless of your belief system or religion.

Located in the remote and pristine mountains of Southern Arizona, Diamond Mountain Retreat Center offers a space designed to support you on your journey of self-discovery. Retreaters are supported by knowledgeable, experienced meditators. Diamond Mountain retreat houses are available for solo retreat or group rentals. Our 27 private retreat houses, spread over 1,000 acres, offer comfort and a joyful connection to the rhythms of nature around you. Visitors can enjoy walking paths and spectacular night skies filled with stars!

 

Our Mission

A view of Diamond Mountain's courtyard outside the main temple

To nurture happiness through the art of meditative retreat.

We fully believe in the potential of every person to transform his or her life through the practices of compassion, wisdom, and meditation. By getting in touch with our own inner wisdom, we can find for ourselves everything we need to bring more love, understanding, and clarity into our world. To realize the highest form of ourselves, so that we can be of the most benefit to others and for our own happiness.

This fulfillment can’t come from anything external, but at Diamond Mountain, we see it as our mission to provide the best possible conditions for supporting our guests on their journey of self-discovery. We’ll support you and give you a space in which you can focus on watering those seeds.

 

 

 

 

 

Our Story

In 2002, a modern group of pioneers came to Diamond Mountain in search of inner treasures: a clear,

disciplined mind and an open heart. Their dream was to give anyone who sought a balanced, meaningful life the opportunity to explore their possibilities in the ideal setting, with all the guidance they need. After 15 years the initial vision has actualized. The founders created a place both comfortable and peaceful, remote but accessible, where people from all walks of life can be fully supported in their quest for insight.

Over the years thousands of people have transformed their lives at Diamond Mountain. We welcome you to join them and make Diamond Mountain a part of your life-changing story.

 

 

 

Our Values

Open heartedness: Diamond Mountain is a place for everyone. We welcome committed spiritual seekers, whether you want to practice Buddhist meditation, yoga, or Christian prayer, you are welcome here as guest or volunteer. If you want to go hiking or write a book here, that’s great too. We also believe that selfless service is a core element along any spiritual path and strive to make volunteer and service opportunities available to anyone who feels this calling.

Quietude: Meditation and a conducive retreat space is vital to spiritual progress. At Diamond Mountain we excel in creating the conditions for retreat in a modern world. As meditators and yogis, we value the commitment to exploring deeper truth, and our staff are a treasure house of knowledge and experience. Our staff care for our guests in every aspect of their retreat experience, from guidance in how to prepare for your retreat to meditation instruction once you’ve arrived.

Ecology: The facilities of our retreat center were designed according to permaculture principles of sustainable living. We make every effort to make a positive impact on our local ecosystem as well as our larger world. Built from natural materials with eco-smart design, our retreat houses are equipped with solar electricity, compost toilets, and greywater irrigation. We believe in taking responsibility for our environment, as a down-to-earth application of spiritual practice.

Check as well https://www.diamondmountain.org/non-profit-information/

 

 

The Diamond Mountain Lineage

 

We believe in meditation retreat as a way to help all people achieve their personal, spiritual, and professional goals.

We study and practice the Buddhist tradition of Je Tsongkapa (who lived 1357-1419).  The retreat center was founded 19 years ago by Americans who were trained in this tradition by Khen Rinpoche, Geshe Lobsang Tharchin (1921-2004).

Geshe Michael Roach (b. 1952)

Geshe Michael Roach grew up in Phoenix, AZ, where he was an honors student with an interest in religion and social issues.  He was awarded a scholarship to Princeton and after graduation, he went to study and live at Rashi Gempil Ling, with Khen Rinpoche Geshe Lobsang Tharchin. In 1995 he completed his studies with Khen Rinpoche and at Sera Monastery in India and became the first American to be awarded the Geshe degree. While completing this work, he also developed and taught the seven-year Formal Study Program, which parallels the same core information taught at the Tibetan Buddhist monastery. That original program of 18 courses captures the essence of the six Great Books of Buddhism, as a means to train the next generations of western Buddhist teachers. Asian Classics Institute began with the mission to provide the recordings online, live teachings, and by correspondence for anyone who would like to pursue these studies.

In addition to his work with Diamond Cutter Institute, whose aim is to present the core teachings of Buddhism in a way that everyone can use for success at work, their personal relationships, and in all facets of life, Geshe Michael continues to translate and to teach Buddhist texts to many different audiences. It is the aim of the Asian Classics Institute to continue to make this material and teachings available to improve the lives of people in our communities and throughout the world.

Khen Rinpoche Geshe Lobsang Tharchin (1921 – 2004)

Khen Rinpoche Geshe Lobsang Tharchin was born in Lhasa, Tibet, and he entered Sera Monastery there at an early age. He successfully completed the rigorous 25-year program studying under great teachers directly in the lineage of Je Tsongkapa. After his final public examination by the best scholars of the day, Rinpoche was awarded the highest degree of Hlarampa Geshe (doctor of philosophy), and he graduated with the highest honors in his class of 10,000 monks.

Khen Rinpoche came to the United States in 1972 and became Abbot of Rashi Gempil Ling Temple in New Jersey. After going to South India in 1991 and serving as Abbot of Sera Mey monastery for some time, he returned to the United States. Khen Rinpoche Geshe Lobsang Tharchin was a lifetime director and an abbot emeritus of Sera Mey monastery, as well as founder of the Mahayana Sutra and Tantra Center, which has branches in New Jersey and Washington, DC. He was also the spiritual director of the Asian Classics Institute and the Asian Classics Input Project.

Je Tsongkapa (1357-1419)

Je Tsongkapa, also known as Je Rinpoche Lobsang Drakpa, was perhaps the single greatest commentator in the 2,500-year history of Buddhism. He was born in the district of Tsongka in eastern Tibet and took his first vows at a tender age. As a teenager, he had already mastered much of the teachings of Buddhism and was sent by his tutors to study at the great monasteries of Central Tibet. Here he studied under the leading Buddhist scholars of his day; it is said as well that he enjoyed mystic visions in which he met and learned from the different forms of the Buddha himself.

The 18 volumes of Tsongkapa’s collected works contain eloquent and incisive commentaries on virtually every major classic of ancient Buddhism, as well as his famous treatises on the “Steps of the Path to Buddhahood.” His students, who included the first Dalai Lama of Tibet, contributed hundreds of their own expositions of Buddhist philosophy and practice.  All of the teachings in the ACI archives are derived directly or indirectly from his writings and those of his students.