Family Camp at Karmê Chöling

Karmê Chöling is a Shambhala meditation retreat center and community for people from all walks of life to connect with their basic goodness and the basic goodness of others. It is located in Barnet, Vermont. And every summer over fifty families gather there to camp and celebrate the art of being human together. We put away our cell phones, we turn off our computers, we take leave of our work and we practice being present to ourselves and to each other in an extraordinarily beautiful environment. On the first few days I marveled that I could actually exist in a simple but profound and unbroken joy continuously by just noticing where I was all the time – feeling the cooling night under a starry sky, watching a revelatory sunrise, smelling our next meal cooking in the kitchen, listening to my footsteps on grass and gravel and stone and earth. And of course, reveling in the extravagant joy of being reunited with (and introduced to) countless friends.

Every day we woke up to morning yoga and concluded with a nightly campfire. Every morning children from three to eighteen years of age joined a daily class while parents were invited to discussions about mindful parenting and a few perfect hours of meditation. Teenagers and young adults also joined the camp as counselors and assistant teachers. And every day, also, created a new space and activity to experience together – a mid-week talent show, drumming performances and workshops, a community dance, afternoon swimming in the breathtaking rivers and lakes of Vermont and New Hampshire and a formal concluding ceremony.

And at the heart of family camp is a program called Rite of Passage. Tracy Suchocki, Rites of Passage teacher, writes “The Rite Of Passage program is geared toward reaching children at a time when their awareness of themselves as an individual on this earth is beginning to strengthen… At about 8 or 9 years old, many children reach a place when their feet begin to be more firmly planted on the ground. Children at this age … begin to have a stronger awareness of their own strengths, as they explore their options of engaging in the world in various ways, from playful to aggressive. It is a time when we, as elders, can address and support this awareness that has awakened. Through this week of hands-on activities, it is suggested to the children that they can trust their own direct experience. The practice of meditation during the program also gives the children much appreciated quiet space for becoming familiar with the experience of basic goodness.”

Our children say this week in Vermont each year is non-negotiable and when we left Karmê Chöling, our sixteen-year-old daughter sobbed. She said she waits 255 days for those ten days of authentic friendship, respectful community, and empowering kindness. During the week it was remarkably easy to participate in all our relationships with joyfulness and attention. We got to practice the fundamental communication that was once required before we had mobile phones. And remarkably, by turning off our phones and never logging in to email or to facebook, I felt completely connected for the first time in a long while. To others. To the natural world. To my own experience and potential. And very gently, we were all able to relax into the delightful experience of being a small family held in full community.