KALAPA CARE — Volunteering Week

We are renovating and beautifying the Retreat Center, and you are very welcome to join us! Come join us to make merit and offer service to the community at Kalapa for a few days or for the entire volunteering period! Help prepare the center for Rinpoche’s visit!

Kalapa Care Weeks in Spring and Summer 2026: May 5 – 9 | July 1 – 5

“This experience was very helpful and deep, and I feel so grateful that Kalapa Retreat Center offers such a precious space — both for community and for inner practice. With love and appreciation.” (Alena Chöyang Lhamo, Kalapa Care participant)

We invite you to come to Kalapa to volunteer for a wide variety of activities, including arts and crafts, care and maintenance of the stūpa and temple, sacred art, wall painting, carpentry work, repairs, renovation and construction, deep cleaning, gardening, cooking, and so forth. You can start with activities with which you feel most comfortable, and learn new ones over time.

Volunteering for the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha is a precious way of accumulating merit to support your spiritual progress. Our spiritual director, the Tibetan monk and Vajra Master Shar Khentrul Rinpoche, strongly encourages us to contribute in any form we feel inclined to, whether or not we are specialists in any given activity. Altruistic motivation and a proper mindset are the most important things.

In the evenings, free time is set aside for volunteers to rest and reflect or focus on individual meditation practice or Dharma study. Depending on the schedule for each Kalapa Care volunteering event and the wishes of the participants, we can also set aside some time to pray for World Peace or explore the beautiful surrounding natural environment — these additional activities are entirely optional, and you can focus only on volunteering if you so prefer. (If you are a member of the Dzoken Kalapa Association, you can use your free overnight stay days and do not need to pay for the overnight in this case.)

EAP — If you are participating in the EAP (Enlightened Activities Program), by participating in a full Kalapa Care event throughout the entire 5-day period (both morning and afternoon), you will accumulate around 35 – 40 EAP hours.

Physical & Mental Health: If you are currently experiencing, or have recently experienced, any significant physical, psychiatric, or psychological illness, it is your responsibility to obtain permission beforehand from your healthcare provider or your therapist to participate.