Help Keep Our Mountain Retreat Center Accessible for Everyone

Our retreat center, Dzokden Kalapa, is located high in the Austrian mountains at 1000 meters above sea level—a place proper for silence, depth, and genuine retreat. This remoteness creates the ideal conditions for practice—but also a practical challenge.

The Situation

We don’t have a car and we need one to create a safe space and operate. 

Funding Goal

• €12,000 → Used, yet reliable Four-wheel drive vehicle
• €2,000 → Insurance, registration, initial maintenance

Total goal: €14,000

Our Real Challenge

Until now, volunteers and visitors could reach the center through a locally funded taxi service, Regio Mobil, which made transportation simple and affordable.  This service will stop operating at the end of this month, on March 31. It will still be possible to reach the center by regular taxi—but at a much higher cost (37,50 € for a ride from the train station to the center).

This affects us in two important ways:

1. Accessibility for Visitors, Participants and Volunteers

For those using public transport:

• Travel becomes too expensive
• Visits, Volunteering, and Retreats become less accessible
• The center risks becoming available only to those who can afford high transport costs

2. Daily Operation of the Retreat Center

Running a remote retreat center also depends on reliable transport.

Residents and volunteers regularly need to do activities for the Sangha such as:

• Buy food and essential supplies
• Reach the bank, the post office and construction shops 
• Handle everyday logistics that keep the center functioning

Without an affordable option, these basic tasks become costly and difficult to sustain. Moreover, long-term residents have no affordable option for personal needs (doctor visits etc.)

Our Solution

We want to purchase a Retreat Center Car to:

• Offer affordable transport for retreat participants, volunteers, and residents
• Maintain daily operations of the center
• Keep the place easily accessible and running sustainably
• Guarantee that big food supplies for retreats can be purchased locally and properly transported 

Why This Matters

This is about more than transportation:

• Keeping access fair and inclusive
• Supporting a place dedicated to practice and inner development
• Ensuring that both long-term visitors and the center itself can continue without additional financial strain
• Keeping authentic teachings and the center’s spaces accessible to devotees from around the world
• Guaranteeing that our precious Retreat center’s activities can continue and flourish

Our Commitment to Sustainability

We have operated for years without a car, reducing our environmental impact and keeping the center as sustainable as possible. This was possible thanks to the government-sponsored taxi service, Regio Mobil, which will end now.

Recently, we also made significant efforts to support and advocate for the continuation of this funded transport option. However, with this service now ending, we are left without a viable alternative.

Purchasing a car is not our first choice—but it has become a necessary step.

At the same time, we remain committed to minimizing our environmental impact. We plan to use the car mindfully and only when really needed. We will plan trips with great care, organizing shared rides as much as possible. For us, it is important to preserve community and environmental resources.