Wooden retreat house with mountain view and lush greenery in the background.

Clear Sky Meditation and Retreat Center

Logo of the Foundation for Intentional Community with interconnected circles.
  • Communities

About the Communities

  • Mature
  • English
  • Spiritual
  • Rural

Founding year

  • 2005

What we do

Clear Sky is a Buddhist-lineage conscious community based on 310 acres in the Canadian Rockies, on the traditional homelands of the Ktunaxa First Nations.

Since 2005, Clear Sky has been growing and offering retreats and training for people with a heart for spiritual exploration who want to awaken more quickly and fully. 

From around 2012, we evolved into a conscious metamodern-informed community, exploring new ways of living an engaged spiritual life in modern times. 

Our offerings include meditation retreats and a training program, online courses and webinar series, meditation cabins, a one-acre food forest, and hosting our founding teachers’ retreats and teachings. In 2026 we are also collaborating with Tamera Healing Biotope in Portugal on a course exploring how healing money and healing love go together.

The name Clear Sky represents the mind of blissful, non-clinging awareness – the still, clear mind always present behind the ever-shifting clouds of everyday thoughts and emotions. This is the mind that pays attention to the right details and is alert, awake, conscious, and kind.

Our Vision

Vision: We are creating a revolutionary center that inspires and supports awakening.

Values: We are creating a conscious center that is: 

  • Spiritually generative
  • Environmentally generative
  • Socially generative
  • Financially generative

Our Mission

We empower you to transform struggle and embrace vitality.

Our aspiration and common purpose is wake ourselves up and help others do the same. We are increasingly Integral and metamodern informed, and aim not just to wake up, but to grow up, clean up, and show up.

  • Purpose
  • Spiritual
  • Ecological
  • Languages
  • English
  • Japanese
  • Portuguese (Brazil)
  • Spanish
  • Community type
  • Commune
  • Land-Based Communities
  • Spiritual Retreat Centers
  • Activities
  • Farming
  • Education
  • Experiences
  • Networking

Commemorative dates

  • January 1, 2005
  • Started planning
  • January 1, 2008
  • Started living together

Gallery

  • 25 Total members
  • Open to new members
  • Open to visitors
  • Open to volunteers
Total
15

How to join

You do not need to be a member to stay at Clear Sky. Membership as such is purely for voting rights at our annual board meetings. Becoming a long-term resident involves first coming to a program such as our 3 month immersive program.

Basic expectations or agreements for members

For staying onsite, we ask you to first visit for one of our programs or attend our three month residential program.

Primary decision-making authority

  • Elected Representatives

A board, council, or committee chosen by members makes decisions on behalf of the community.

Decision-making process

  • Consent-Based (Sociocracy)

Decisions proceed unless someone has a reasoned objection.

Governance structure

  • Founder/Leader-led

Primary authority rests with the community’s founder(s) or designated leader(s).

Conflict resolution approach

As a small community, major decisions are generally discussed as a group amongst the full-time residents. Day to day operations are largely governed in a sociocracy style of circles or domains. As a teacher-led Buddhist lineage center, in spiritual matters we are largely led by our head spiritual director. We are experimental in that we are trying to combine both authentic spiritual direction in a lineage tradition, while in parallel evolving conscious community structures for how we live together.

Economic model

  • Work Exchange Programs

Members contribute labor instead of or in addition to monetary payments for housing and community participation.

Economic scenarios for this community

  • Members need to pay fees, dues, or similar to live there on a per month or per year basis
  • There is a labor obligation
  • Members typically need to have their own job or other personal source of income to cover their expenses while living in the community?

Additional economic information

As a charity there is no individual ownership. Residents contribute both some rent, and contribute to the running of the center and community.  We try to work generatively where resident income (for example through teaching) is directly linked and synergistic to the goals and vision of the community / organization. Dana (Sanskrit for generosity) is a key part of our practice. Additionally, working on money shadow and our patterns around money, to develop healthier mental models around finances is a key part of our work. 

Vehicle accessibility

  • There are one or more community vehicles

Shared resources and amenities that are accessible to everyone in the community

Common House, Kitchen, Meditation Room, Garden(s), Vehicle Share, Library, Workshop, Outbuilding(s), Tractor & Farm Equipment, Fire pit, Internet

Frequency of communal meals

  • Approximately all meals

Significant food acquisition practices

  • Growing our own
  • Locally sourced

Nature of social activity

  • People in the community regularly socialize together

Community activities and engagement

  • Work together on the land, and with horses
  • Lead community meditation classes in town
  • Some members are local counsellors and therapists in the local town
  • Socially on site, activities like karaoke, weekly fun night

Educational and retreat offerings

We offer a variety of courses and retreats ranging from:

– Buddhist lineage based retreats

– Online course around money and spirituality, creating supportive conditions/container for meditation and growth, and meditation tools for fragemented times

– Residential programs such as our 3 month program

– Personal cabin retreats

Local connectedness

  • We have strong relationships with our local community

Friendliness of people and local government

  • There is a moderate amount of connection and collaboration between people and local government

Pet policy

  • No pets are allowed

Substance use culture

  • Substance use occurs in peripheral / discrete / only in personal or private spaces

Practiced relationship models

  • Monogamy
  • Polyamory / Open relationships / Ethical Non-Monogamy (ENM)
  • Celibacy

Member support features

  • Social / emotional support available on-site or locally
  • Religions
  • Buddhist
  • Spiritual Practices
  • Astrology practice and readings
  • Holistic health approaches
  • Mantra Chanting
  • Meditation
  • Mindfulness
  • Philosophy discussions
  • Tantra workshops
  • Tarot and oracle readings

DEI and anti-oppression training

  • Yes, some individuals

Series on indigenous learning (four seasons of learning program)

Group training on the wheel of consent

Some individuals have done specific DEI programs through their workplaces

 

 

Level of LGBTQIA+ inclusion

  • Somewhat - we have some LGBTQIA+ members

Gender composition

  • Majority cis (over 60%)

Age demographics

  • Mixed adults (few or no children)

Racial / ethnic demographics

  • Moderately diverse (3-4 different backgrounds)

Socioeconomic and wealth composition

  • Moderately diverse (some economic variety)

Diversity representation

  • Neurodiverse (ex. autism, ADHD, sensory processing etc.)
  • Learning disabilities (dyslexia, down's syndrome)

Property status

  • Privately owned

Property owner

  • By a Community Land Trust or some other kind of nonprofit

Setting

  • Rural

Countryside locations with significant distance from urban centers.

Community type

  • Commune

    Communal living with shared resources, property, and often income or work responsibilities

  • Land-Based Communities

    Communities centered around shared land stewardship, sustainable agriculture, or connection to specific natural environments.

  • Spiritual Retreat Centers

    Residential communities focused on providing space for meditation, spiritual practice, and personal growth retreats.

Self-produced energy

  • Up to 33%

Energy sources used

Self-produced food

  • Up to 33%

Local, organic, or fair trade food

  • Over 66%

Food systems

  • Community garden
  • Food forest
  • Land area size
    310 acres

Our Upcoming Events

  • Promoted
  • Events
3 weeks ago

Healing Love Healing Money: Trust As The Foundation For A New Culture

Money, love and power are among the hardest things any community works with, and many of us carry the same fears into both: not having enough, losing what we have, and the sense that if someone else gets money or love, we won’t. Healing Love, Healing Money: Trust as the Foundation for a New Culture is taught by two intentional communities. Karen McAllister and Duncan Cryle are from Clear Sky Meditation and Retreat Center, a Buddhist-lineage community in the BC Rockies. Monika Alleweldt and Benjamin von Mendelssohn from Tamera Healing Biotope, a community of about 160 people in southern Portugal that has spent decades studying love, trust and relationship. Clear Sky has spent years working on its relationship with money, and our two communities found surprising parallels in the fears beneath both. Over four sessions we explore the roots of fear around money and belonging, love, possession and power, trust as infrastructure (community as a container for healing), and ethical livelihood. We use short meditations, body-based practices, reflection and small-group conversation. You do not need to be in a romantic relationship or live in community. When: October 27, Nov 3, 10, 17. All four sessions: 12–2pm Vancouver, 1–3pm Alberta, 7–9pm UK and Portugal, 8–10pm Central Europe. Note: US and some Canadian provinces change clocks on November 1, so the US west coast is 12–2pm on October 27, then 11am–1pm for the remaining sessions, and Eastern is 3–5pm on October 27, then 2–4pm for the rest. Cost: sliding scale Details and registration: https://www.clearskycenter.org/event/healing-love-healing-money-online/  
October 27, 2026 13:00 – November 17, 2026 15:00

Guest Book

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Location

  • British Columbia, Canada

Clear Sky Meditation and Retreat Center

Needs and Offers

Connecting people and communities through an intentional online marketplace

  • Promoted
Need
  • Promoted
Offer
  • Promoted
  • Events
3 weeks ago

Healing Love Healing Money: Trust As The Foundation For A New Culture

Money, love and power are among the hardest things any community works with, and many of us carry the same fears into both: not having enough, losing what we have, and the sense that if someone else gets money or love, we won’t. Healing Love, Healing Money: Trust as the Foundation for a New Culture is taught by two intentional communities. Karen McAllister and Duncan Cryle are from Clear Sky Meditation and Retreat Center, a Buddhist-lineage community in the BC Rockies. Monika Alleweldt and Benjamin von Mendelssohn from Tamera Healing Biotope, a community of about 160 people in southern Portugal that has spent decades studying love, trust and relationship. Clear Sky has spent years working on its relationship with money, and our two communities found surprising parallels in the fears beneath both. Over four sessions we explore the roots of fear around money and belonging, love, possession and power, trust as infrastructure (community as a container for healing), and ethical livelihood. We use short meditations, body-based practices, reflection and small-group conversation. You do not need to be in a romantic relationship or live in community. When: October 27, Nov 3, 10, 17. All four sessions: 12–2pm Vancouver, 1–3pm Alberta, 7–9pm UK and Portugal, 8–10pm Central Europe. Note: US and some Canadian provinces change clocks on November 1, so the US west coast is 12–2pm on October 27, then 11am–1pm for the remaining sessions, and Eastern is 3–5pm on October 27, then 2–4pm for the rest. Cost: sliding scale Details and registration: https://www.clearskycenter.org/event/healing-love-healing-money-online/  
October 27, 2026 13:00 – November 17, 2026 15:00
Need
  • Communities with Openings
1 week ago

Needs: Quiet nature focused community with work exchange

About Me Hello, I’m Nanu. I’m 46 years old in need of a peaceful, nature-centered community where I can contribute, maintain my independence, and potentially establish a long-term home. I’m autistic and sometimes experience periods when I’m nonverbal. I appreciate direct communication, clear expectations, and people who respect different communication styles without making assumptions. I’m independent, value personal boundaries, and do best in environments where people can coexist comfortably without constant social interaction. The Environment I’m Seeking I’m looking for a wooded, green setting with mature trees, grass, and access to nature. Forests, trails, gardens, and peaceful outdoor spaces are important to me. I’d prefer a region with relatively mild winters, avoiding both desert landscapes and areas with harsh, snowy winters. Privacy is essential. I’m interested in a residential community where people respect one another’s space and participation in social activities is optional. I’m not looking for a retreat center, event venue, or community that regularly hosts outside groups, workshops, classes, or large gatherings on the residential property. Occasional visitors are understandable, but I prefer a quiet environment where residents can enjoy their homes without a constant flow of people coming and going. Work Exchange and Housing I’m interested in exchanging practical work for housing. Possible contributions include community gardening, planting, watering, harvesting, kitchen assistance, meal preparation, property upkeep, and other mutually agreed-upon tasks. I’d like the responsibilities, schedule, and expectations clearly established in advance. A trial stay or introductory period would be ideal so both sides can determine whether the arrangement is a good fit. Potential for Long-Term Ownership My longer-term goal is to explore purchasing a small home, a defined parcel of land, or a legally documented ownership interest in an established cooperative community. I have limited savings available for a potential investment and want to use those funds carefully toward lasting housing stability. I’m not interested in vague promises of future ownership or arrangements that depend entirely on one person’s continued involvement. I’d want clear documentation of ownership rights, decision-making, ongoing expenses, and what happens if a resident leaves or the community dissolves. I’m also not interested in traditional HOA-style arrangements or unpredictable fees. Reasonable, transparent shared expenses are open for discussion. Community Culture I’m looking for people who value mutual respect, personal autonomy, honest communication, and practical cooperation. I appreciate companionship but also need quiet and solitude. I don’t expect everyone to share my interests, only to respect one another’s boundaries. What I’d Like to Know If your community offers work exchange, a private and peaceful living environment, wooded surroundings, and a realistic possibility of long-term housing or ownership, I’d love to hear from you. Please share information about your location, climate, current residents, available housing, work-exchange expectations, visitor policies, ongoing costs, and potential ownership arrangements. I’d like to visit and get acquainted before making any commitments. My goal is to find a genuine mutual fit. Thank you for reading!

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