Unique adobe-style community buildings in a lush green landscape under a blue sky.

Lama Foundation

  • Communities

About the Communities

  • Established
  • Spiritual
  • Rural

Founding year

  • 1967

What we do

Lama Foundation aims to serve as a sustainable spiritual community and educational center dedicated to the awakening of consciousness, service, spiritual practice with respect for all traditions, and stewardship of the land. Community life is viewed as a school of practical spirituality whose focus is individual and collective spiritual growth through service to others, simplicity of lifestyle, self-awareness, and commitment to daily spiritual practice in some form.
Members have an opportunity to learn mindfulness and responsible stewardship as well as skills such as natural building and permaculture, gardening, cooking, carpentry, and silk-screen printing. Community-building skills are a continuing focus. The community works together as a circle in caring for the foundation and strives for consensus in decision making. Summers are an out breath, with many visitors and a public program of workshops, retreats, and hermitages. We also operate a cottage industry for producing prayer flags and other items. Winters are an in breath, where members continue to serve and strive to take more time for intensive contemplative interspiritual practice and study.
The fire of 1996 offered an opportunity to explore a more sustainable lifestyle utilizing green building and permaculture techniques. Life is rustic, but very beautiful at an elevation of 8600 feet. Come and visit!

Our Mission

The purpose of the Lama Foundation is to be a sustainable spiritual community and educational center dedicated to the awakening of consciousness, spiritual practice with respect for all traditions, service and stewardship of the land.

  • Purpose
  • Spiritual
  • Community type
  • Commune
  • Spiritual Retreat Centers
  • Sustainability practices
  • Permaculture design
  • Natural / low-impact building
  • Activities
  • Farming
  • Education
  • Experiences
  • Networking

Commemorative dates

  • January 1, 1967
  • Started planning
  • January 1, 1967
  • Started living together
  • 10 Total members
  • Open to new members
  • Open to visitors
Total
10

How to join

Summer stewardship is the gateway to residency. Summer stewards who want to be considered for residency must be stewards at Lama Foundation by August 1st, the latest. Earlier is recommended. This gives us 2 months to get to know one another and get a sense of fit. There is an application process for summer stewardship. Please visit our website to apply.

Basic expectations or agreements for members

We are open from late May through September to visitors, retreatants, and summer stewards who help join us as community members. Summer stewardship is the gateway to residency. Summer stewards who want to be considered for residency must be stewards at Lama Foundation by August 1st, the latest. Earlier is recommended. This gives us 2 months to get to know one another and get a sense of fit. We are not open in the winter months unless an exception has been made. Call 575-586-1269 or email ahead of time to arrange a visit.

Primary decision-making authority

  • Small Leadership Group

A few people (not elected by the broader community) make the major decisions.

Decision-making process

  • Modified Consensus

Generally seek agreement, but have backup methods when consensus isn’t reached.

Governance structure

  • Collaborative/Horizontal

Power and responsibility are shared relatively equally among members.

Conflict resolution approach

Resident and Caretaking Body

Economic model

  • Independent Finances

Members maintain separate personal finances with minimal sharing.

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

Regular fees: Yes
Labor: Yes (30 hrs/week)
Members with pre-existing debt: allowed

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

Common House, Garden(s), Greenhouse(s), Vehicle Share, Library, Workshop, Outbuilding(s), Large Scale Kitchen, Internet

Frequency of communal meals

  • Approximately all meals

Dietary type

  • Vegetarian Only

Dietary restriction

  • People can cook and eat what they want in their own residence

Community activities and engagement

  • School, Educational Institute or Experience
  • Volunteer, Internship, or Apprenticeship, or WWOOF’ing
  • Organization, Resource, or Network
  • WWOOF'ing, Guest Farming
  • Festivals, Conferences, Events

Substance use culture

  • Substance use occurs primarily at celebrations or ceremonies
  • Religions
  • Christian
  • Buddhist
  • Jewish
  • Muslim
  • Hindu
  • Quaker
  • Sufi
  • Hare Krishna
  • Wiccan, Paganism, or Earth Religions
  • Unitarian Universalist

Gender composition

  • Roughly balanced (no group over 60%)

Age demographics

  • Mixed adults (few or no children)

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

  • Spiritual Retreat Centers

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

Community type

  • Partially built or remodeled with recycled or environmentally friendly materials, and/or using natural building methods

Sustainability approach

  • Permaculture design
  • Natural / low-impact building

Land practices in our community

  • The community practices permaculture

Community type

  • Partially built or remodeled with recycled or environmentally friendly materials, and/or using natural building methods

Some or all of the buildings are...

  • Partially built or remodeled with recycled or environmentally friendly materials, and/or using natural building methods

Self-produced energy

  • 33 - 66%

Energy sources used

  • Photovoltaic Solar

Self-produced food

  • Up to 33%

Local, organic, or fair trade food

  • Up to 33%

Food systems

  • Community garden
  • Greenhouse / aquaponics
  • Land area size
    105 acres

Guest Book

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Location

  • New Mexico, United States

Lama Foundation

Needs and Offers

Connecting people and communities through an intentional online marketplace

  • Promoted
Offer
  • Promoted
  • Events
1 week 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
  • Promoted
Need
  • Promoted
Offer
  • Communities with Openings
4 months ago

Do you feel called to help co-create a small, newly forming eco-spiritual community?

Old structures are crumbling. New ways of living are calling. We are answering that call. Wild Grace is an eco-spiritual community located in the Sierra foothills 30 minutes from Grass Valley, California. We recently completed new homes for those who feel called to our vision. Currently there are four of us living on this sacred 80 acres of land although we are a hub for an expanded neighborhood community. Many join us weekly for potlucks, expressive dance, Qi Gong, monthly musical gatherings, and seasonal celebrations in our temple, as well as tending to our orchard. We are excited to welcome others to join us on the land who are dedicating their lives to spiritual growth and ready to live in a more focused and intimate heart-centered lifestyle. Might that be you or someone you know? The fundamentals are simple. Spirit. We listen personally and collectively together most mornings, usually starting with a musical offering, a prayer, or a short reading, followed by about 40 minutes of what we call “sacred silence.” Heart Circles. About once a week we gather to share and listen. We are informed by authentic and compassionate communication practices. Nature. The land itself—an 80-acre oasis of field and forest perched above the wild and scenic South Yuba River—calls for our stewardship in the gardens, orchard, greenhouses, and general care. In turn, nature feeds us abundantly, both literally and spiritually. Interbeing. We join with others to share inspiration and connection as we host monthly gatherings of song, story and prayer that draws from the larger community in addition to other events we share with our closer neighbors. As we attend to these fundamentals, Grace flows to and through us—often in “Wild” or unexpected ways. Grace catalyzes through us, but is not something we possess. Because we all are connected, we feel that Grace actively transforms n
Offer
Need
  • Communities with Openings
7 hours ago

Seeking Partner/Co-Founder for a Cooperative Community in Western NC

Co-Founder / Project Partner Needed: Coweeta Heritage Center The Coweeta Heritage Center / Talking Rock Farm in Otto, North Carolina, is seeking a dedicated co-founder and long-term project partner to help manage, expand, and transition our community land project. As the primary founder is balancing physical limitations (including a bad back) and a demanding workload, we are looking for a capable partner to share the operational reins and help shape the next phase of this intentional community. What We Are Looking For Organizational & Administrative Skills: Ability to streamline systems, manage outreach, and organize community data. Social Media & Digital Presence: Skills to revitalize our online reach, update public directory listings (such as ic.org), and manage applicant communications. Practical & Technical Capabilities: Hands-on familiarity with or strong interest in sustainable forestry, organic agriculture, and alternative energy infrastructure. Strong Communication: A commitment to Non-Violent Communication (NVC), transparency, and collaborative governance. What We Offer On-Site Housing: Dedicated housing is provided on-site in Otto to facilitate close coordination, daily collaboration, and deep integration into the land. Established Foundation: Step into an active project with existing infrastructure, clear community onboarding frameworks, an established legal LLC structure, and an estate succession blueprint. Strategic Input: Full partnership in vetting future interns, managing the phased onboarding pipeline, and executing land-clearing and sustainable infrastructure projects.

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