In a one-story wooden house set in a spacious yard, Shambhala Meditation Center members, most of them European-American converts, gather for religious practice. Although there are currently about twenty-five members, an average of twelve attend the service.

The Shambhala Meditation Center is part of a network of centers throughout the U.S. and the world affiliated with Shambhala International, headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  Shambhala International, originally known as Vajradhatu International, was founded and directed by the Vidyadhara Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, a Tibetan meditation master and holder of the Kagyu, Nyingma, and Shambhalian lineages.  After the death of the Venerable Trungpa Rinpoche in 1987, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche became the spiritual director. He changed the name of the parent organization to Shambhala International.

Founded in 1978, the Durham center continues to thrive under the leadership of Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, who trained in India and in the United States under the direction of senior teachers of the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages.  Services typically include opening chants followed by sessions of sitting meditation alternating with briefer periods of walking meditation. After the sessions close with another chant, the devotees drive off to their homes in Durham and other cities and towns in the Piedmont region.
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