Unfortunately, I cannot recommend Shambhala Mountain Center based upon my time there. A tremendous amount of time was spent paying homage to the teachings through chants and other ceremonies, but people at the retreat, including staff members, did not seem to follow the core Buddhist ethical principles. Twice, a woman was hit on by staff members, one of whom is already in a committed relationship, which is completely against their Code of Conduct. I also heard of staff having large quantities of alcohol on campus. In the Dathun (retreat) program, participants spend five hours per day eating oryoki style meals, which consist of a great deal of ceremony and a great lack of hygiene. There were pictures on the shrine of the two teachers whose teaching we were supposed to bow down to. Many participants complained that they were not getting into a deep meditative state and that much of the day was spent moving around cushions. People rarely obeyed the rules for functional and noble silence which proved disruptive for the retreat. They were packed like sardines into a tiny shrineroom for 10-12 hours per day, which couldn't have helped. One strange thing was that 20-30 male staff members were walking around in faux-military uniforms. The physical area was beautiful, but that could be said about a lot of retreat centers. Sorry, but I simply cannot recommend this place.