Shelburne Falls Steering Committee
Shantigar Foundation

Shantigar Foundation

At the Shantigar Foundation, we engage with the world from a more profound place through creative workshops, meditation, and engagement with nature.

63 Davenport Road
Rowe, MA 01367
(413) 339-4332
www.shantigar.org


The Shantigar Foundation, nestled on a historic farm in Rowe, MA, is a nonprofit sanctuary dedicated to the integration of creativity, meditation, and nature. Founded by playwright Jean-Claude van Itallie and named "Peaceful Home" by his teacher Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Shantigar has evolved into a vibrant center hosting workshops, performances, and ecological initiatives. Its mission is to foster personal and collective transformation through artistic expression, contemplative practice, and environmental stewardship. Over the decades, Shantigar has welcomed a diverse array of artists, spiritual teachers, and healers, all contributing to its legacy as a place of renewal and inspiration. Before his passing in 2021, Jean-Claude worked with the Franklin Land Trust to preserve more than 200 acres of the farm. Along with five other families, the Warner Hill Conservation Area offers several miles of public trails across 650 acres.

Local: Franklin County and Western Massachusetts. Nationally and internationally. Guests from all over the world have come to Shantigar.

History

Founded in 1997
Shantigar = Peaceful Home


Shantigar, located on a beautiful old farm on a mountainside in Western Massachusetts, is a not-for-profit foundation dedicated to practices of creativity, meditation, and engagement with nature.

Located on the former Davenport Dairy Farm, Shantigar was created by the late playwright Jean-Claude van Itallie in 1997. 

In the 1970s, Jean-Claude’s Tibetan Buddhist teacher, Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche, spent one year at the farm to write his renowned Shambala teachings. Trungpa renamed the farm Shantigar, which means Peaceful Home.

Over more than sixty years, Jean-Claude and Shantigar have hosted a stellar roster of theatre artists, dancers, musicians, painters, writers, spiritual teachers, yogis, healers, nature guides, and activists. Our workshops are welcoming and intimate. Our fields, hills, forests, and trails offer abundant pleasures.

Please explore our website, recently refreshed, to learn more about our history, our teachers, and our circle of partners and friends.

View AllUpcoming Events

Lawns into Meadows
Jul 25, 2026, 10:00 PM UTC
Charlemont, MA
Growing a Regenerative Landscape
Read More

All photography is courtesy of the Shelburne Falls Steering Committee, unless noted.