After 7 years of intense study at Diamond Mountain in Bowie, Arizona, 39 people chose as their "Final Exam" to enter into a traditional 3-year silent meditation retreat. After two years of hard work building their 29 retreat cabins, the 39 people entered into the retreat on the snowy, freezing evening of December 30, 2010. Their first months were met with many unforeseen challenges. A small crew of full-time volunteer caretakers runs the retreat center to plan and procure everything they need to continue their retreat. As of April 2011, three months into the retreat, things are running fairly smoothly but retreat costs still far outweigh the donations coming in.
