The Nyingma Buddhist Community was originally formed under the Tibetan Nyingma Meditation Center(TNMC) which was established in Berkeley, CA in 1969. Nyingma Centers is a fully functioning 100% volunteer run Non-Profit organization with the mission of preserving the Tibetan Buddhist culture while also facilitating the transmission of its teachings to the West. The Nyingma community offers a number of programs to individuals in the West, including classes and retreats at the Nyingma Institute in Berkeley and the country center in Sonoma County, as well as a full-time residential volunteer program that includes free housing, meals, and classes to all participants. The volunteer program invites people from all over the U.S. and the world to join the community and engage in work that helps to fulfill our mission.

Each year, TNMC donates thousands of Tibetan Buddhist books, along with sacred art reproductions and prayer wheels to Tibetan monks, nuns, and lay practitioners so that they may continue to study and practice the teachings which have become such an integral part of their culture. Nyingma volunteers work year round to help produce, fund, and distribute all the books and artifacts to be given away.

Because of its mission, the Nyingma community is unique. It offers community members the opportunity to live and work together to achieve accomplishment that is for the benefit of all humanity, while allowing individuals the chance to pursue their own self-development and contact the Buddhist teachings in their daily experience. Community members come from a variety of backgrounds and are from a broad range of ages (young and old alike.) Some have been a part of the organization for over 30 years, while others only stay for a few months. Despite all these differences, members of the community work together to ensure that TNMC's mission becomes a reality.