Naropa University

Naropa University, founded in 1974 by Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa, is a private liberal arts university in Boulder, Colorado. It is named for the eleventh-century Indian Buddhist sage Naropa, an abbot of Nalanda. The school describes itself as "nonsectarian" (probably from the Tibetan ris med), though students are required to engage in some spiritual practice (cf. contemplative education).

Naropa is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

History

Naropa University was founded by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche (1939-1987), a Karma Kagyu teacher with some Nyingma ties. Trungpa left Tibet in 1959, and later studied at Oxford University, at which time he gave up his monastic vows. In 1970 he began giving Buddhist teachings in the United States, where he founded a network of dharma centers (cf. Shambhala Training). The "Naropa Institute" originally met only during the summers, as the equivalent of a Buddhist retreat.

Trungpa invited Beat Generation poets Allen Ginsberg, Anne Waldman, John Cage and Diane di Prima to found what came to be called the "Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics." Many classes taught by Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs and others have been preserved and can be downloaded at the Naropa University Archive Project.

One notorious incident involved Trungpa and poet W. S. Merwin, just after Naropa's second summer session in 1975. An internal report by Ed Sanders described Merwin, along with his companion and fellow poet Dana Naone, as having been accosted and stripped naked by Trungpa's "Vajra Guard," against their objections and cries to call the police. After the incident they stayed to complete the program, but only after Trungpa promised no further trouble.

The school's first formal degree program (also 1975) was an MA in psychology. It was originally designed as an extension of a sixteen-week tantric meditation retreat. Naropa's psychology programs continue to enjoy a cozy relationship with the Trungpa organization, and often prescribe its meditation courses.

Naropa University, founded in 1974 by Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa, is a private liberal arts university in Boulder, Colorado. It is named for the eleventh-century Indian Buddhist sage Naropa, an abbot of Nalanda. The school describes itself as "nonsectarian" (probably from the Tibetan ris med), though students are required to engage in some spiritual practice (cf. contemplative education).