Naropa University, the first Buddhist-inspired university in the United States, is a cherished local institution in Boulder. With a storied past and a vibrant current-day existence, Naropa is part of what makes Boulder special.
After fleeing Tibet, Naropa founder Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche became a Spalding Fellow at Oxford University. There, he developed a respect for the libraries, laboratories, and classrooms of Western education. Still, Trungpa found the Western model of education lacking in its ability to address the student’s inner life — or, in his words, the “pilot light” that ignites our desire to learn.
Founded in 1974, Naropa was the first accredited university to bring contemplative education to the West. At Naropa, mindfulness practice is at the center of all learning and activities. Naropa educators believe that changing the world starts from within. Mindfulness and self-reflection practices help Naropa students to integrate their studies, discover their strengths, and grow into courageous leaders. Naropa’s blend of Eastern philosophy and Western scholarship produces students who know themselves as well as they know their disciplines.
Above: The main entry lobby at the Nalanda campus
Naropa offers a range of undergraduate and graduate degrees, with programs in environmental studies, contemplative psychology, and transpersonal art therapy, among others. Of particular renown is the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics, founded by poets Allen Ginsberg and Anne Waldman. It offers undergraduate and graduate degrees creative writing as well as a famed summer writing program.
Naropa faculty and students give back to the community. Community-based service projects, internships, volunteer opportunities, and field placements are built into every degree program at Naropa.
Caddis Collaborative has been assisting Naropa with its facilities needs for many years. Bryan Bowen, principal architect at Caddis, taught Naropa’s course on green building for several years in the late 2000s. And in collaboration with Marco Lam, Bryan completed complex city approvals and building permitting and facilitated the student-led Permaculture Greenhouse project. Since then, Caddis’s work has included designing the university’s student lounge, Snowlion student housing, performing arts center, café, Alaya Preschool, and Nalanda campus as well as assisting with the university’s master planning and property entitlement processes.
Caddis is pleased to work with the following companies on projects for Naropa: Glenn Frank Engineering, Inc. (structural engineer), Belfay Engineering P.C. (mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineer), and Saunders Heath Construction (builder).
Find out how you can donate to the good work going on at Naropa University.
