Marpa Center for
Business and Economics

The Marpa Center for Business and Economics was established by Naropa in 2002 to integrate Naropa's unique experience of contemplative liberal arts education with the contemporary world of business, economics and work to nurture the growing convergence between for-profit and nonprofit realms, as businesses recognize the need to expand their missions to include social responsibility, and nonprofits recognize the benefits of using for-profit strategies to accomplish social missions. Currently, the Marpa Center offers certificate programs in professional development, an ongoing lecture series and conferences that showcase innovative ways in which for-profits and nonprofits can tackle challenging business, economic and social issues.

Purpose Statement

The Marpa Center's purpose is to cultivate ethical, inspired and capable leaders who will advance the development of an inclusive, just, sustainable and prosperous world.

Who Was Marpa?

Marpa the Translator (1012–1097) was the principle student of the great Buddhist teacher Naropa, the namesake for Naropa University. Marpa was instrumental in bringing and translating the Buddhist philosophy of India to the Tibetan people. Marpa's ability to balance his investigation into the nature of reality with his full participation in the world is part of the inspiration for the Marpa Center.

"Marpa is one of the great saints in the Buddhist tradition in Tibet. He was a scholar and a practitioner as well as a very practical person, being a farmer and a householder.
. . . In the West, many scholars would agree that either you become a practitioner or scholar; you can't be both. If you are a practitioner, you lose your "objective" viewpoint, and if you are a scholar, you lose the heartfelt magic. From that point of view, there is no hope of combining the two. But here, in the life of Marpa, we have a unique story that has been handed down from generation to generation, of how translation and practice can be brought together.”
—Naropa University Founder Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche, from The Life of Marpa