The Heritage Project

These pins were designed by John Weber with the approval and collaboration of Trungpa Rinpoche. They were given to students upon their completion of the Maitri Space Awareness Training. The colors represent the colors of the Five Buddha families spinning playfully, driven by the energies of Vajra, Ratna, Padma, Karma and Buddha creating an ever moving mandala of both wisdom and ignorance.

Documenting Contemplative Pedagogies at Naropa

An Initiative of the Center for the Advancement of Contemplative Education

The Heritage Project documents some of our faculty’s most treasured contemplative methods, cultivated over the last forty years in our classrooms. Naropa University is collecting this lifetime of transformative work through artifacts from the faculty members’ files, written work, and video interviews; and, in some cases, to create trainings in specific practices.

The Heritage Project:

Preserves Naropa’s heritage contemplative teaching methods;
Shares information about these methods to help promote Naropa University as the pioneering thought leader in the field of contemplative education;
Uses these methods as the training ground for future contemplative faculty members at Naropa and other universities;
Furthers the conversation around the relevance and application of these practices, particularly as they relate to topics of diversity and inclusivity;
Applies this groundbreaking work beyond the university to pre-school and K-12 educators, health care and social service professionals, pastoral counselors, entrepreneurs and more.

At Naropa we have these five banners at the entrance of our three campuses, welcoming students, to come as they are, unleash their bravery and to uncover their inherent wisdom and skillful means offered by the deep insight and compassion of contemplative education.

Heritage Practices Include:

The Bow
Contemplative Dance Practice; the Red Square
Maitri Space Awareness
Mudra Space Awareness—The Being Circle
The Warriors’ Exam
The Practice of Basic Attendance

These Practices and Related Teachings Will Be Documented in a Variety of Ways:

A resource library of print and digital files that provide the historical context, philosophical foundations as well as detailed instructions for offering the practice within a classroom setting.
Videos including an interview with the relevant faculty member/s and a demonstration of the practice.
Trainings.

Resource Library

CACE is developing an online resource library with special focus on preserving and, very importantly, making accessible the vintage Naropa University contemplative methods developed by the founding faculty to introduce students to their respective disciplines. The library will include relevant articles related to given practices and pedagogies, documents and artifacts, and transcripts of continuing conversations about the relevance and impact of these practices as Naropa University begins its second forty years.

Video Project

This documentation project will include the creation of videos about vintage pedagogies developed by founding faculty of Naropa University. These materials will be used for training Naropa faculty and for showcasing Naropa’s innovative history and heritage and include; a long-form, 30-minute video about specific Naropa heritage teaching methods, and a series of three-minute “shorts,” to be shared more widely, used in Naropa’s promotional materials, posted on social media, and released to the press.

Trainings

In order to disseminate key heritage practices and develop a new generation of teachers, CACE is developing and offering trainings in practices which lend themselves to a training format. These are offered to Naropa faculty, faculty from other institutions, and/or the general public as appropriate.

As offered during the 1980 Naropa Institute Summer Session, Contemplative Dance Practice is a three hour practice when students sit at the interface between meditative disciplines and dance/movement studies. Developed by Professor Emerita Barabara Dilley, CDP is adapted from the experience of meditation halls and inspired by Dharma Art teachings of Naropa’s founder, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Over 35 years Naropa’s alumni have taken CDP into the world, and met new environments, cultures, and students, both beginners and experienced. The training explores the original form as well as variations offered by returning alumni.

Warrior Exam Training

Naropa faculty has offered small-scale trainings in how to hold a warrior exchange/exam.

Maitri Space Awareness Teacher’s Training Program

The Maitri Space Awareness is a treasury of teachings transmitted to the West from the mind and heart of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche based on ancient wisdom of the Five Buddha Families found within Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism. Maitri Space Awareness Practice cultivates loving-kindness, providing a foundation for the practitioner to experience both the confusion of mind and the underlying wisdom.

For the first time Naropa University will be offering a Maitri Space Awareness Teacher’s Training Program sponsored by CACE to train future teachers in this unique Dharma. The training will consist of three weekends and three additional evenings, with talks, discussion, demonstrations and feedback, readings and experiential components. It will culminate in an assistant teaching practicum where students will have the opportunity to apply their learning as Maitri Meditation Instructors, Assistant Instructors /or Karuna Training Interns, upon approval and completion of the program.

Current Offerings

Contemplative Dance Practice: Introduction & Ongoing series with barbara dilley

Naropa University’s Center for the Advancement of Contemplative Education presents:

Contemplative Dance Practice: Introduction & Ongoing Series

With Barbara Dilley

Contemplative Dance Practice, offered during the 1980 Naropa Institute Summer Session, is a three hour practice when students sit at the interface between meditative disciplines and dance/movement studies. CDP is adapted from the experience of meditation halls and inspired by Dharma Art teachings of Naropa’s founder, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Over 35 years Naropa’s alumni have taken CDP into the world, and met new environments, cultures, and students, both beginners and experienced. We will explore the original form as well as variations offered by returning alumni. Come as you are. You have everything you need for the journey.

This is a rare opportunity to study and practice with Barbara Dilley, founding Naropa faculty and the creator of Contemplative Dance Practice. The program is part of the Heritage Project which documents, archives and trains in contemplative practices developed uniquely within Naropa’s lineage of contemplative education.

Barbara Dilley (BA, Mt. Holyoke College, ’60), trained in ballet, then studied and performed dance in New York City (1960-1975) with Merce Cunningham Dance Co., Yvonne Rainer, and Grand Union, a dance/theater collaboration that extended the definitions of improvisation. Moving to Boulder (1974), she designed the Dance / Movement Studies program at Naropa University, served as President (1985-1993), and retired in 2015. Her memoir and handbook, This Very Moment: teaching thinking dancing, 2015, Naropa University Press, is available at www.barbaradilley.com.

2018 Introductory Session: Saturday, February 3rd, 10:00 a.m - 1:00 p.m.

This three hour session includes the history and context of Contemplative Dance Practice, followed by guided instruction in CDP: I Sitting Meditation (being willing to come back)/II Personal Awareness Practice (finding Kinesthetic Delights)/ III Open Space (opening to Deep Play with ensemble)/IV Discussion.

Cost: $50//Location: Nalanda Dojo (6287 Arapahoe Ave)

PLEASE PRE-REGISTER: https://contemplative-dance-intro-spring.eventbrite.com

Ongoing Practice Series:

A committed group meets on Saturdays, 10am-1pm, twice per month, for contemplative dance practice guided by Barbara Dilley and alumni. Please attend the intro session on February 3rd if you are new to the form.

TO REGISTER: https://contemplative-dance-ongoing-spring-2018.eventbrite.com

Spring 2018 dates: February 17; March 3; March24; April 7; April 14; April 21.

barbara dilley

Cost: $120 // Location: Nalanda Dojo (6287 Arapahoe Ave)

Space is very limited. Please register early.

Naropa University welcomes participants with disabilities. Persons with questions about accessibility or who require disability accommodations should contact Charlotte Rotterdam crotterdam@naropa.edu at least 2 weeks prior to the event.

CONTEMPLATIVE MOVEMENT PRACTICE: With Darlene Lorrain & Sara Benson January-May 2018

Where: Nalanda Campus, Room 9184 (1st floor of the north/west side of the building)
When: January 6, February 9, February 23, March 9, March 23, April 6, April 20, May 4
Cost: The practice is free to the community with suggested donations to Naropa University for the use of the space.

Contemplative movement Practice brings together the discipline of sitting meditation with free movement investigations and the practice of improvisation. It is an opportunity to integrate our outer and inner worlds, alone and together.

The 2 1/4 hour practice is structured by a leader who marks the time with a meditation bell. It begins with sitting meditation followed by personal bodymind awareness practice in the space and then the wild and delightful group practice called "open space" where Deep play unfolds! Each session concludes with a closing circle for discussion and observations.

Drop-in's are welcome. No experience required, just a willingness to tune in, play and be in the present moment.

Naropa University welcomes participants with disabilities. Persons with questions about accessibility or who require disability accommodations should contact Darlene Lorrain at (303) 447-0375 or darlenejoylorrain@gmail.com at least 2 weeks prior to the event.

Past Offerings

Contemplative Dance Practice WITH Barbara Dilley: Ongoing Series

Naropa University’s Center for the Advancement of Contemplative Education presents:

Contemplative Dance Practice: Introduction & Ongoing Series

With Barbara Dilley

Introductory Session: Saturday, September 16, 10am-1pm

Cost: $50//Location: Nalanda Dojo (6287 Arapahoe Ave)

PLEASE PRE-REGISTER: https://contemplative-dance-introduction-2017.eventbrite.com

Ongoing Practice Series:

A committed group meets on Saturdays, 10am-1pm, twice per month, for contemplative dance practice guided by Barbara Dilley and alumni. Please attend the intro session on September 16 if you are new to the form.

TO REGISTER: https://contemplative-dance-ongoing-2017.eventbrite.com

Fall dates: September 30; October 14 & 28; November 11 & 18; December 2 barbara dilley

Cost: $120 // Location: Nalanda Dojo (6287 Arapahoe Ave)

Space is very limited. Please register early.

MUDRA SPACE AWARENESS: A Naropa heritage project - March 21, 2018

NAROPA’S CENTER FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF CONTEMPLATIVE EDUCATION (CACE)

invites you to a Community Gathering:

MUDRA SPACE AWARENESS: A NAROPA HERITAGE PRACTICE WITH:

LS Summer, Adjunct Faculty, Carla Mueller, MDiv Alumna, Adjunct Faculty, Joshua Shelton, MDiv Alumnus

Developed in the 70s by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Mudra Space Awareness is a practice for synchronizing body, speech, and mind in the development of presence and compassion. Trungpa Rinpoche called this work "a basement approach to acting." In this case, acting means training in the capacity to function sanely under pressure. Each of us is an actor starring in the role of our own life. Shall we move through our performance mindlessly, delivering our lines ineffectively, and continue to wonder why we are so confused? The direct experience of Mudra practice enables us to learn on a gut level how form and space define and interact with each other. Adapting this knowledge to working in the world offers us contemplative ways to expand our ability to stay centered amidst the intensity of living.

When: Wednesday, March 21, 2018 12-1:20pm

Where: Paramita Campus / Virya

Cost: Free

CONTEMPLATIVE MOVEMENT PRACTICE: With Darlene Lorrain & Sara Benson April 7, April 21, and May 5

Where: Nalanda Campus, Room 9184 (1st floor of the north/west side of the building)
When: April 7, April 21, May 5 from 5:30-7:45pm
Cost: The practice is free to the community with suggested donations to Naropa University for the use of the space.

Drop-in's are welcome. No experience required, just a willingness to tune in, play and be in the present moment.

Contact: Darlene Lorrain 303-447-0375 or Sara Benson 303-727-0193 for more information.

Jo Ha Kyu / Beginning Middle End: Tools for the Contemplative Classroom Colloquium
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 4:30-6:00 p.m.

Presented by NAROPA’S CENTER FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF CONTEMPLATIVE EDUCATION (CACE).

heritage Jo ha Kyu With:
Lee Worley, Professor, Contemplative Education
Carla Burns, MDiv Alumna

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 4:30-6:00 p.m.
Virya, Paramita Campus

Jo Ha Kyu is an ancient concept of modulation and movement applied in a wide variety of traditional Japanese arts, and is translated as beginning, middle, and end. The roots of this practice offer an alternative paradigm to our western approach to time and transition. According to contemplative educator Richard Brown, Jo Ha Kyu can be used as a frame for simple pedagogical tools: in class for instructors, and as integrative and embodiment guidelines for both teachers and students. Fundamentally, it is a transitional device that can benefit all manner of change.

In this workshop we will explore the foundations of the practices both historically and experientially and examine what Jo Ha Kyu offers our contemplative culture at Naropa University and beyond.