Naropa University, the first accredited institution in the West to pioneer contemplative education, integrates mindfulness with rigorous academics.
At Naropa, learning is more than academic achievement – it’s a journey of personal transformation, encouraging students to lead with compassion, courage, and self-awareness. Our contemplative model fosters inner growth alongside intellectual exploration, preparing graduates to engage meaningfully with an interconnected world.
Mindfulness and Contemplative Education
Naropa’s contemplative education approach is rooted in mindfulness, woven into every program of study. Through practices like meditation, yoga, and self-reflection, students engage deeply with their inner worlds. This approach, influenced by Buddhist principles, emphasizes self-discovery as a path to global engagement. Our holistic framework not only nurtures academic growth but also cultivates awareness, empathy, and resilience, allowing students to contribute authentically to society.
Core Pillars / Core Elements of Naropa's Contemplative Education
As the nation’s leader in contemplative higher education, our philosophy is based on three essential elements:
Rigorous Academics:
Naropa blends Eastern philosophies with Western academic traditions, creating a curriculum that supports personal exploration and scholarly rigor. Small class sizes offer a more personal, in-depth learning experience.
Experiential Learning:
Naropa blends Eastern philosophies with Western academic traditions, creating a curriculum that supports personal exploration and scholarly rigor. Small class sizes offer a more personal, in-depth learning experience.
Contemplative Practice:
Students engage in meditation, personal reflection, and other contemplative exercises, fostering balanced development across mind, body, heart, and spirit.
“Learning to meditate was a defining moment at Naropa. It’s a tool I’ll carry with me, giving my mind the space it needs to grow.”
- Joy Watts, MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling
But, Why Does Mindfulness Matter?
Simply put, mindfulness matters because it connects academic achievements with inner purpose. Naropa’s founder, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, who was inspired by both Eastern and Western education, felt Western education lacked focus on the student’s inner life, the “pilot light” for learning. At Naropa’s founding, he emphasized integrating academic knowledge with inner wisdom, merging East and West for a deeper, more purposeful learning experience.
Courses You Could Take in Mindfulness & Meditation
Every program at Naropa is infused with our dedication to contemplative education. Whether you’re studying to become a therapist, an educator, an artist, or an entrepreneur, cultivating an awareness of the present moment will serve you in your future career.
Since 1974, Naropa faculty have blended mindfulness into the curriculum, honoring its cultural roots and promoting awareness in a multicultural context.
Available courses include:
- Buddhist Psychology: Mindfulness Meditation
- Writing Workshop: Contemplative Poetics
- The Contemplative Artist
- Nature, the Sacred, and Contemplation
Advancing the Development of Contemplative Education
Since 1974, Naropa has been leading the way in contemplative education in the West. Our Center for the Advancement of Contemplative Education (CACE) is a powerful resource for educators and students alike.
Deep and Engaged Learning
“When students recognize an insight because it resonates with their own deepest wisdom, they discover treasures that were always their birthright.”
- Judith Simmer-Brown, PhD, Relighting the Pilot Light
Naropa’s approach to learning goes beyond academics. Here, students are invited to grow holistically, challenging themselves not just intellectually but as whole human beings. This is where experiential learning meets academic rigor, where you challenge your intellect and unlock your potential, where you discover the work you’re moved to do – then use it to transform our world.
By nurturing self-awareness and encouraging the willingness to ask difficult questions, Naropa opens students to connect with their inner wisdom, guiding them toward their passions, calling and purpose. This environment helps students identify strengths, set goals, and face challenges while cultivating compassion and creativity.
“Naropa’s environment is compassionate and supportive. My relationships with teachers and peers are meaningful and deeply personal.”
- Alana Owens, BA in Contemplative Psychology
Graduates leave with a deepened self-awareness, both as individuals and as members of society, better prepared to make thoughtful contributions to their careers, families, and communities. With a holistic, mindful approach, they are prepared to make a positive impact, whether on a local or global scale.
The Science Behind Contemplative Education
Naropa combines ancient contemplative practices with modern scientific research. Studies from fields like neuroscience validate the benefits of mindfulness on attention, compassion, and emotional resilience through scientific studies. The Cognitive and Affective Science Lab (CASL), directed by Naropa faculty member Dr. Jordan Quaglia, uses a wide variety of methods – from neuroscience to smartphone-based surveys to virtual reality – to study those topics like mindfulness, compassion, and lucidity.
In one project, for instance, Dr. Quaglia researched if virtual reality could help individuals overcome their fear of heights by recognizing the fear as an illusion. Another recent study assessed Naropa’s eight-week Mindful Compassion Training, revealing that combined self – and other – compassion experiences in daily life predict better social and emotional well-being. You can read more about the research happening in CASL here: www.CASLaboratory.org
Enhancing Focus and Well-being:
Scholar and Naropa collaborator Amishi P. Jha, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychology at University of Miami and principal investigator of the Jha Lab, has actually shown a link between mindfulness and an increase in attention and focus.
Her research showed that people spend up to 50% of their time in “mind wandering,” – a distracted state linked to lower productivity and negative emotions – indicating that even brief mindfulness practices help enhance focus and enable “constructive reflection,” a productive thought process that aids insight and purpose. Through this, at Naropa we put a focus on contemplative practice so students can strengthen focus and engage in more effective learning.
Positive Emotions and Empathy:
At Naropa University, cultivating positive emotions like compassion is central to our contemplative approach. We believe that these qualities not only enhance personal happiness and well-being but also strengthen social connectedness and support long-term health. Compassion, as a learnable skill, is woven throughout our programs, especially within Naropa’s unique Mindful Compassion Training, known as WELCOME.
A recent study supported by the Mind and Life Institute on the impact of Naropa’s compassion training revealed preliminary findings that WELCOME fosters daily expressions of compassionate care, promoting a healthy balance between self-awareness and empathy for others. Naropa faculty also recently led a Special Issue of a peer-reviewed journal, featuring 20 original papers that deepen our understanding of how compassion training can transform both personal and social well-being.
Through these efforts, Naropa actively contributes to the scientific exploration of compassion training, underscoring its importance for individual growth and positive societal change.
“Naropa is a foundation point of the broader mindfulness movement, shaping the present and future of contemplative education.”
- Dr. Jordan Quaglia, Director, CASL
Naropa's Recent Contributions to Contemplative Science
Most who know of Naropa University are likely familiar with its extraordinary history, including its role as a key origin point of the broader mindfulness movement as we know it today. This view rightfully emphasizes Naropa’s momentous past, but what is sometimes less widely appreciated is the many ways in which Naropa continues to contribute to the burgeoning mindfulness movement throughout society— significantly shaping its present and future too. There are many routes through which this is occurring, from contemplative education to mindfulness-based psychology to mutually enriching blends of social justice and contemplative practice.
The Naropa Classroom: A Space for Expression and Equity
Transform yourself at the first accredited university to bring contemplative education to the West. At Naropa, mindfulness practice is the center of everything we do. Why? Because changing the world starts from within. Through mindfulness practices, we help students take ownership of their learning through self-awareness, allowing undergraduate and transfer students to discover a more fully realized version of themselves.
Our classrooms prioritize authenticity and inclusivity, where our teachers often learn as much as they teach, encouraging freedom of expression and engagement. Naropa supports graduate students in developing mastery and leadership in their chosen fields, whatever that may be, guiding working professionals in becoming more fully present and alive in the work they feel called to do. Join the scholars, activists, healers, poets, and change-makers of Naropa!
Quick Facts
339
Undergraduate Students
755
Graduate
Students
34
Average
Age
Commitment to Diversity and Sustainability
At Naropa, we value diversity and inclusivity, fostering a culture of belonging across race, ethnicity, gender, orientation, veteran status, socioeconomic background, age, disability, and religion.
Learn more about Naropa’s commitment to diversity here:
- Visit the Division of Mission, Culture & Inclusive Community.
- Learn about the Path to Collective Liberation.
- Take a course in Multicultural Education and Contemplative Critical Pedagogy. See the course catalog.
Besides diversity and radical inclusivity, we are committed to honoring the Earth as our home. Naropa’s sustainability initiatives, from zero-waste goals to degrees in Environmental Studies, brings us one step closer to becoming a carbon neutral campus.
Ways our students can participate in building a culture of sustainability:
- Earn a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies or a master’s degree in Nature-Based Transpersonal Counseling or Ecopsychology.
- Embark on a Wilderness Solo.
- Read Naropa’s Climate Action Plan.
Students Transformed
“I chose Naropa to engage in alternative ways of knowing and to be part of a supportive community for a better world.”
- Meadow Willow, BA in Interdisciplinary Studies
“Being introduced to the possibility that human beings are basically good has been one of the most important aspects of my program at Naropa. The transformation began here for me. I carry this awareness with me wherever I go, into whatever I’m doing. It is a revolutionary way of relating, one that holds a lot of hope and kindness.”
- Alana Owens, BA in Contemplative Psychology
“To live a meaningful life, I need to be somehow serving society. That’s why I decided on Naropa. This was the only school that could offer me a unique way of learning and foster an education suited to help me change the world one act of kindness at a time.”
- Sophie Purnell, BA in Visual Arts
Join a Community of Changemakers!
At Naropa, we believe students should not only develop academically, but also personally, and as engaged members of their communities. To demonstrate those values, graduates leave our campus equipped to contribute to workplaces, families, and society as mindful leaders, ready to make a meaningful impact on the world.
Learn more about our transformative education experience that nurtures scholars, healers, poets, and change-makers.
Transform yourself at the first accredited university to bring contemplative education to the West. At Naropa, mindfulness practice is the center of everything we do. Why? Because changing the world starts from within.
Whether you earn your Naropa degree in Environmental Studies, Psychology, or Transpersonal Contemplative Art–Based Counseling, your rigorous academic studies will be complemented by writing, self-reflection, and learning how to be mindful. These practices help our students to integrate their studies, discover their strengths, and grow into courageous leaders.
Naropa helps undergraduate and transfer students discover a more fully realized version of themselves. We support graduate students in developing mastery and leadership in their chosen fields. And we guide working professionals in becoming more fully present and alive in the work they feel called to do.
Join the scholars, activists, healers, poets, and change makers of Naropa.
Quick Facts
339
Undergraduate Students
755
Graduate
Students
34
Average
Age
What Does Transform Yourself, Transform the World Mean to You?
The Naropa Classroom
What will you find in a Naropa classroom?
Freedom of expression, authenticity, lively discussions, and so much more.
Naropa’s philosophy of mindfulness and compassion infuses every program and every classroom. Our teachers listen as much as they speak, reflecting a classroom culture of engagement and equity.
By incorporating meditation and mindfulness into virtually every course, students learn to take ownership of their learning through self-awareness and personal introspection.
Diversity
Diversity and radical inclusivity are central to Naropa’s mission, and we are committed to creating a culture of belonging. In classrooms and programs throughout campus, we work to recognize students, faculty, and community members of different races, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, veteran status, perspectives, socioeconomic backgrounds, ages, disabilities, national origins, and religions.
Learn more about Naropa’s commitment to diversity:
- Visit the Division of Mission, Culture & Inclusive Community.
- Learn about the Path to Collective Liberation.
- Take a course in Multicultural Education and Contemplative Critical Pedagogy. See the course catalog.
Sustainability
At Naropa, we are committed to honoring the Earth as our home. The practice of sustainability, like the practice of meditation, brings us closer to ourselves and to the natural world. We are moving towards our vision of a zero waste, carbon neutral campus.
Ways our students can participate in building a culture of sustainability:
- Earn a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies or a master’s degree in Nature-Based Transpersonal Counseling or Ecopsychology.
- Embark on a Wilderness Solo.
- Read Naropa’s Climate Action Plan.
Students Transformed
“I chose Naropa because it provides an environment in which I can thrive. The tight knit community and the emphasis on alternative ways of knowing really drew me in. I have always thought in creative ways and deeply oppose the conventional and ‘normal.’ Naropa helps me to feel held by the earth and supported by a vast community. It showed me that I am not alone in the struggle for a better world.”
- Meadow Willow, BA in Interdisciplinary Studies,
“Being introduced to the possibility that human beings are basically good has been one of the most important aspects of my program at Naropa. The transformation began here for me. I carry this awareness with me wherever I go, into whatever I’m doing. It is a revolutionary way of relating, one that holds a lot of hope and kindness.”
- Elinor Morgenstern, Contemplative Psychology
“To live a meaningful life, I need to be somehow serving society. That’s why I decided on Naropa. This was the only school that could offer me a unique way of learning and foster an education suited to help me change the world one act of kindness at a time.”
- Sophie Purnell, BA in Visual Arts
