Maitripa College, founded in 2005 as Maitripa Institute, is a

Tibetan Buddhist Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet, Bhutan and Mongolia. It also has a sizable number of adherents in the areas surrounding the Himalayas, including the Indian regions of Ladakh, Darjeeling, Sikkim, and Arunachal Prades ...

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

located in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. It is an affiliated member of the

Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition The Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) was founded in 1975 by Gelugpa Lamas Thubten Yeshe and Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, who began teaching Tibetan Buddhism to Western students in Nepal. The FPMT has grown to encompass ...

(FPMT), an international network of

Gelugpa 240px, The 14th Dalai Lama (center), the most influential figure of the contemporary Gelug tradition, at the 2003 Bodh_Gaya.html" ;"title="Kalachakra ceremony, Bodh Gaya">Bodhgaya (India) The Gelug (, also Geluk; 'virtuous')Kay, David N. (20 ...

dharma center A Dharma Centre (Sanskrit) or Dhamma Centre (Pali) is a non-monastic Buddhist centre in a community. According to the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, the function of these centres is to preserve and spread the teachings ...

s. It is the first and only Tibetan Buddhist college in the Pacific Northwest. The institute's name was chosen by FPMT spiritual director,

Thubten Zopa Rinpoche Thubten Zopa Rinpoche (; born Dawa Chötar, 3 December 1945 – 13 April 2023) was a Tibetan Buddhist lama in the Gelug school. He is known for founding the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition and Maitripa College in Port ...

. It honors the eleventh century

yogin A yogi is a practitioner of Yoga, including a sannyasin or practitioner of meditation in Indian religions.A. K. Banerjea (2014), ''Philosophy of Gorakhnath with Goraksha-Vacana-Sangraha'', Motilal Banarsidass, , pp. xxiii, 297–299, 331 ...

Maitripa Maitrīpāda ( 1007–1085, also known as Maitreyanātha, Advayavajra, and, to Tibetans, Maitrīpa), was a prominent Indian Buddhist Mahasiddha associated with the Mahāmudrā transmission of tantric Buddhism.Roberts, Peter Alan, Mahamudra and ...

(the guru of

Marpa Marpa may refer to: * Marpa Lotsawa (1012–1097), Tibetan Buddhist teacher credited with the transmission of many Buddhist teachings to Tibet from India * Marpa, Peru, ruins of a pre-Columbian town located along the Cotahuasi Canyon in the Andes ra ...

and disciple of

Naropa Nāropā (Prakrit; , Naḍapāda or Abhayakirti) was an Indian Buddhism, Buddhist Mahasiddha. He was the disciple of Tilopa and brother, or some sources say partner and pupil, of Niguma. As an Indian Mahasiddha, Naropa's instructions inform ...

) who taught at the great monastic universities of

Nalanda Nalanda (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: , ) was a renowned Buddhism, Buddhist ''mahavihara'' (great monastery) in medieval Magadha (Mahajanapada), Magadha (modern-day Bihar), eastern India. Widely considered to be am ...

and

Vikramashila Vikramashila ( IAST: ) was a Buddhist monastery situated in what is now modern-day Bihar in India. It was founded by King Dharmapala between the late eighth and early ninth century. It was one of the three most important Buddhist Mahaviharas ...

. Maitripa's founding president is Yangsi Rinpoche, a

tulku A ''tulku'' (, also ''tülku'', ''trulku'') is an individual recognized as the reincarnation of a previous spiritual master (lama), and expected to be reincarnated, in turn, after death. The tulku is a distinctive and significant aspect of Tibet ...

and Lharampa Geshe who graduated from Sera Je (Se Rva Byas) and Gyume Tantric College. Yangsi Rinpoche is also one of the primary faculty members at the College.

Academic programs

Maitripa College identifies three pillars of its curriculum:

Buddhist philosophy Buddhist philosophy is the ancient Indian Indian philosophy, philosophical system that developed within the religio-philosophical tradition of Buddhism. It comprises all the Philosophy, philosophical investigations and Buddhist logico-episte ...

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique to train attention and awareness and detach from reflexive, "discursive thinking", achieving a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state, while not judging the meditat ...

, and

community service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community contributing to a noble cause. In many cases, people doing community service are compensated in other ways, such as gettin ...

. The college offers two

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

s—an M.A. in

Buddhist Studies Buddhist studies, also known as Buddhology, is the academic study of Buddhism. The term ''Buddhology'' was coined in the early 20th century by the Unitarian minister Joseph Estlin Carpenter to mean the "study of Buddhahood, the nature of the Bud ...

, and a

Master of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and ...

. The

M.A. A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

consists of 2–3 years of full-time study, culminating in a thesis or final exam. The

program is a 3-5 year program, depending on the rate of study, oriented towards in-depth spiritual development and professional chaplaincy. The core coursework is shared between the two programs, except for

Tibetan language Tibetan language may refer to: * Lhasa Tibetan or Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dialect * Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard * Any of the other Tibetic languages See also * Ol ...

which is required for the M.A. but not the M.Div. Maitripa College is a nonprofit corporation authorized by the State of Oregon (Office of Degree Authorization) to offer and confer the degrees described herein. However, it lacks

regional accreditation Higher education accreditation in the United States is a peer review process by which the validity of degrees and credits awarded by higher education institutions is Quality assurance, assured. It is coordinated by accreditation commissions mad ...

Public programs

Maitripa College also offers a full schedule of public programs, including weekly dharma teachings by Yangsi Rinpoche, morning meditation, workshops and retreats that are open to the public. These feature traditional Tibetan religious teachers, scholars in the field of Buddhist Studies, and practitioners from a variety of faiths. The Public Program calendar also offers psychology workshops that are approved by the APA for continuing education credit.

References

External links

* {{authority control Asian-American culture in Portland, Oregon Buddhist universities and colleges in the United States Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition Tibetan Buddhism in the United States Tibetan Buddhist organizations Universities and colleges in Portland, Oregon Unaccredited institutions of higher learning in the United States