YOU ARE INVITED TO OUR FIRST WEEK OF CLASSES!

This week, Maitripa College is opening its doors—both online and in person—for the first week of classes, and we’d love for you to join us, no cost, no commitmentWe’re offering incredible courses this term, blending traditional and modern scholarship and practice. Explore Tibetan language, dive into the History and Culture of Tibet, or delve into the profound teachings of Mahamudra. See the schedule and course descriptions below. This is the perfect opportunity to see what Maitripa College is all about and connect with our vibrant community.

JOIN A CLASS  (OR CLASSES) IN PERSON AT MAITRIPA COLLEGE (no registration necessary): 1119 SE Market St. (cross street SE 11th, 3 blocks south of Hawthorne); Portland, Oregon 97214

JOIN A CLASS (OR CLASSES) ONLINE: email info@maitripa.org to request a Zoom link

…and email info@maitripa.org with any questions


~If you are ready to enroll now, there is still time~
Click here for all academic deadlines (application, registration, scholarship application, etc)
Spring course descriptions are at the bottom of this page and faculty bios are here


Spring 2025 Course Descriptions

CS302: Finding Your Voice: Communication and Context (2 credits)

This is the second course in the service pillar at Maitripa College, which builds on the foundation of the first term, exploring concepts and practicalities related to identifying and expressing yourself as a spiritual leader in modern society and establishing a unique and relevant “voice.” We will explore traditional, historical, and contemporary “voices” of Spiritual Leadership, and mediums for expressing that voice, including online platforms, the Academy, spiritual communities, and others. This class includes a concurrent 15 hour service project.

MDT308: Techniques of Meditation: Mahamudra (2 credits)

This course will continue with instruction in meditation based on the practices established in MDT 303 (fall semester), with a focus on deepening Shiné (calm abiding) and practicing mahamudra instructions for realizing conventional and ultimate natures of mind. The subject matter will parallel the topics of Buddhist philosophy as taught in as taught in PHL307. The course will be taught in an interactive format, allowing students the opportunity to learn specific meditations as directed by the instructor, practice them, and discuss their experiences in class. Part of this class will include regular meditation sessions out of class, the keeping of a sitting journal, and the opportunity for objective discussion on the effect of these practices on the individual’s mind. If desired, the committed student will have the opportunity to work with the instructor to design a personal meditation practice.
This course meets degree requirements as the equivalent of MDT304: Techniques of Meditation A Dose of Emptiness.

HIS325  The History and Culture of 20th Century Buddhist Tibet

This introduction to the history and culture of modern and contemporary Tibet will deepen students’ appreciation for the many changes the Tibetan people have navigated in the past one hundred years to reveal a complex society that cannot be reduced to the simplistic representations constructed for them as political victims, feudal serfs, or romanticized Buddhists, but rather as one which has achieved remarkable cultural and religious sustainability balancing tradition and innovation, including in regard to Buddhism.

From the early modern (17th c.) to 19th c., encounters with foreigners increased but were part of the continuity of the Tibetan civilization’s millennia of political, economic, religious, and cultural influential contact with its neighbors, trading partners, and religious pilgrims, even as technologies and geo-political concepts evolved. The beginning of the century is remembered by the agrarian and nomadic clans comprising the majority of the population and cosmopolitan Lhasans, all ruled to some extent by the government of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, as relatively peaceful. The mid-20th century ended Tibetan control over their land and people with the colonial invasion and annexation and the traumatic losses of the Cultural Revolution that ravaged Tibet and the occupying People’s Republic of China. Struggles for human rights and episodic political tensions have coincided with the founding and growth of exile or diasporic communities and institutions outside of Tibet from the 1960s after the Fourteenth Dalai Lama was granted asylum in India, and cultural and religious revivals and creativity since the 1980s inside Tibet.

To illumine these historical upheavals and resiliency, we will engage with autobiographical literature, documentary film and photography, historical primary sources, Tibetan produced and Hollywood movies, contemporary music and art, fiction and poetry in translation, modern monastic Buddhist education and pilgrimage, and how Tibetan Buddhists relate their religion to everyday lives, seeking, as much as possible, Tibetan representation of Tibetan lives in all their diversity and what contributes to a shared sense of Tibetan identity among them. Students will learn an interdisciplinary approach to the study of a unique region, highlighting the interactions of Tibetan communities with others globally and Tibetan visions for their and human futures together.

PHL308: Mahamudra: Realizing the Nature of Mind (2 credits)

The aim of this course is to explore the tradition of the Great Seal (Skt. mahāmudrā; Tib phyag rgya chen po), the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist meditative tradition focusing on realization of the nature of the mind as the main means to attain the final state of awakening, or buddhahood. Mahāmudrā practice draws on a range of techniques to bring about realization of the ultimate nature of the mind, including tantric ritual practice, philosophical analysis, calm abiding (śamatha) meditation, and special insight (vipaśyanā) meditation. While the origins of Mahāmudrā are in the works of first-millennium Indian mahāsiddhas (great adepts), such as Saraha, Maitrīpa, and Tilopa, it is most closely identified with the Tibetan Kagyü tradition and has been transmitted in all the major Tibetan sects, including the Geluk tradition. After an introductory session, we will focus on the principal Indian Mahāyāna works and doctrines that form the basis for the Mahāmudrā tradition, including writings on Madhyamaka, Yogācāra, Buddha Nature (Tathāgatagarbha), and Vajrayāna. We will then study works of some of the most important Indian Mahāmudrā authors, focusing particularly on Saraha, as well as writings by Maitrīpa and Atiśa. Following this, we will examine the diffusion of Mahāmudrā in Tibet, considering first its relationship to the Dzokchen (Great Completion) tradition and then its flourishing in the Kagyü school, with its transmission through the works of figures such as Tilopa, Marpa, Milarepa, the Third Karmapa, and Pema Karpo. In the final section of the course, we will study the Geluk (or Ganden) tradition of Mahāmudrā, focusing particularly on the writings of Paṇchen Losang Chökyi Gyaltsen. 

The course will be taught in a hybrid in-person/remote format, with each instructor teaching sessions on predetermined topics. This course meets degree requirements as the equivalent of PHL304: A Dose of Emptiness. Students are strongly encouraged to enroll in MDT308 in conjunction with this class.

THL414: Pathways to Transformation: Buddhist Rituals in Theory and Practice (2 credits)

This course explores the transformative power of Buddhist rituals through an integration of theory and practice. Students will study key rituals, their historical and theoretical foundations, and their role in transforming the mind and fostering spiritual growth. The course emphasizes experiential learning, encouraging analysis, collaboration in ritual settings, and personal reflection to deepen understanding and a sense of community. Students will develop skills to adapt and apply rituals to contemporary contexts, fostering lifelong engagement with Buddhist practice and an appreciation for the depth and relevance of these traditions.

TIB202: Classical Tibetan Language Intermediate II (2 credits)

Students continue to deepen their knowledge of Tibetan grammar and syntax through reading and decoding basic verse and prose texts and commentaries on Buddhist philosophy and practice in their original language. This course also introduces basic translation theory. Whenever possible, students receive oral commentary of the texts they are working with as part of the class and begin to learn how to translate formal logical statements so common in Tibetan philosophical exegesis.

TIB301(r): Seminar in Tibetan Translation (2 credits)

Students read and translate Tibetan texts and their commentaries in their original language. In this course we will learn reading and reciting Tibetan texts, developing pronunciation, and translating with an emphasis on communicating the meaning.