About Naropa's 50th Anniversary Theme
Spark the Mind. Ignite the Heart. Illuminate the World.
At Naropa’s opening convocation in the summer of 1974, Ch?gyam Trungpa Rinpoche proclaimed that ‘When East meets West, sparks will fly.’ The sparks made from the friction of East bumping into West have now ignited into a blaze that is leading higher education into a more holistic, wise, and compassionate place. The fire outlining the official Naropa seal symbolizes wisdom’s capacity to burn away ignorance, pride, and aggression.
Buddhist teacher Simon Luna, who served as the Director of Publications at Naropa in the early nineties, wrote the following on?Naropa’s 25th anniversary:?“Naropa University is alive and well. The sparks have been ignited, the kindling lit. The flames of wisdom are burning…May the Sparks of wisdom fly in all directions.” As we look toward the future, we stand poised to continue to illuminate the wisdom of our students, so they may light a path for others to a more compassionate and just world.
