Maitripa College

What a beautiful space and warm, caring people!
I’ve come here for various events, including teachings with the founder of the college, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and I am very grateful that a place like this exists in the world. Just walking in the door you can sense a peacefulness and a presence and the mind calms and the heart opens.
There is a beautiful antique prayer wheel in the hallway that I really enjoy turning. The main temple has beautiful Buddhist statues and offerings under them. I really enjoyed seeing the Medicine Buddha sand mandala while it was there.
That the college offers a chaplaincy program is very nice. Monks and nuns can attend the programs for free and you do see them sometimes in the teachings.
This is a place of real study and I think the purpose of that is to train the mind in meditation and logic. The staff and teachers are all dedicated to helping people reach their highest potential and the love and caring is evident on the faces of people.
I feel blessed to be able to attend when I can.

I have attended Maitripa’s Thursday night teachings with Yangsi Rinpoche, participated in their Discovering Buddhism Series, attended Sunday morning meditation, and just attended their conflict resolution workshop that is one of the best workshops I’ve taken part in during my 13-​year stay in Portland. The Maitripa community members are wonderful, inviting, and helpful people. The content of the public programs have proven very useful in social work within underserved communities.
In other Buddhist communities, I have felt pushed and judged. I have felt nothing but comfort and acceptance at Maitripa. It is refuge in every sense of the word.
I look forward to more involvement and participation at the College, and I encourage others who are curious to open their hearts and minds to all of the jewels Maitripa has to offer.

This young college has developed into a phenomenal resource and learning community for students seeking to start or further their education in compassion, service and meditation through the lens of a time tested Buddhist lineage. This college also draws talented individuals for events year after year, including HH The Dalai Lama just this past spring. Though it has a few kinks to smooth out as it grows, this college deserves a more accurate review:
FACT CHECK:
1. Maitripa college is not so simply «un-​accredited» as in another review. It is authorized through the state of Oregon to give Master’s Degrees, and its involved in the multi-​year process of moving toward full «regional» accreditation, (there is no such thing as «National») which will then allow students to apply for federal grants, federal student loans etc. They do offer very significant scholarships to assist students in the meantime. There is much value in this degree, and the multiple references to the college being «un-​accredited» are somewhat misleading. If you are considering going to Maitripa for a Masters, then onward for another degree (Ph.d) or certification, as them if the Maitripa credits will transfer. Its highly likely they will.
As stated on their website:
«Maitripa Institute received legal authority in July 2008 from the State of Oregon to offer graduate degrees in Buddhist Studies. This approval means that Maitripa is now a College, and that its program courses are available for college credit. Maitripa is currently offering a Master of Arts degree in Buddhist Studies and a Masters of Divinity (MDiv) degree. This achievement is the first step towards regional accreditation.»
2. The other warning that «these folks are missionaries» is not accurate from my experiences as a student over the last 3+ years, and surely this must have been based on a small sample audience that reviewer interacted with. Some people react differently to religious and spiritual teachers and teachings, and can often make things weird, with attempts to proselytize despite the fact that this tradition specifically instructs students against such behavior. Neither I, nor my friends have experienced a missionary vibe overall when taking classes or attending events at Maitripa. I have indeed experienced that type of environment of conversion before, but not so far at Maitripa.
3. Maitripa is a school based on Mahayana Buddhism: Mahayana philosophy, mediation, service, logic, and debate are the primary focus of the courses. They are not offering degrees in comparative religion, though some dialogue is always welcome in that area. Though «comparative thought» is certainly valued, is not the core focus of most classes, and those classes are not advertised as such, to my knowledge. However, the events have included teachers and professionals from diverse backgrounds, coming to share their expertise and opinions, and engage in constructive dialogue. These guests and teachers have included: neuroscientists, environmentalists, writers, psychologists and more…
Maitripa’s core is Mahayana Buddhism, but it is certainly open and engaged with the wider religious, scientific and academic communities.
As for the online program, I believe it has been partially put on hold (I just checked the website), though I would confirm that directly with the college.

This as-​yet unaccredited college is housed in a nicely converted garage at SE 12^th and Market. Maitripa College is a franchise of the international FPMT organization that promotes Tibetan Buddhist education. Each FPMT branch office worldwide is run by an ethnic Tibetan lama (head teacher) with most classes taught by senior students and volunteers from the local country.
The Portland OR base is a tiny college with one classroom plus library downstairs; the FPMT administrative and scripture translating offices are upstairs.
Maitripa College” has a few academic classes in Tibetan language and Dharma-​text reading, but they mainly offer credit for experiential and community service learning (including an admirable prison outreach) via their Ministry degree. In addition, their program of study emphasizes ritual liturgy including instructed meditation. IMO the best feature of the building is their brand-​new «Jokhang» mini-​temple with lovely bamboo floors, track lighting, and gold Buddha statues. It is a great place to meditate with a group.
Beware that these folks are missionaries who want to «spread the word» about the benefits of Mahayana-​style Buddhist meditation and worship. As result, the two (unaccredited) masters degrees are more about perfection of religious practice and less about development of critical, comparative thought. Most of the course instructors have other jobs. That being said: the environment is welcoming, the Head Lama charismatic, and the practitioners sincere.

I have been an online student for 2 years, so I am invested and going to finish what I started. The psychology classes taught by Rubin & Vannoy are exceptional. They are responsive to e-​mails and provide thoughtful feedback to written assignments. There is a sense howver, that they both have other jobs that are of higher priority, but it doesn’t have any major impact on the learning expereince. The meditation classes, taught by Rinpoche and facillitated by Namdrol Adams are an expensive waste of time for online students. The syllabus and instructions invariably arrive later than promised (thought the invoices for payment are prompt!), and the semester is often extended by a week or more mid-​semester because Ms. Adams has fallen behind in her duties. The Meditation audio MP3s for online students are 50% to 70% silence, because the class is meditating! The spoken part of Rinpoche’s lecture is often tangential and difficult to understand when you aren’t right there in person. One can learn by very carefully and thoroughly doing the reading assigments and written assignments. One semester I didn’t listen to any lectures, and got an A. E-​mails and questions for the Meditation classes are ignored completely, feedback on the written work is either absent or minimal, and always very, very late, as are the grades. Maitripa should offer free online courses to help them get their systems together before they start charging. Their hearts are in the right place and faculty is clearly knowledgeable. The administrative breakdowns are inexcusable. I would not recommend this unaccreditated college to any online student.

Maitripa is a great Buddhist college! They often have special events open to the public, including meditation classes. There is a beautiful temple area with amazing statues. If you’re interested in Buddhism this is a great place to continue your education.