Naropa University was founded by Chögyam Trungpa, an exiled Tibetan tulku who was a Karma Kagyu and Nyingma lineage holder.

[4] Trungpa asked poets Allen Ginsberg, Anne Waldman, and Diane di Prima, and the composer John Cage to found a poetics department at Naropa during the first summer session.

[citation needed] The MA in psychology was originally designed as an extension of Trungpa's Maitri program, a 16-week meditation course held in Connecticut, and based on Vajrayana teachings on esoteric energy patterns within the mind and body.

Initially for the degree, students were required to attend three of the institute’s summer sessions, take two Maitri programs in Connecticut, and complete a six-month independent project.

Later, Jordan Quaglia, PhD established the Cognitive and Affective Sciences Laboratory to study Electroencephalography (EEG) to monitor brainwave patterns in 2016 - 2017.

The announcement said "With over 40% of students (and a significant portion of staff and faculty) now operating primarily in hybrid and virtual spaces, we are redefining the very essence of what it means to be a community.

[citation needed] Robert Goss comments that Geoffrey Samuel, Reginald Ray, and Judith Simmer-Brown have traced the Shambhala lineage [Trungpa's teaching] back to the 19th century Rimé movement in Eastern Tibet...

Nonsectarian is perhaps understood as ecumenical openness to contemplative practices and arts of the world religious traditions that foster precision, gentleness, and, spontaneity.