NITYANANDA INSTITUTE FRIENDS
Nityananda Institute, founded by Swami Chetanananda in 1971, is a community dedicated to the fullest expression of the human spirit and the realization of each individual's potential. Because self-expression can take many forms, Nityananda Institute offers a variety of opportunities for members of the community to contribute in creative and challenging ways. Nityananda Institute Friends help support a wide variety of programs and projects. This site describes some of those projects and programs we've recently undertaken.
Nityananda Institute Friends include community members who provide financial support, volunteer efforts, and in-kind donations. There are also many people in our extended community who are inspired by our work.
Swami Chetanananda with Lama Wangdu Rinpoche performing a fire puja. Nityananda Institute, Portland, Oregon, August 1999. Photo by Barry Kaplan.
Projects supported by Nityananda Institute Friends
include:
- The creation and casting of a life-sized statue
of Swami Rudrananda
(Rudi) for the meditation hall, currently underway in Nepal (read an article
about the artists involved in the Rudi Project);
- The production of a documentary entitled "The
Art of Chöd";
- The production of two DVDs for prenatal yoga practice (read an article about the production of the prenatal yoga DVDs;
- The publication of two texts by Abhinavagupta (see article);
- Improvements for the yoga studio rooms at The Movement Center, the hatha yoga studio associated with Nityananda Institute;
- The construction of a new stone path around Rudi's
shrine, now located at the Portland center of Nityananda Institute (shown
below);
- The construction and installation of a new Tibetan
altar for the Portland meditation hall (read an article
about the details);:
- Extended visits to the United States by Lama Tsering Wangdu Rinpoche, who gives ongoing teachings about Chöd, Phowa and other practices from the Longchen Nyingthig tradition of Tibetan Buddhism;
- Lectures by scholars such as Alexis Sanderson, Spalding Professor of Eastern Religion and Ethics at Oxford University and Wendy Doniger of the University of Chicago (read news article) and;
- Swami Chetanananda's
travel to Nepal to continue his work in the exploration of authentic tantric
practices. (Learn more about our programs in Nepal at the Nityananda
Institute Nepal website);
- The painting of a thangka of Siddhi Lakshmi, one of the esoteric goddesses of Trika Shaivism, for the Portland meditation hall, by Sudarshan Suwal, one of the finest painters in the Newari classical tradition; and
- An exhibit of Tibetan sacred art, "Ascending the Cosmic Mountain-Encounters with the Deities of Tibetan Buddhism," at the Portland Art Museum.
THE HEART OF GIVING
"If we are to become a person who is in contact with something really vast, that vastness should bring about in us a profound generosity. We have to be generous enough to be a vehicle through which the fullness of the infinite can flow into this world for the benefit of other human beings."
-Swami Chetanananda, From a talk given at the Kalachakra for World Peace, Bloomington, Indiana, August 1999
More quotes by Swami Chetanananda
MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of Nityananda Institute Friends is to develop resources for the Institute through donations, in-kind contributions, volunteer efforts and cost-savings initiatives. For more information regarding Friends or to become a Friend, please contact Patty Slote at paslote@earthlink.net
Nityananda Institute, Inc.
P.O. Box 13310
Portland, OR 97213-0310 USA
Phone: 503-231-0383
e-mail: friends@rudrananda.orgNityananda Institute is a non-profit, federally tax-exempt corporation.
Nityananda Institute | Swami Chetanananda | The Movement Center | Rudra Press
- © 2002-2004 Nityananda Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.
Please contact the Webmaster info@rudrananda.org if you are experiencing technical problems with this website.