Nityananda Institute is a community of people dedicated to authentic spiritual practice. Founded by Swami Chetanananda in 1971, it is currently based in Portland, Oregon. Nityananda Institute is named for Bhagavan Nityananda of Ganeshpuri, India, one of the greatest Hindu saints of the 20th century. Nityananda Institute seeks to provide students with an opportunity to live a truly spiritual life, arising from the direct experience of the energy of life itself.

In Portland, Nityananda Institute offers instruction and ongoing classes in meditation, hatha yoga, and Tibetan Buddhist rituals of the Longchen Nyingthig tradition, intensive practice retreats with Swami Chetanananda, study groups for spiritual texts, programs in sacred art, music, and alternative health, and a residential program at the Rudrananda Ashram.

Nityananda Institute’s first ashram was established in Bloomington, Indiana, over 30 years ago. The community has always lived and practiced in an urban environment and been engaged in the life of the surrounding community. In addition to the Portland headquarters, Nityananda Institute has centers in Boston, Massachusetts, New York City, Santa Monica, California, Oslo, Norway, and Kathmandu, Nepal.

The spiritual practice at Nityananda Institute is Trika Yoga, from the tradition of Kashmir Shaivism. The goal of Trika Yoga is to unify the three aspects of our being—body, mind and spirit—achieving a state of dynamic equilibrium among them. Trika Yoga is a non-dualistic tradition, and its basic philosophical assertion is that all of existence is nothing but the boundless energy of consciousness.