About
Netanel Miles-Yépez is a scholar, artist, and spiritual teacher based at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, where he chairs the Wisdom Traditions and Religious Studies programs. He is the current Pir of the Inayati-Maimuni lineage, a Sufi-Hasidic order he co-founded in 2004 with Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi. Miles-Yépez studied with Schachter-Shalomi, various Sufi and Buddhist teachers, and Father Thomas Keating. His writings include The End of Religion and Other Writings (2023), In the Teahouse of Experience: Nine Talks on the Path of Sufism (2020), and commentaries on Hasidic spirituality co-authored with Schachter-Shalomi.
Teaching focus
Netanel Miles-Yepez's teaching focus, drawn from the source profile, sits in the contemplative path. Several threads come up: steady attention to body and breath; the relationship between ethics and meditation; and short, direct teachings rather than long talks. On talks, the style is closer to thinking-along than presenting. Netanel Miles-Yepez works with whatever shows up in the room rather than reading from notes, which is part of why these talks land as conversational instead of scripted. Short pauses, longer sits, and questions that come back to direct experience are usual. The bigger move Netanel Miles-Yepez keeps making is back toward attention itself: what's happening, how it's being held, and what gets in the way. That keeps the teaching close to practice rather than drifting into commentary about practice. For talks, schedules, and longer essays, the affiliated organization's page is where the live material lives. Netanel Miles-Yepez's sessions tend to keep returning to the body, to breath, and to the felt quality of attention as the steady ground that the rest rests on. Netanel Miles-Yepez's sessions tend to keep returning to the body, to breath, and to the felt quality of attention as the steady ground that the rest rests on.
Background
Netanel Miles-Yepez teaches in the contemplative path. The teaching home is Naropa University. From the teacher's own profile: Retelling Sacred Stories: Our Journeys to a Shared Sacred Story Core Candidate Assistant Professor; Chair, Wisdom Traditions; Chair, BA Religious Studies; Director, Keating-Schachter Center Netanel Miles-Yépez, DD, is an artist, philosopher, religion scholar, and spiritual teacher. He is the current Pir of the Inayati-Maimuni lineage of Sufism, and is considered a leading thinker in the Interspiritual and New Monasticism movements. Born into a Mexican-American family, in his late teens, Miles-Yépez discovered his family’s hidden Jewish roots and began to explore Judaism and other religions seriously. After studying history of religions and comparative religion at Michigan State University, he moved to Boulder, Colorado, to study with the innovative Hasidic master and leader in ecumenical dialogue, Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, founder of the Jewish Renewal movement. In addition to Schachter-Shalomi, he also studied with various Sufi masters and teachers of Buddhism, and counts Father Thomas Keating, Trappist monk and founder of the Centering Prayer movement, as an important teacher. In 2004, he and Schachter-Shalomi co-founded the Sufi-Hasidic, Inayati-Maimuni Order, fusing the Sufi and Hasidic principles of spirituality and practice espoused by Rabbi Avraham Maimuni in 13th-century Egypt with the teachings of the Ba’al Shem Tov and Hazrat Inayat Khan. Currently, he teaches in the Department of Religious Studies at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. As a writer, Miles-Yépez is known for such works as The End of Religion and Other Writings (2023), In the Teahouse of Experience: Nine Talks on the Path of Sufism (2020), his critically acclaimed translation My Love Stands Behind a Wall: A Translation of the Song of Songs and Other Poems (2015), as well as his commentaries on Hasidic spirituality (written with Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi), A Heart Afire: Stories and Teachings of the Early Hasidic Masters (2009) and A Hidden Light: Stories and Teachings of Early HaBaD and Bratzlav Hasidism (2011). He is also the editor of The Common Heart: An Experience of Interreligious Dialogue (2006) and Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi: Essential Teachings (2020). As an artist, Miles-Yépez is known for his vibrant paintings, influenced by traditional religious imagery and his Mexican-American heritage. His work in general represents a lifelong fascination with religious iconography, myth and symbol, image and archetype, cultural impressions and his own ancestry. Most of his work is concerned with the acculturation and use of traditional symbols and iconic forms in a new multi-cultural paradigm. Netanel Miles-Yepez's teaching tends to stay close to direct experience, working with attention, ethics, and the felt sense of the body rather than abstract doctrine.
Lineage
Netanel Miles-Yepez teaches as a monastic teacher in the contemplative path. The institutional home, per the source listing, is Naropa University, and that's where most of the public teaching schedule and any retreat offerings will be posted. Teaching authority and lineage details, where stated, live with the affiliated organization's profile page rather than with this directory entry.
What to expect
On a class or retreat with Netanel Miles-Yepez, the basic shape is short instruction, longer sittings, and some Q&A. The container is shaped by Naropa University, so format details, fees, and access policies follow that organization's norms. Expect plenty of silence, less talking-at-you than you might think, and an emphasis on letting the practice do its work rather than chasing experiences. For exact dates, registration, and any sliding-scale or scholarship information, There's usually a short Q&A window and, on retreats, optional teacher interviews where students can bring specific questions about their practice.