Situated in the beautiful Hudson Valley, the Institute has a deep relationship with the Hudson River. The Hudson has a longstanding reputation as something precious and outstanding, and what happens here is often inspiring and consequential in the wider world.
The Hudson River and surrounding areas have long been a place where nature and culture meet. This is the landscape of the American sublime—made famous in 19th century Hudson River School paintings—and a biodiverse estuarine system of global ecological importance.
Perched on the east bank of the river across from West Point, the Institute honors the history and meaning of the Hudson by being a meeting place of the world’s ancient spiritual traditions and cutting edge science. To the Lenape tribe who formerly inhabited both banks of the lower portion of the river, it was known as Muhheakantuck or the “river that flows two ways.”