Overview
Since 2001, the Science for Monks program has melded East and West, introducing Western science to over 200 Tibetan Buddhist monastics. Our mission is to grow and sustain science learning that engages Tibetan Buddhism with science, with an emphasis on cosmology, neuroscience, and scientific inquiry, and to disseminate the monastic's unique perspective on science and spirituality. more...
What's new?
International Conference on Cosmology & Consciousness
Dharamsala, Dec 16-18, 2011
Leading international scientists join Buddhist philosophers to discuss such intriguing questions as life after death, the possibility of extraterrestrial life, and the nature of consciousness at a conference in Dharamsala later this month.
The three-day meeting, titled ‘Cosmology and Consciousness – a Dialogue between Buddhist Scholars and Scientists on Mind and Matter', will promote the integration of spiritual values and scientific investigations.
The conference opens up the dialogue to the monastic community in an unprecedented way. In addition to the presenters, eighteen Tibetan scholars from thirteen monasteries and nunneries are leading the development of the panel discussions and will be engaged in the dialogue with scientist for the first time. The conference is preceded by a four-week workshop aimed at engaging these eighteen Tibetan monastic scholars with modern science, view workshop pages.
The conference will see presentations from top Indian and Western scientists and senior Tibetan Buddhist scholars. The event is an initiative of the Science for Monks program under the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, which has taught science to Tibetan monks since 2001 under the inspiration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Conference partners include the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, and the Exploratorium, a science museum in San Francisco, USA. The event is made possible by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation and the ongoing support of the Sager Family Foundation.
Download complete Press Release in pdf.
Engaging Tibetan Buddhist Leaders in Science
We are delighted to announce the funding of a new grant with the Templeton Foundation. The 1-year pilot project will introduce science to Geshes (and other monastic graduates) who shape religious and higher education, so that the monastic community can itself continue to explore connections between the Tibetan Buddhist traditions and Western science. The project will immerse 25 monastic graduates in 150 hours of science training and discourse that is schedule to take place from November 20 to December 14, 2011 at the Institute for Buddhist Dialectics Sarah Campus in Dharamsala, India. This workshop will build-up to a 3-day public conference and dialogue (December 16 to 18, 2011), among Geshes, other Tibetan scholars, and Indian and U.S. scientists. The monastics writings and conference proceedings will be published by the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives and posted on this site, and also on the Web Sites of our partners. The proposed project adds value to our ongoing efforts and expands the opportunities and vision for future cross-cultural exchanges. The grant will be administered by The Exploratorium in partnership with Library of Tibetan Works & Archives and the Science for Monks project. We are very excited by the new direction and opportunity to engage the Geshes and monastic graduates. In the coming weeks and months we will be adding pages to this site sharing the development and progression of this work.
2nd Cohort Begins
The Sager Science Leadership Institute began training the second cohort of monastic science leaders. The new group of future leaders will build upon the ongoing efforts of the first cohort. The new cohort includes 34 monks and nuns, and will reach 6 new monastic institutions located in India, and now, also include institutions in Nepal. The new cohort began with a 2-week workshop organized at the Deer Park Institute in Bir, India. The focus of the first workshop of the new cohort was perception. more...
World of Your Senses Exhibition
The World of Your Senses science exhibit was created by the first cohort of the Sager Science Leadership Institute and was inaugurated by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in New Dehli. more...
Graduation of the 1st Cohort
We are exceptionally pleased to announce the graduation of the first cohort of the Sager Science Leadership Institute for Monks! This is a significant historic achievement, and for the first time in the history of Tibetan Buddhism, Tibetan monastics, 30 of them, will be deployed as teachers and leaders of science education to several major monastic institutions. more...
Science for Monks in Washington Post
Smithsonian has hand in Indian science exhibit planned by Tibetan monks. Schmidt was helping a group of 30 Tibetan monks plan "The World of Your Senses," a bilingual science exhibition displayed last month in New Delhi at the India Habitat Center, an arts and culture venue in India's capital. more...
