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?
World of Your Senses Exhibition
May 1-10th, 2012
Exploratorium, San Francisco, CA
The monks and nuns will be hosting the exhibit at select times and we encourage visitors to stop by and meet the monastics on the following days :
- Tuesday, May 1
- Morning: 10AM to 1PM, Afternoon: 3PM to 5PM
- Wednesday, May 2
- Morning: 10AM to 1PM, Afternoon: 3PM to 5PM
- Thursday, May 3
- Morning: 10AM to 1PM, Afternoon: 3PM to 5PM
- Evening (Afterdark!): 6PM to 10PM
- Friday, May 4
- Morning: 10AM to 1PM
- Saturday, May 5
- Morning: 10AM to 1PM, Afternoon: 3PM to 5PM
- Sunday, May 6
- Morning: 10AM to 1PM, Afternoon: 3PM to 5PM
- Please note the museum will be closed on Monday, May 7th and Tuesday, May 8th
- Wednesday, May 9
- Morning: 10AM to 1PM, Afternoon: 3PM to 5PM
- Thursday, May 10
- Morning: 10AM to 1PM, Afternoon: 3PM to 5PM
The World of Your Senses, an exclusive exhibition featuring Tibetan Buddhist monastics and their scientific illustrations makes its first U.S. premiere at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, from May 1 to 10, 2012. Admission to this exclusive event is included in the ticket price.
The exhibition was created by Tibetan Buddhist monks who studied western science while living in exile in India. It explores sensory perception (sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch) from both a Buddhist and western science perspective. Nine monks and nuns, who received teacher training in India from Exploratorium staff, will accompany the exhibition and serve as its interpreters. This delegation is part of a group charged by the Dalai Lama with teaching science to the next generation of monastics and their communities. The nuns are among the first ever to be trained to become science education leaders for their communities.
Daily, from 10 am to 1 pm, (Tuesday May 1, through Sunday, May 6 – and Tuesday, May 8 through Thursday, May 10), museum visitors will be able to interact with and observe the visiting monastics as they discuss their work and create new paintings. Master painter Jampa Choedak will have a work space in the Exploratorium’s Wattis Web Cast Studio, where he’ll be painting a landscape of the San Francisco Bay and its marine life. The completed work will be displayed at the Exploratorium’s new location at Pier 15 in 2013. The exhibition is supported through a collaboration between the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives (LTWA), the Exploratorium, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Sager Family Foundation through the Science for Monks Program.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama wins Templeton Prize
New York, March 29, 2012
The Dalai Lama has been awarded the Templeton Prize, a 1.7 million dollar award for his work with science and religion. His Holiness will accept the award on May 14th in London, England.
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.
The three-day meeting, titled ‘Cosmology and Consciousness – a Dialogue between Buddhist Scholars and Scientists on Mind and Matter', promotes the integration of spiritual values and scientific investigations
Engaging Tibetan Buddhist Leaders in Science
October 2011
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. more...
2nd Cohort Begins
May 2011
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...
