When Ancient Wisdom Meets Quantum Reality
Physicists and Buddhist contemplatives often seek to solve the same puzzles, from different angles: What is consciousness? How is reality shaped by observation? What does it mean for something to “exist”? For centuries, Buddhist thinkers have described awareness and mind with subtle precision. In parallel, physics and neuroscience are now probing phenomena that seem to echo those descriptions.
is a series of courses that stages direct conversations between scientists and contemplatives. The sessions follow questions as they unfold, opening space for critical thinking and unexpected insights and form the foundations for educational courses that explore the biggest questions of our time at the vangard of scientific thought and discovery.
Course 1: Quantum Physics and Buddhist Thought
investigates parallels between modern physics and Buddhist philosophy. Quantum mechanics reveals a world where particles can exist in superpositions, where outcomes depend on measurement, and where relationships matter more than fixed essences. In Buddhist philosophy, reality is understood as impermanent, interdependent, and without inherent self-nature.
The course features Carlo Rovelli, architect of relational quantum mechanics; Geshe Tenzin Namdak, the first Westerner to complete the rigorous Geshe training at Sera Jey Monastic University; and philosopher of science Michel Bitbol. John Dunne from the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Center for Healthy Minds and meditation teacher Scott Snibbe add further perspectives.
Together they explore how mathematics, experiment, and meditative practice each uncover aspects of reality that challenge everyday assumptions, and you are invited to expand your horizons with the self-paced masterclass in contemplative and scientific exploration, joining these frontier thinkers.
Exploring Consciousness
The course tackles one of the most perplexing problems in science: how subjective experience relates to neural activity. Professor Anil Seth, author of the bestselling “Being You: A New Science of Consciousness” and whose TED talk has over 12 million views, leads discussions alongside Yangten Rinpoche, a monastic and scholar personally appointed by the Dalai Lama.
Dr. Elena Antonova from King’s College London, a leading researcher on meditation’s effects on the brain, explores these questions with Professor John Vervaeke from University of Toronto, director of the Consciousness and Wisdom Studies Laboratory, and Professor Marjorie Woollacott, neuroscience researcher and consciousness studies pioneer.
While neuroscience maps consciousness’s neural correlates, contemplative traditions offer detailed phenomenological maps developed through first-person investigation. The course explores how these approaches complement each other and offers a true exploration of the self.
Dialogue as Method
The defining feature of Science and Wisdom Live is its emphasis on live dialogue. Courses are built around moderated conversations rather than set-piece lectures. Participants exchange ideas, challenge one another, and reveal the process of reasoning in real time. For learners, the value lies as much in the unfolding exchange as in any conclusion.
Step Into the Debate on Mind and Reality
Questions about consciousness and reality are no longer confined to seminar rooms or the depths of monastic texts.
They shape debates on mental health, artificial intelligence, and what it means to be human. Ideas from Buddhist philosophy — such as interdependence and impermanence — also inform how societies might approach ecology, ethics, and collective well-being.
The offers one entry point, examining how two traditions describe a world that is fluid, relational, and less solid than it first appears. Alongside it, the shows how first-person methods of meditation can sit beside brain science to enrich our understanding of the mind.
Science and Wisdom Live treats both perspectives with seriousness, combining experimental rigour with contemplative insight. For the curious who follow science at the frontier, these courses open inquiry in a wider frame — one that stretches from particles to perception, and from mathematics to meditation.
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