This interactive online course on Buddhism and Quantum Physics will provide you with new tools to analyse your mind and investigate the nature of reality and the self.
With this fundamental shift in perspective, you can become more open to experiencing joy in daily life. This can help you to expand your worldview, improve your well-being, experience mindfulness, and cultivate a deeper meditation practice.
This course has grown out of on an online event that Science & Wisdom LIVE co-organized with Mind & Life Europe and A Skeptic’s Path to Enlightenment in October 2021.
Lesson 1: What is Quantum Mechanics?
• The uncertainty principle
• Describing quantum states
• Schrödinger’s cat
• Wave–particle duality & double–slit experiment
• The measurement problem (Wigner’s paradox)
• Non–locality and entanglement
Lesson 2: Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics?
• The Copenhagen interpretation
• David Bohm’s implicate order
• The Multiverse (many–worlds)
• Carlo Rovelli’s relational interpretation
• QBism
• Other interpretations of QM
Lesson 1: Appearance and Reality in Western Thought
• Plato and the reality/appearance dualism
• Heraclitus and Democritus
• The birth of modern science: Newton, Kant, Husserl
Lesson 2: Buddhist Epistemology & Quantum Physics
• Buddhist epistemology: Mind–Only and Middle Way schools
• The paradox of quantum reality
• Interpretations of quantum mechanics
• Quantum mechanics & Buddhist philosophy
Lesson 1: Buddhist Epistemology
• Dharmakirti and Shantarakshita
• “Sat”: the primacy of experience
• Causality, cognition, and reality
Lesson 2: Models of the World
• The mind, discrimination, and mental models
• Do patterns truly exist in nature?
• What constrains our models of the world?
Lesson 3: Illusion and Reality
• Reality as a mental construct
• Is there an ultimate model of reality?
• The illusion of separation: conceptuality, suffering, and wisdom
Lesson 1: Nagarjuna & Quantum Mechanics
• The observer and the observed: the relational interpretation
• Without foundation: Nagarjuna & modern physics
• Emptiness and dependent origination
Lesson 2: Bias, Discrimination, and Models of the World
• Models in classical and quantum physics
• Ultimate and conventional reality
Lesson 1: The Nature of the Observer
• Consciousness and quantum mechanics
• Dependent origination and the nature of the mind
Lesson 2: The Mind and the Brain
• The nature of consciousness
• What is the relation between mind and matter?
• Do laws of nature exist beyond our minds?
Part 1: Analysis of Objects
Part 2: Analysis of the Self
Over 5 hours of video teachings
Course handbook
Special access to video archive
Downloadable lecture notes
Meditation workshops
Short quizzes to test your learning
Our aim is to make this course accessible in ways that strengthen diversity and representation in contemplative science. To ensure and promote greater equity, our scholarships are designed for those who are often underrepresented in the field:
Scholarships are also in place to support registered Dharma students who wish to deepen their study of the Buddha Dharma through the lens of scientific discovery.
If you have any questions we invite you to read our FAQ where we have grouped together the most common questions.
In the ‘e-Learning FAQ‘ section you will find all the course-related queries.
To help ensure and promote greater equity in contemplative science, our scholarships are designed for those who are often underrepresented in the field:
Scholarships are also in place to support registered Dharma students who wish to deepen their study of the Buddhadharma through the lens of scientific dialogue.
If this speaks to you, we’d love to hear from you. Please complete the form below to apply. Our team reviews applications carefully, and you can expect a reply within 14 days.
