Lecture: Buddhism and Inner Science

The Shakyamuni Buddha taught that liberation from suffering, salvation, can only be achieved by knowledge. Buddhism in its vital tradition is a scientific pursuit of the reality of life, focusing intensely on mind, spirit, and body and its impact is felt in physics, biology and psychology. Now Einstein, the quantum greats and astrophysicists, have opened the door to an essential encounter with Indic "inner," mental or spiritual, enlightenment sciences, as represented by the living, inner scientific seekers of Tibet and India

Padma Shri Professor Emeritus Robert (Bob) A.F. Thurman is a teacher and practitioner of the Buddha’s teachings, having briefly been a Tibetan Buddhist monk ordained by H.H. Dalai Lama. He was awarded the Padma Shri Award in 2020 by the President of India, for his life work toward restoring India’s ancient Buddhist heritage. In 1997, Time Magazine chose him as one of the 25 most influential Americans, describing him as a “larger than life scholar-activist destined to convey the Dharma, the precious teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha, from Asia to America.” Professor Thurman served as the Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies in the Department of Religion at Columbia University for 31 years, until 2019. He is President of Tibet House USA.

Lady Mohini Kent Noon is Global Envoy in the UK of the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC) and Founder Chairperson of Lily Against Human Trafficking charity. She is an author, journalist, playwright, film-maker, and gives public talks on culture, gender equality, food, women, and curates interfaith dialogue. Her books include Nagarjuna: The Second Buddha; Black Taj, a novel, The Friend (Vedanta). Films include The Ramayana feature film and Curry Tiffin, with actor Sir Ben Kingsley. She has written for several publications.