Dharamshala — The Library of Tibetan Works and Archives celebrates the 25th anniversary of the “Science for Monks and Nuns” program in Dharamshala on Tuesday. Over the past 25 years, LTWA, in partnership with the Sager Family Foundation, has trained nearly 200 monks and nuns in science, in order to deepen the collaboration between Buddhism and science.
The Library of Tibetan Works and Archives (LTWA) celebrates the 25th anniversary of the “Science for Monks and Nuns” program at Tsuglagkhang, the Tibetan Main Temple, in Dharamshala, India, on April 15, 2025.The chief guest was Professor Sangdong Rinpoche, the special guest was Khenpo Sonam Tenphel, the Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, and the guest of honor was Mr Bobby Sager, Chairman of the Science for Monks and Nuns Foundation. Other guests included senior officials from the Central Tibetan Administration, Abbots of Tibetan monasteries and science teachers for monks and nuns. In all, over 200 people attended the celebration, including Geshes, monks, nuns, LTWA students and students from the TIbetan village school.
LTWA Director Geshe Lhador gave a welcome speech and introduced the “Science for Monks and Nuns” program. He said, "Our story began in 1999, When His Holiness the Dalai Lama instructed the then director of the Library of Tibetan Works and Ar-chives, Achok Rinpoche, to establish an initiative introducing science to the Tibetan monastic curriculum. In the first year of the project, LTWA set up a team of translators and teachers to offer the knowledge of modern science to a group of 50 monastic scholars. The initial four-week workshop was integrated with a deep understanding of Buddhist philosophy. Although LTWA had almost no expertise in science at the time, its demonstrated capacity as a center of learning for all major Tibetan Buddhist traditions was well suited for launching the initiative."
"In 2001, the Sager Family Foundation partnered with LTWA to expand and sustain the Library's historic undertaking. Between 2000 and 2007, LTWA implemented nine four-week intensive science workshops, despite a multitude of challenges. Organizers first had to identify qualified teachers and translators. Then they tackled the complications of coordinating participants from several monaster-ies, and teachers from around the world, to meet at one venue. In 2005, Geshe Lhakdor became the director of the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, and immediately established a dedicated Science Department to anchor and expand the programs," Geshe Lhador added.
Geshe explained, "after annual Intensive Science Workshops from 2000 to 2007, LTWA launched the Sager Science Leadership Institute in 2008. The Institute focuses on supporting monastic contributions to indigenous science learning and community engagement activities in order to deepen the collaboration between Buddhism and science. Four cohorts have graduated from the In-stitute: 25 monastics in 2010; an additional 28 in 2013; 28 in 2019; and ten senior monastics in 2025."
"The outreach to senior monks and nuns, who have completed their formal monastic studies and are now educational leaders, administrators and community mentors in their own monasteries and nunner-ies, is a further expansion of the mission. The Monastics Graduates Program, inaugurated in 2011, is a four-week introductory science course which enables senior monastics to nurture new generations of science-savvy monks and nuns. So far, LTWA has had eight Monastic Graduates Programs. As an extension to this particular pro-gram, the Library followed the Graduates Workshop with an International Conference featuring a dialogue among Buddhist scholars, scientists and philosophers," Geshe said.
"In 2017, the Monastic Graduates Program was tailored to reach a group of nuns who were highly advanced in their Buddhist studies. The successful adaptation of this course led to the establishment of a new initiative dedicated to nuns. LTWA organised the first science workshop for nuns at Kopan Nunnery in 2018. In 2019, LTWA launched a first, all-nuns leadership cohort of 33 nuns from five different nunneries. The first cohort of nuns graduated in 2023. The second cohort of 40 nuns from five different nunneries commenced in March 2024," Geshe declared.
Geshe la also explained that the “Science for Monks and Nuns” program is one of LTWA's programs, and that they have able to reach over 1,000 Himalayan people through this program. He also urged Tibetans and Himalayans to learn their own traditions and language.
The Chief Guest, Professor Sangdong Rinpoche presented the Appreciation Award to Mr Bobby Sager for his family's financial support and collaboration over the past 25 years. Mr Bobby Sager, Chairman of the Science for Monks and Nuns Foundation, Khenpo Sonam Tenphel, the Speaker the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, and Professor Sangdong Rinpoche also addressed the assembly.
A six-day workshop on science and Buddhism continued after the celebration. These days, they will cover topics such as the Importance of the Brain, the Relationship between Mind and Body, the Climate Crisis in the 21st Century, Mother Earth: The Only Home, the Politics of Climate Change, the Interdependence of Ecosystems, Sustainable Way of Life, Monks as Climate Leaders, the Future of the Earth, and more. The LTWA also organised an exhibition entitled “My Earth, My Responsibility”: a collaborative perspective of Buddhism and science on climate change - our common responsibility and “The Secret of Particles Exhibition”.
