Science and Buddhist Practice | Explorations

2 – 9 October | LED BY  Ratnaprabha, Saccacitta, Achara + Viryanaga

Great science and great poetry are both visionary… two tools to open our eyes to the complexity and beauty of the world.

— Carlo Rovelli, quoted approvingly by Sangharakshita

What if science is not a challenge to the Dharma, but a deep resource for spiritual life?

This annual retreat offers Order members a rare space to explore the meeting point of science and Buddhist practice—not to reduce one to the other, but to allow each to open new ways of seeing. Inspired by Sangharakshita’s vision, we’ll reflect on how the insights and methods of science can serve as cultural conditions for the realisation of Enlightenment.

Whether you’ve worked in science or simply feel the call of its wonder, this retreat invites rigorous, imaginative and non-attached enquiry.

Sangharakshita warned against “scientific Buddhism” but celebrated the wonder science can evoke. He praised the awe inspired by ‘the poetry of the universe’ and encouraged practitioners to engage deeply with the cultural forms of our time.

This retreat blends seminar-style dialogue with shared meditation, ritual and community. A chance to think boldly, question openly and draw inspiration from both the microscope and the mind.