Buddhism & AI
Initiative
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Buddhism & AI Initiative

Advancing Buddhist engagement with the development and impacts of AI through shared learning, convenings, and technical projects.

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Our vision

Buddhist wisdom contributing to personal and societal transformation in the age of AI.

Why this work

AI is reshaping the world at every level — from material conditions and social structures to the most intimate aspects of human experience: attention, intention, connection, and agency.

As one of humanity’s deepest traditions of inquiry into mind, ethics, and interdependence, Buddhism is uniquely positioned to engage in shaping the trajectory of AI development for the better.

Learn more about us >
  1. 1

    Mapping the field

    We've spoken with 500+ teachers, technologists, and practitioners to understand who is working at the intersection of Buddhism and AI, and where the field needs to go.

  2. 2

    Convening dialogue

    We organize workshops, conferences, and field-building conversations that bring together communities who are often working in silos.

  3. 3

    Shared learning

    We offer programs that equip practitioners and sanghas to engage AI with discernment — understanding both the technology and its deeper implications for practice and daily life.

  4. 4

    Guiding technical projects

    We collaborate with partner organizations and AI labs to bring Buddhist perspectives into conversations shaping the development of AI.

Field framework

Explore the six domains where Buddhism meets AI.

Based on 500+ conversations with stakeholders across Buddhist institutions, AI organizations, and academic centers, we’ve identified six intersecting domains — each with its own communities, challenges, and potential for impact.

Explore the full framework >

  • AI ➝ Buddhism

    Technology that supports Buddhist scholarship and practice, from digitization and translation efforts, to philology tools, to Buddhist chatbots.

    • Translation Organizations
    • Digitization and Data
    • Language and Research Technologies
    • Applications
    Learn more >

  • Buddhism ➝ AI

    Buddhist-informed approaches to research and technology, from computational contemplative neuroscience, to scaling meditation tools, to AI alignment and direct AI lab engagement.

    • Computational Neuroscience
    • AI Alignment - Research and Technology
    • Contemplative Projects at AI Labs
    • AI-Supported Meditation
    Learn more >

  • Scholarship

    A highly interdisciplinary domain that draws on Buddhist resources to expand conceptual frontiers around mind, ethics, and society, and to inform practice, design, and policy.

    • Mind, Consciousness, and Metaphysics
    • Ethics and Moral Development
    • Self, Agency, Personhood
    • Cognition, Attention, Affect
    • Culture and Society
    Learn more >

  • Teaching

    The communal and existential dimension of Buddhism in response to AI, concerned with the felt experience of living through the intelligence revolution and its impact on identity, purpose, work, economy, and ecology.

    • Buddhist Teachers and Sanghas
    • Mindful Tech and AI Use
    • AI Training for Wisdom Holders
    • Contemplative Retreats on AI
    Learn more >

  • Governance

    Realpolitik and policy-focused efforts, from Buddhist moral leadership, government, and grassroots action. A largely unrealized domain at present.

    • AI Policy and Governance
    • Government & Infrastructure Projects
    • Multifaith Coalitions Including Buddhists
    • Engaged Buddhists & Civic Action
    Learn more >

  • Ecosystem

    The connective elements–convenings, philanthropy, and networks—that are supporting this emerging field and seeding collaborations across the other domains.

    • Convenings and Conferences
    • Networks and Working Groups
    • Publishers and Media
    • Foundations and Funders
    • Miscellaneous
    Learn more >

Collaborators

  • Future of Life Institute
  • Italian Buddhist Union Research Center
  • Khyentse Foundation
  • Mind & Life Europe
  • Omidyar Network
  • Survival and Flourishing Fund
  • Tricycle
  • Wisdom Publications
  • Wisdom AI

Seminars & workshops

Bringing contemplative wisdom to the age of AI.

We offer two ways for Buddhists to learn more about AI and its implications: a five-week seminar for teachers and community leaders, and workshops that open the conversation in your own sangha.

Next cohort begins Nov 16

Buddhism & AI Seminar

A five-week seminar for Buddhist teachers and community leaders. Build a shared understanding of AI’s technical, social, and ethical sides through a Buddhist lens, and chart a path forward for yourself and your community.

When
Mondays, Nov 16 – Dec 14
11am – 12:30pm Pacific
Format
Live on Zoom, 90 minutes a week
Who it’s for
Teachers, organizational & community leaders
Cost
Freely offered
  • A small discussion pod that stays together all five weeks
  • Sensemaking, technical grounding, Buddhist philosophy & practice
  • Leave with your own commitments to a right relationship with AI
  • All sessions recorded and shared
RegisterLearn more
Available on request

Community Workshops

A facilitated introduction to AI for Buddhist communities: a short crash course on the technology and its spiritual and ethical implications, then open dialogue about how people are feeling and how they want to meet this moment.

Format
A two-hour session, on Zoom or in person (where accessible)
Length
Single session or short series
Who it’s for
Sanghas, centers & Buddhist organizations
Cost
Freely offered
  • Shaped to your community’s context and size
  • Welcomes practitioners who don’t use AI at all
  • Facilitated, contemplative, discussion-led
  • A shared starting point for ongoing sangha dialogue
Request a workshopLearn more

Writing

Dispatches from the field

All articles >

February 2026

Timeline of the AGI Movement

An ideological history that underpins today's AI development.

Read on Substack >

February 2026

Safeguarding Attention

A Buddhist approach to data governance — insights from a United Nations commission.

Read on Substack >

December 2025

Why Buddhism and AI?

The "strange attractors" between Buddhist thought and AI alignment.

Read on Substack >

Buddhism & AI
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