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| Buddhist Geeks | |
|---|---|
| Name | Buddhist Geeks |
| Formation | 2006 |
| Founders | Vince Horn, Dharmachari Nagaraja, Reid Hoffman |
| Headquarters | Seattle, Washington |
Buddhist Geeks is an organization and online community that combines contemporary technology, modern neuroscience, and traditional Buddhist teachings to explore meditation, ethics, and contemplative practice. It produces podcasts, conferences, online courses, and publications that bridge figures from Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana, and secular mindfulness movements with voices from Silicon Valley, cognitive science, and journalism. The project has engaged teachers, researchers, entrepreneurs, and activists in forums that intersect with contemporary culture, meditation research, and digital innovation.
Buddhist Geeks emerged during the mid-2000s alongside the rise of podcasting, digital media, and intersections between Buddhist practice and Western institutions such as Stanford University, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California, Berkeley, and Oxford University. Its timeline parallels movements including the secular mindfulness initiatives of Jon Kabat-Zinn, the contemplative neuroscience work of Richard Davidson, and the meditation teaching networks of Thich Nhat Hanh, Dalai Lama, Tenzin Palmo, Ajahn Chah, and Sharon Salzberg. The project developed podcasts and conferences that converged on platforms and communities similar to those of TED Conferences, SXSW, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook entrepreneurs and researchers. Over time it hosted events that featured guests from institutions such as Princeton University, Columbia University, Yale University, and Cornell University.
Founders and prominent contributors include figures associated with technology and Dharma transmission such as Vince Horn and Reid Hoffman alongside teachers and scholars from diverse lineages. Guests and collaborators have included teachers linked to Zen Center, Insight Meditation Society, Shambhala International, Triratna Buddhist Community, and monasteries like Nalanda Monastery and Tibetan Buddhist Monastery. Scholars and scientists who have appeared include researchers from University of Pennsylvania, University College London, McGill University, UCLA, and University of Toronto. The roster of interviewees and presenters spans well-known meditation teachers and authors such as Jack Kornfield, Joseph Goldstein, Pema Chödrön, S.N. Goenka, Shunryu Suzuki, and secular influencers connected to Oprah Winfrey, The New York Times, Wired (magazine), and The Guardian.
Buddhist Geeks organizes conferences, meditation retreats, online courses, and collaborative projects that engage practitioners, scientists, and entrepreneurs. Conference programming has echoed formats used by South by Southwest, Burning Man, and Wisdom 2.0 while inviting speakers from institutions like Stanford School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Johns Hopkins University, Salk Institute, and Allen Institute for Brain Science. Educational offerings have included curricula influenced by research from Max Planck Society, Karolinska Institute, Scripps Research, and clinical work at Mayo Clinic. Retreat models have drawn on monastic traditions represented by abbots and teachers associated with Wat Pa Nanachat, Amaravati Buddhist Monastery, and Kagyu Samye Ling.
The organization produces a flagship podcast and numerous episodes featuring conversations with teachers, scientists, and technologists akin to programs on NPR, BBC Radio, and PRI. Its media output interacts with publications and authors from outlets such as Harvard Business Review, Scientific American, Nature, Science (journal), The Atlantic, The New Yorker, and The Washington Post. Contributors include authors and researchers like Daniel Goleman, Sam Harris, Andrew Newberg, Christina Feldman, and Tricycle (magazine) contributors. Multimedia initiatives have involved filmmakers, photographers, and designers who have worked with festivals and institutions including Sundance Film Festival, MoMA, and Tate Modern.
Buddhist Geeks interprets contemplative practice through lenses informed by neuroscientific research, evidence-based psychotherapy, and modern pedagogy. Its approaches intersect with cognitive science figures such as Daniel Kahneman, Steven Pinker, Antonio Damasio, Anil Seth, and clinical innovators at Massachusetts General Hospital and Stanford School of Medicine. The project has influenced conversations around secular mindfulness popularized by Jon Kabat-Zinn and institutionalized through programs at NHS (United Kingdom), Veterans Health Administration, and university wellness centers. It engages dialogue with Buddhist lineages represented by teachers linked to Rinzai, Sōtō, Theravada, Vajrayana, and contemporary Western sanghas associated with Dharma Punk and socially engaged movements connected to Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama initiatives.
Reception has ranged from praise in progressive media outlets like Wired (magazine), The New York Times, and The Guardian to critique from traditionalists within monastic communities and academic scholars from Harvard Divinity School, University of Chicago Divinity School, and University of Cambridge regarding secularization, commodification, and technological reframing of practice. Critics draw on debates involving authors and commentators such as Evan Thompson, Rupert Gethin, David Loy, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, and institutions concerned with preservation of lineage and monastic protocols at places like Mahabodhi Society and Rumtek Monastery. Defenders cite interdisciplinary exchange with figures from neuroscience, psychology, and technology as necessary for contemporary adaptation and ethical application in contexts such as corporate wellness and clinical therapy.
Category:Buddhist organizations in the United States