**Clarke Scott** is an Australian writer, thinker, contemplative, and former Buddhist monk whose work explores the nature of self, consciousness, truth, meaning, and lived experience.

Trained in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition — including study with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama and several renowned Tibetan lamas— he later went on to study more widely in the Western philosophical and Christian theological traditions. His work integrates rigorous philosophical inquiry with deep contemplative practice.

Early Life and Education

Born and raised in Melbourne, Australia, Clarke’s early years were spent immersed in musical exploration. During his first year at university, he encountered Buddhism — an encounter that quietly but decisively changed the direction of his life. Drawn to its philosophical depth and commitment to understanding the nature of mind through direct experience, he decided to leave university and enter the monastic path.

Monastic Life and Buddhist Studies

From 1995 to 2009, Clarke lived as a Buddhist monk within the Tibetan tradition. He trained under the guidance of the 14th Dalai Lama and other senior Tibetan lamas, engaging in a rigorous traditional Buddhist education in metaphysics, epistemology, psychology, and logic.

During these years, Clarke devoted himself to both meditation and study, participating in retreats, philosophical debate, and community life. Those years offered not only an intellectual education but also a profound apprenticeship in openness, awareness, and compassion.

Academic Work and Research

After more than fifteen years, Clarke left the monastery to pursue a Ph.D. at the University of Tasmania, where his research explored the philosophical topic of *self and personal identity* across both Eastern and Western philosophical traditions.

As part of his research, Clarke spent two years living in North India as a visiting scholar at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. There, he conducted research and participated in dialogues between Buddhist scholars, philosophers, and other Western academics — including a week-long conference hosted by the Mind and Life Institute, an organization dedicated to bridging contemplative wisdom and modern science. This period deepened his understanding of how philosophical inquiry and contemplative practice can illuminate one another. And also how disparate traditions can illuminate one another.

Following his doctoral studies, Clarke continued to broaden his education through an ongoing exploration of Western philosophy, Analytic psychology, and particularly Christian theology, with a keen interest in the Christian mystical tradition.

This reflects his ongoing commitment to a genuinely cross-cultural understanding of reality, experience, and being — one that integrates contemplative insight, philosophical analysis, and psychological depth.

Writing and Contemplative Life

Today, Clarke continues to explore the relationship between philosophy, contemplative practice, and modern life. He is the author of _Notes on a Contemplative Life_, a newsletter that weaves together personal reflection, philosophical analysis, and insights from over 30 years of meditation and study.

His work invites readers into a slower, more thoughtful engagement with questions of meaning, awareness, and human flourishing. His writing and teaching encourage a form of understanding that is not only intellectual but also experiential, grounded in direct contemplative perception and daily practice.

> "Philosophy and contemplative practice are not separate pursuits but two aspects of the same inquiry — one expressed through thought, the other through silence." - Clarke Scott