Francesco TORMEN

Position
Adjunct Professor
E-mail
francesco.tormen@unive.it
Website
www.unive.it/people/francesco.tormen (personal record)

Francesco Tormen holds a PhD in Philosophy. He taught Tibetan language and literature at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice from 2020 to 2025 and is Director of the Study Center of the Italian Buddhist Union. He is a member of the steering committee, lecturer, and teaching coordinator of the Master’s programme in Contemplative Studies at the University of Padua. From 2010 to 2023, he also taught in the Master’s programme in Neuroscience, Mindfulness and Contemplative Practices at the University of Pisa. Since 2013, he has worked as an interpreter from Tibetan at various Buddhist centers in Italy. He is a certified MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction) teacher and leads seminars on lucid dreaming, integrating neuroscience and contemplative traditions. In addition to the Tibetan language, his interests range from Madhyamaka philosophy to Tibetan dream yoga and the interdisciplinary study of contemplative practices—with particular reference to lucid dreaming and non-dual forms of meditation—and, more recently, to the dialogue between Buddhism, posthumanism, and transhumanism.

Recent publications:

  • Tormen, F., & Mascarello, C., “Recognizing cognitive models as models: Critical meta-awareness as a key to exploring Buddhist practices and their contemporary applications,” Mindfulness, 2025, doi:10.1007/s12671-025-02654-0.
  • “Tibetan dream yoga and its contributions to science: Some insights into the new field of contemplative research,” in D. Rossi, D. Antonucci, M. Clemente, & D. Torri (eds.), Traditions, Translations and Transitions in the Cultural History of Tibet, the Himalayas and Mongolia, Rome: Serie Orientale 42.
  • Con gli occhi aperti. Il sogno lucido tra neuroscienze ed esperienze contemplative [With Eyes Open: Lucid Dreaming between Neuroscience and Contemplative Experience], Il Saggiatore, 2024.
  • “Buddhism Has Always Been Posthuman: Philosophical Contributions to the Transhumanist Project,” Canadian Journal of Buddhist Studies, vol. 18, 2023.
  • “Possibili contributi del buddhismo a un’etica del postumano” [“Possible Contributions of Buddhism to a Posthuman Ethics”], in Floriana Ferro and Luca Taddio (eds.), La filosofia futura, Milan-Udine, no. 18, 2022.
  • Gruppo Bhusuku (ed.), Lojong. L’addestramento mentale. Volume I. Opere di Atiśa, Dromtönpa, Geshe Chekawa Yeshe Dorje, Se Chilbu Chökyi Gyaltsen, Thogme Sangpo [Lojong: Mind Training. Volume I. Works by Atiśa, Dromtönpa, Geshe Chekawa Yeshe Dorje, Se Chilbu Chökyi Gyaltsen, Thogme Sangpo], Pomaia: Nalanda Edizioni, 2022 (foreword and introduction).
  • “Mere apparenze. Che cos’è l’esistenza convenzionale secondo Tsongkhapa” [“Mere Appearances: What Conventional Existence Is According to Tsongkhapa”], in Andrea Drocco, Lucia Galli, Chiara Letizia, Giacomella Orofino, and Carmen Simioli (eds.), Wind Horses. Tibetan, Himalayan and Mongolian Studies, Naples: AION, Series Minor LXXXVIII, 2020.
  • “Scienza e pratica del sogno lucido tra Tibet e California” [“The Science and Practice of Lucid Dreaming between Tibet and California”], in Marcello Ghilardi and Arianna Palmieri (eds.), Pratiche contemplative, neuroscienze e benessere psicologico [Contemplative Practices, Neuroscience, and Psychological Well-Being], Milan-Udine: Mimesis, 2020.