Born in London in 1954, Ratnaprabha (Robin Cooper) obtained a first in physics from Sussex University. He went on to study the history and sociology of science, and then joined the Physics department of the Open University.
As an undergraduate, he was drawn to Buddhism and its practices, and he was accepted into the Triratna Buddhist Order on a three month retreat in 1982. He taught on four other long retreats, leading the ordination course at Spain in 2001.
His teacher and preceptor is the late Venerable Sangharakshita, who gave him the ordination name Ratnaprabha (‘The Shining of the Jewel’ in Sanskrit).
Since ordination he has been teaching and writing on Buddhism and meditation. He has lectured on Buddhism and related topics in Britain, Scandinavia, Spain, and Singapore. He helped found the Cambridge Buddhist Centre, and was its chair from 1990 to 1996. After seven years teaching at Padmaloka Retreat Centre, he joined Windhorse:Evolution to explore Right Livelihood and ethical trading. He was the chair of the North London Buddhist Centre until the end of 2023, and is still based there.
