Donald S. Lopez Jr.

Dr. Donald Sewell Lopez Jr. (born 1952) is a professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies at the University of Michigan. He was educated at the University of Virginia, receiving a doctorate in religious studies in 1982. After teaching at Middlebury College, he joined the faculty of the University of Michigan in 1989. He is the author or editor of more than 20 books, which have been translated into French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Czech, Polish, Korean, and Chinese.

Research interests

From the Univeristy of Michigan factulty web page:

My publications fall into four main areas.

1. The first is Indian Buddhist scholastic philosophy, especially of the Mahayana schools as preserved in Tibetan translation and as interpreted by Tibetan exegetes. Here, my books include A Study of Svātantrika, The Heart Sūtra Explained: Indian and Tibetan Commentaries, and Elaborations on Emptiness: Uses of the Heart Sūtra.
2. A second area is the history of the European encounter with Buddhism and the networks of influence that developed between Asia and the West to produce what some have called “Modern Buddhism.” Here my books include Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West, Buddhism and Science: A Guide for the Perplexed, and the edited volume Curators of the Buddha: The Study of Buddhism Under Colonialism. More recently, my work in this area has examined the period prior to the twentieth century. Here, my books include From Stone to Flesh: A Brief History of the Buddha, the translation from the French (with Katia Buffetrille) of Introduction to the History of Indian Buddhism by Eugène Burnouf (1801-1852), The Tibetan Book of the Dead: A Biography, and In Search of the Christian Buddha (with Peggy McCracken).
3. A third focus is the Tibetan author Gendun Chopel (1903-1951), considered by many to be the most important Tibetan intellectual of the twentieth century, renowned as a poet, essayist, historian, philosopher, and painter. Here, my books include The Madman’s Middle Way: Reflections on Reality of the Tibetan Monk Gendun Chopel, In the Forest of Faded Wisdom:104 Poems by Gendun Chopel, Gendun Chopel: Tibet’s First Modern Artist, and the translation (with Thupten Jinpa) Grains of Gold: Tales of a Cosmopolitan Traveler.
4. A fourth focus has been an effort to bring the fruits of scholarship on Buddhism to a larger audience, especially to scholars and students in other disciplines, through translations, anthologies, and reference works. Here, my books include Buddhism in Practice and Religions of Tibet in Practice (both in the “Princeton Readings in Religions” series), Buddhist Scriptures (Penguin Classics), Critical Terms for the Study of Buddhism (in the University of Chicago Press series, “Buddhism and Modernity”), Buddhism (from the Norton Anthology of World Religions), and The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism (with Robert Buswell).

Videos

Search for videos:

• Search YouTube for: Donald S. Lopez Jr. Buddhism

Selected videos:

• The Scientific Buddha: Past, Present, Future - "A Purified Religion"

  Description: Yale University (October 1, 2008). Lecture 1 of 4. Over the course of his lectures, Professor Lopez examines the origins of the association of the Buddha with modern science, considers what is at stake in that association and suggests new directions for the role of the Buddha in scientific research.

• The Scientific Buddha: Past, Present, Future - "Building a Better Buddha"

  Description: Yale University (October 2, 2008). Lecture 2 of 4. "Building a Better Buddha"

• The Scientific Buddha: Past, Present, Future - "The Problem With Karma"

  Description: Yale University (October 6, 2008). Lecture 3 of 4. "The Problem With Karma"

• The Scientific Buddha: Past, Present, Future - "The Future of the Past"

  Description: Yale University (October 7, 2008). Lecture 4 of 4. "The Future of the Past"

• The Unfortunate Idol Fo: The Story of a Forgotten Buddha

  Description: Harvard University, 2012. ...until the nineteenth century, Europeans regarded the Buddha as an idol and Buddhists were regarded as idolators. There were many questions surrounding the Buddha: about his name, about his place of origin, about whether he was a human or a demon. Focusing especially on the works of Roman Catholic missionaries to China, Japan, and Thailand, this lecture will trace the process by which stone turned to flesh and an Oriental idol was transformed into the founder of a world religion.

External links

• University of Michigan, LSA faculty: Donald S. Lopez
• "Impertinent Questions with Donald S. Lopez Jr". National Endowment for the Humanities. 
• "An Interview with Donald Lopez: On the Resurgence of Interest in Buddhism". University of Michigan. 
• "The Life, Death and Rebirth of The Tibetan Book of the Dead", Donald S. Lopez Jr., Berfrois, 13 April 2011
• "The Scientific Buddha", Donald S. Lopez Jr., 8 May 2016