Donald S. Lopez Jr.

Donald S. Lopez Jr.
Religion	Tibetan Buddhism
Education	University of Virginia
Personal
Born	1952 Washington, D.C
Senior posting
Based in	University of Michigan

Donald Sewell Lopez Jr. (born 1952) is the Arthur E. Link Distinguished University Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies at the University of Michigan, in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures.^[1]

Life

Lopez was born in Washington, D.C. and is the son of U.S. Air Force pilot and Smithsonian Institution official Donald Lopez. He was educated at the University of Virginia, receiving a B.A. (Hons) in Religious Studies in 1974, an M.A. in Buddhist Studies in 1977, and his doctorate in Buddhist Studies in 1982.^[1] He is married to another prominent Religious Studies scholar, Tomoko Masuzawa.^[2]

Lopez is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has written and edited many books on various aspects of the religions of Asia. He specializes in late Indian Mahayana Buddhism and in Tibetan Buddhism and commands classical and colloquial Tibetan.^[3] In 2008 he gave a four talks on The Scientific Buddha: Past, Present, Future as part of a Dwight H. Terry Lectureship at Yale University. In 2012 he delivered the Edwin O. Reischauer Lectures at Harvard, "The White Lama Ippolito".

He is a long-term associate of Yale professor of New Testament studies Dale Martin.^[4]

Books published

As author

• From Stone to Flesh: A Short History of the Buddha, The University of Chicago Press, 2013.
• The Scientific Buddha: His Short and Happy Life. Yale University Press. 25 September 2012. ISBN 978-0-300-15912-7. ^[5]
• "The Tibetan Book of the Dead": A Biography. Princeton University Press. 7 February 2011. ISBN 1-4008-3804-5.
• Buddhism and Science: A Guide for the Perplexed. The University of Chicago Press. 15 May 2009. ISBN 978-0-226-49324-4.
• The Madman’s Middle Way, The University of Chicago Press, 2005.
• Buddhism: An Introduction and Guide, Penguin UK, 2001; published in US as The Story of Buddhism, Harper: San Francisco, 2001
  • Italian translation, Che cos'è il Buddhismo, Rome, Ubaldini Editore, 2002.
  • Czech edition, 2003.
  • Spanish edition, 2009.
• Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West. University of Chicago Press. 1 May 1999. ISBN 978-0-226-49311-4.
  • Italian translation, Prigionieri di Shangri-La, Rome, Ubaldini Editore, 1999.
  • French translation, Fascination tibétaine : du bouddhisme, de l'Occident et de quelques mythes, Paris, Éditions Autrement, 2003.
• Elaborations on Emptiness: Uses of the Heart Sutra, Princeton University Press, 1996; reprint edition, Munshiram Manoharlal, 1998.
• The Heart Sutra Explained: Indian and Tibetan Commentaries. SUNY Press. 1988. ISBN 978-0-88706-589-7.
• A Study of Svatantrika, Snow Lion Press, an imprint of Shambhala Publications, 1987.
• Co-authored and co-edited the award-winning The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. See § As editor for details.

As editor

• Robert E. Buswell Jr. & Donald S. Lopez Jr., authors and editors. The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University Press, 2013, ISBN 9780691157863.^[6]
• Donald S. Lopez Jr., ed. Buddhism in Practice, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995, ISBN 978-8121508322. Abridged edition, 2007, ISBN 978-0691129686.

See also

• Buddhism and science
• Shangri-la

References

1. Donald S. Lopez Jr. at the Wayback Machine (archived May 28, 2008)
2. Lopez, Donald S. Jr. Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West. Chicago, University of Chicago Press: 1998, x
3. University of Michigan
4. Donald Lopez (introduction Dale Martin) (2008). The Scientific Buddha: Past, Present, Future - "A Purified Religion" (lecturer introduction) (YouTube video). Yale University. Event occurs at 01:35~02:31. Retrieved April 23, 2015. I've known Don Lopez for about twenty years. I began teaching at Duke University in 1988, and Don's wife, Tomoko Masuzawa, who is a theorist in religious studies, was in the Religious Studies Department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, just down the road. Don, who was just about to start teaching then at the University of Michigan, would be in Chapel Hill regularly. We all became not only colleagues and regular dialogue partners on issues of religion and culture; we also became good friends. We've eaten many dinners together, and drunk much wine; we've commiserated together through many disappointing political seasons, especially, it seems, in North Carolina during the Jesse Helms Dark Ages. But we've also vacationed together on the beaches in North Carolina. Both Tomoko and Don are valued friends, and it's with real joy and affection that I introduce him tonight.
5. "Book Review: Donald Lopez on Buddhism and Science". Seculal Buddhist Association. October 10, 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
6. From source mentioned and linked to in the text. Page iv describes them both as both authors and editors. Retrieved 28 August 2016. "Winner of the 2015 Dartmouth Medal, Reference and User Services Association of the American Library Association. One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles Top 25 Academic Books for 2014."

External links

External video

The Scientific Buddha: Past, Present, Future - "A Purified Religion", Yale University, October 1, 2008

The Unfortunate Idol Fo: The Story of a Forgotten Buddha, Fairbank Center, Harvard University, April 17, 2012

• "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., 08 May 2016