<a class="_mizu194a _1ah3dkaa _ra3xnqa1 _128mdkaa _1cvmnqa1 _4davt94y _4bfu1r31 _1hms8stv _ajmmnqa1 _vchhusvi _kqswh2mm _syaz14q2 _ect41gqc _1a3b1r31 _4fpr8stv _5goinqa1 _f8pj14q2 _9oik1r31 _1bnxglyw _jf4cnqa1 _30l314q2 _1nrm1r31 _c2waglyw _1iohnqa1 _9h8h16c2 _1053w7te _1ienw7te _n0fxw7te _1vhvg3x0" title= "https://conversationswithtyler.com/event/austin-listener-meetup/" href= "https://conversationswithtyler.com/event/austin-listener-meetup/" data-renderer-mark="true" data-is-router-link="false" data-testid= "link-with-safety">Register</a> for the Austin listener meetup Donald S. Lopez Jr. is among the foremost scholars of Buddhism, whose work consistently distinguishes Buddhist reality from Western fantasy. A professor at the University of Michigan and author of numerous essential books on Buddhist thought and practice, he's spent decades studying Sanskrit and Tibetan texts, including a formative year spent living in a Tibetan monastery in India. His latest book, The Buddha: Biography of a Myth, tackles the formidable challenge of understanding what we can actually know about the historical Buddha. Tyler and Donald discuss the Buddha's 32 bodily marks, whether he died of dysentery, what sets the limits of the Buddha's omniscience, the theological puzzle of sacred power in an atheistic religion, Buddhism's elaborate system of hells and hungry ghosts, how 19th-century European atheists invented the "peaceful" Buddhism we know today, whether the axial age theory holds up, what happened to the Buddha's son Rahula, Buddhism's global decline, the evidently effective succession process for Dalai Lamas, how a guy from New Jersey created the Tibetan Book of the Dead, what makes Zen Buddhism theologically unique, why Thailand is the wealthiest Buddhist country, where to go on a three-week Buddhist pilgrimage, how Donald became a scholar of Buddhism after abandoning his plans to study Shakespeare, his dream of translating Buddhist stories into new dramatic forms, and more. Read a <a href= "https://conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/donald-s-lopez-jr/">full transcript</a> enhanced with helpful links, or watch the <a href="https://youtu.be/0FJWO7ONaGk">full video</a> on the new dedicated Conversations with Tyler channel. Recorded October 6th, 2025. Other ways to connect <ul> <li class="p1" style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> Follow us on <a href= "https://twitter.com/cowenconvos">X</a> and <a href= "https://www.instagram.com/cowenconvos/?hl=en">Instagram</a></li> <li class="p1" style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/tylercowen">Tyler</a> on X</li> <li style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> <a class="c-link" href="https://mercatus.tfaforms.net/5060931" target="_blank" rel= "noopener" data-stringify-link="https://www.tfaforms.com/5060931" data-sk="tooltip_parent">Sign up for our newsletter</a></li> <li style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> Join our <a href= "https://discord.gg/JAVWP7vTxt">Discord</a></li> <li class="p1" style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> Email us: <a class="c-link" tabindex="-1" href= "mailto:cowenconvos@mercatus.gmu.edu" target="_blank" rel= "noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link= "mailto:cowenconvos@mercatus.gmu.edu" data-sk="tooltip_parent" aria-haspopup="menu" aria-expanded="false" data-remove-tab-index= "true">cowenconvos@mercatus.gmu.edu</a></li> <li class="p1" style= "font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> Learn more about Conversations with Tyler and other Mercatus Center podcasts <a href= "https://www.mercatus.org/podcasts">here</a>.</li> </ul>

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