Donald Lopez: "The Case Against Tulkus: Ippolito Desideri's Refutation of Reincarnation"

Date
Wednesday February 10th 2016, 6:00 - 7:30PM
Event Sponsor
Humanities Center, Ho Center for Buddhist Studies at Stanford
Location
Levinthal Hall, STANFORD Humanities Center
Donald Lopez: "The Case Against Tulkus: Ippolito Desideri's Refutation of Reincarnation"

Abstract:

During his time in Tibet, the renowned Jesuit missionary Ippolito Desideri (1684-1733) composed a lengthy refutation—in excellent Tibetan—of the Buddhist doctrine of rebirth. He was especially critical of the famous Tibetan Buddhist belief in the tulku, or incarnate lama. In this lecture, Donald Lopez will discuss Desideri’s study of Tibetan Buddhism and his attempts to demonstrate the fallacies of one of its most storied institutions.

Bio:

Donald Lopez is the Arthur E. Link Distinguished University Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies at the University of Michigan, where he serves as chair of the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures and as chair of the Michigan Society of Fellows.

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