Terry Lectures Will Examine the Buddha and Modern Science

“The Scientific Buddha: Past, Present, Future” is the theme of this year’s Dwight H. Terry Lectures, which will be presented by Donald S. Lopez, the Arthur E. Link Distinguished University Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies at the University of Michigan.

The four-part lecture series, which is free and open to the public, will take place on October 1, 2, 6 and 7. The lecture on Oct. 1 will begin at 8 p.m. in Rm. 101 of Linsly-Chittenden Hall (LC), 63 High St. The other three lectures will take place at 4:15 p.m. in Rm. 102 of LC. The individual talk titles and dates are: Wednesday, Oct. 1- “A Purified Religion”; Thursday, Oct. 2 - “Building a Better Buddha”; Monday, Oct. 6 - “The Problem with Karma”; and Tuesday, Oct. 7 - “The Future of the Past.”

Over the course of his lectures, Lopez will examine the origins of the association of the Buddha with modern science, consider what is at stake in that association, and suggest new directions for the role of the Buddha in scientific research.

Currently chair of the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Michigan, Lopez has written extensively on various aspects of religions of Asia. His books include “Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West,” “The Story of Buddhism” and, most recently, “Buddhism and Science: A Guide for the Perplexed.” Lopez also serves as chair of the Michigan Society of Fellows.

The Dwight H. Terry Lectureship brings to Yale speakers to discuss religion and its application to human welfare in the light of scientific knowledge and philosophical insights. The lectureship was established in 1905 by a gift from Dwight Harrington Terry of Bridgeport, Connecticut.