Donald S. Lopez Jr.: belief

Transcript context

…That, to me, is the single best place to go for a comprehensive look at all of Buddhism, not just life of the Buddha, but this is about life of the Buddha. Other than reading your books, if someone wants to learn about Buddhism and take this tour you’ve outlined, what else should a person do? I think reading Buddhist texts in translation can be very rewarding. Works like the Lotus Sutra, the Heart Sutra. Take the famous ones. There are many commentaries on those works. The Pali Canon’s all been translated into beautiful English. I think to get away from the secondary sources as soon as you can and get to the original texts in translation — that’s the most fruitful path. If it’s partly an oral religion, one should just talk to monks? What’s the way to do that?…

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