The Buddha is one of the most significant religious figures in history, but what do we actually know about him and his life? Which stories of the Buddha have overshadowed others, and at what cost? In his new book, scholar Donald S. Lopez Jr. explores these questions as he traces the life of the Buddha—from his birth to enlightenment and the underrepresented years before his passage into nirvana. Citing various accounts from the Pali canon and Buddhist sutras, and using French novelist Gustave Flaubert’s The Temptation of Saint Anthony as an unexpected frame, Lopez presents the Buddha not as the rationalist philosopher depicted by many but as the mythic figure that inspired a global following. 

Venerating the legend in all his superhuman glory, rather than searching for a historical figure, is the authentically Buddhist approach, Lopez argues. But “we need not abandon the search in despair,” he says. “Instead, we renounce the search for a self that was never there.” 

Join us in person for a talk and book-signing with Lopez to celebrate the publication of The Buddha: Biography of a Myth.

This is a free event, in-person in New York City. We invite you to purchase the book ahead of time with a 25% discount, or purchase it at the event for the full price.