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Buddhism is not a religion at all\u2013\u2013at the same time, it\u2019s the true essence of all religions. And yet it is also compatible with science, or even a \u201cmind science\u201d itself. Do these ideas sound familiar? They\u2019re part of a constellation of claims that scholar Evan Thompson calls \u201cBuddhist exceptionalism,\u201d the idea that Buddhism stands apart from all other religions as uniquely rational. Evan is a professor of philosophy at the University of British Columbia as well as a longtime fellow at the Mind and Life Institute, which examines the intersection of science and contemplative wisdom. However, in his new book\u2014provocatively titled Why I\u2019m Not a Buddhist\u2014Evan argues that Buddhism and science are not uniquely compatible, despite what many have claimed, and challenges the popular modernist belief that science can validate Buddhism\u2019s soteriological and ontological goals. Here, Evan talks with Tricycle Editor and Publisher James Shaheen to discuss the problems with Buddhist modernism, his own spiritual and philosophical journey, and why he is, in fact, not a Buddhist.