‘To Live the Right Way’ with David Guterson

About this episode

David Guterson discusses his novel 'Evelyn in Transit' and its themes of Buddhism, faith, and personal freedom.

David Guterson is a writer based in Washington State. His new novel, Evelyn in Transit, follows the interlocking stories of Evelyn and Tsering, a young woman from Indiana and a Buddhist monk from the mountains of Tibet. Their lives come together when Evelyn’s son is revealed to be the seventh reincarnation of a high lama, and Evelyn must decide whether to send her young child to Nepal. In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Guterson to discuss how a childhood fight with a member of the Sakya family first introduced him to Buddhism, the remarkable story of the Sakya family and the real-life inspiration for the novel, the relationship between faith and doubt, and what it means to find freedom from the self.

People in this episode

Host: James Shaheen

Guest: David Guterson

Topics covered

• Buddhism
• faith and doubt
• reincarnation
• freedom from self
• interconnected stories

Keywords

• David Guterson
• Buddhism
• Evelyn in Transit
• reincarnation
• Sakya family
• faith
• freedom

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Sakya family

Books & works: Evelyn in Transit

Places: Washington State, Nepal, Tibet, Indiana

More episodes of Tricycle Talks

• Reincarnating the Buddhas of Bamiyan with Tuan Andrew Nguyen · June 10, 2026 · 49 min
• Writing into the Void with Ruth Ozeki · May 27, 2026 · 56 min
• Finding Balance to Engage More Fully with Margaret Cullen · May 20, 2026 · 1h 2m
• A Beginner’s Guide to Dark Retreat with Andrew Holecek · May 13, 2026 · 48 min
• Did the Buddha Really Teach That There Is No Self? · April 22, 2026 · 56 min
• Opening to Wonder with Ada Limón · April 15, 2026 · 59 min