Secular Buddhism
Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World
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Publisher Description
An essential collection of Stephen Batchelor’s most probing and important work on secular Buddhism
As the practice of mindfulness permeates mainstream Western culture, more and more people are engaging in a traditional form of Buddhist meditation. However, many of these people have little interest in the religious aspects of Buddhism, and the practice occurs within secular contexts such as hospitals, schools, and the workplace. Is it possible to recover from the Buddhist teachings a vision of human flourishing that is secular rather than religious without compromising the integrity of the tradition? Is there an ethical framework that can underpin and contextualize these practices in a rapidly changing world?
In this collected volume of Stephen Batchelor’s writings on these themes, he explores the complex implications of Buddhism’s secularization. Ranging widely—from reincarnation, religious belief, and agnosticism to the role of the arts in Buddhist practice—he offers a detailed picture of contemporary Buddhism and its attempt to find a voice in the modern world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
What if the aim of Buddhism was not nirvana release from the cycle of rebirth but thriving in the day-to-day grind of human life within a broader Buddhist ethical framework? In this collection of Batchelor's writings on Buddhist practice, readers get an overview of his perspectives on practicing Buddhism without its religious sensibilities. Exploring ancient texts and a cast of characters from Buddhist history, Batchelor tries to recover the historical Buddha and provide a renewed "Buddhist vision for our times," The goal of this "Buddhism 2.0" is doing something, not believing in something. At times, Batchelor (Confessions of a Buddhist Atheist) comes off as condescending toward popular approaches to Buddhism or religion in general, and he admittedly co-opts Buddhism's historical sources, plunders its practical ethics, and appropriates its philosophical premises for his own purposes. In the broader context of increasingly numerous secular approaches to religion (or religious approaches to secularism), Batchelor's work will undoubtedly appeal to many "spiritual, but not religious" readers.
