Posts Tagged ‘Stephen Batchelor’
Three Paths for Secular Buddhists
Introduction As secular Buddhism has become an increasingly prominent trend in the U.S., it’s a good time to reflect on the diverse paths being taken by those of us who identify as secular Buddhists. While these paths are not mutually exclusive and thus practitioners may be involved, to some extent, in all of them, they…
Read MoreVideo Extra: Vlog Experiment
Oy, OK this is another experiment. Mixing things up a bit, this is a bit of a “behind the scenes” vlog, talking about some history I’ve had finding my way with Buddhism and creative writing. OK don’t hate on me too much if vlogging isn’t your thing, I’m not big on talking about myself either!…
Read MoreStrong Views and Skillful Action
Western Buddhists tend to be wary of strongly-held views. Holding and asserting views with strong emotion or passion is often seen as a form of unskillful clinging, based on an egoic need to be recognized as right, a competitive struggle over who has the best views, or an aversion to another person’s ideas. Strong views…
Read MoreBatchelor's "After Buddhism": A Review
With After Buddhism, Stephen Batchelor continues his project of cultivating a secular dhamma. Batchelor’s book is structured as an exegesis of the Pāli Canon, focusing almost exclusively on this early material to reconstruct what might be termed a secular Buddha. This is a Buddha who followed a kind of Pyrrhonian skepticism about truth, who declined…
Read MoreMeditating Without Nirvana
Introduction A specter is haunting secular Buddhism;[1] it is the ghostly remnant of the non-naturalistic, supra-mundane dimension of traditional Buddhism. While we, as secular Buddhists, embrace the core insights of the Buddha about our human- existential condition, we need to usher this specter – the notion of nirvana – politely but firmly away from our…
Read MoreA Few Words on Bodhi and Batchelor
I would like to have more time to respond to Bhikkhu Bodhi’s recent piece on Secular Buddhism over at Secular Buddhism New Zealand, “Facing the Great Divide”, as well as to Stephen Batchelor’s lengthy response in the comments. Unfortunately time is short so I will be necessarily brief. Bhikkhu Bodhi Bodhi’s essay is something of an…
Read MoreBrahmali and Batchelor Debate
In my last post I looked at a talk given by Ajahn Brahmali on Secular Buddhism. Recently the Melbourne Insight Meditation Group released a debate that Brahmali had with Steven Batchelor on the same topic, which once again revolved around the central issue of rebirth. It raises interesting questions worthy of a follow-up post. (As in my…
Read MoreStephen Batchelor and Don Cupitt — The Future of Religion: a Dialogue
The following is a transcript from a May 20th, 2012 dialogue between Stephen Batchelor and Don Cupitt, entitled The Future of Religion: a Dialogue, chaired by Madeleine Bunting of the Guardian. Photo credit: Martin Zetter. James Blake, co-director of London Insight Meditation, writes: “This is a very lightly edited transcript of the dialogue between Stephen…
Read MoreTraditional Dhamma, Secular Dhamma – Stephen Batchelor and Bhante Sujato
This video shows a dialogue between Stephen Batchelor and Bhante Sujato about the practice of Buddhism and its relevance at the dawn of the new millennium. Moderated by Tina Ng. Of course much of the discussion is over the topic of Rebirth . . .
Read MoreEpisode 100 :: Stephen Batchelor :: The Awakening of the West
Today we speak with Stephen Batchelor about his book The Awakening of the West: The Encounter of Buddhism and Western Culture.
Hi, everyone. Welcome to this milestone in The Secular Buddhist podcast, as we expand into our third digit of Episode 100. We would not have reached this point without you, our growing listener community. And it is growing, as of this recording each episode is getting over 1200 downloads with over 142,000 total. The Secular Buddhist is usually if not always listed in the top 36 on iTunes for Buddhist podcasts, the FaceBook page has over 2000 Likes, and even our Twitter feed is seeing a constant stream of new Followers. We have a new website for the Secular Buddhist Association, designed for the development of community, with new sites springing up in other countries (more on that next week!). And our sincerest thanks to the many wonderful guests it has been a great joy to speak with. If not for you, this podcast would not have gained the attention it has.
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