Confession of a Buddhist AtheistDoes Buddhism require faith? Can an atheist or agnostic follow the Buddha’s teachings without believing in reincarnation or organized religion? This is one man’s confession. In his classic Buddhism Without Beliefs, Stephen Batchelor offered a profound, secular approach to the teachings of the Buddha that struck an emotional chord with Western readers. Now, with the same brilliance and boldness of thought, he paints a groundbreaking portrait of the historical Buddha—told from the author’s unique perspective as a former Buddhist monk and modern seeker. Drawing from the original Pali Canon, the seminal collection of Buddhist discourses compiled after the Buddha’s death by his followers, Batchelor shows us the Buddha as a flesh-and-blood man who looked at life in a radically new way. Batchelor also reveals the everyday challenges and doubts of his own devotional journey—from meeting the Dalai Lama in India, to training as a Zen monk in Korea, to finding his path as a lay teacher of Buddhism living in France. Both controversial and deeply personal, Stephen Batchelor’s refreshingly doctrine-free, life-informed account is essential reading for anyone interested in Buddhism. |
Contents
The Seminarian | |
Eel Wriggling | |
BeingintheWorld | |
Great Doubt | |
Part Two Layman Chapter 7 A Buddhist Failure II | |
Clearing the Path | |
Embrace Suffering Chapter 13 In Jetas Grove | |
An Ironic Atheist | |
Vidudabhas Revenge | |
Gods and Demons Chapter 17 Tread the Path with Care | |
A Secular Buddhist | |
Acknowledgments | |
Appendix I | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Ajatasattu Ananda arrived Asia asked awakening Bandhula became become believe Bimbisara body brahmin Buddha Buddha’s teaching Buddhist monk called century contingent craving culture Dalai Lama death Devadatta Dhamma Dharamsala disciples discourses doctrine Dorje Shugden Dzogchen eightfold path existence experience Gandhāra Ganges Geluk Geshe Dhargyey Geshe Rabten ground human ideas India Jeta’s Grove Kapilavatthu Kassapa King Pasenadi Korean Kosala Kusan Sunim Kusinara Lama’s Lhasa living Magadha Mallika Māra McLeod Ganj meditation mind monastery monastic Nanavira Nikāya Noble Truths one’s Pāli Pali Canon Pasenadi person practice question Rajagaha realized rebirth religion religious retreat returned Rinpoche robes Sakiya Sanskrit Sariputta Savatthi seemed sense Sharpham Siddhattha Gotama Songgwangsa spiritual stupa suffering Sutta Switzerland tantric taught Taxilā teachers texts Tharpa Choeling Thera things Tibet Tibetan Buddhism told town tradition translation Upanishads Vajjians Vesali village Western Wheel of Dhamma