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23rd out of 409 books
—
460 voters
Buddhism without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening
A national bestseller andacclaimed guide to Buddhism for beginners and practitioners alike
In this simple but important volume, Stephen Batchelor reminds us that the Buddha was not a mystic who claimed privileged, esoteric knowledge of the universe, but a man who challenged us to understand the nature of anguish, let go of its origins, and bring into being a way of life th...more
In this simple but important volume, Stephen Batchelor reminds us that the Buddha was not a mystic who claimed privileged, esoteric knowledge of the universe, but a man who challenged us to understand the nature of anguish, let go of its origins, and bring into being a way of life th...more
Paperback, 1st edition, 144 pages
Published
March 1st 1998
by Riverhead Trade
(first published April 14th 1997)
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Batchelor is not pro-Buddhism as a religion, or pro-religion at all. He advocates gently but incisively for a "passionate agnosticism"--admitting that you don't know and probably never can, but that this doesn't let you off the hook, since the attempt to find out is necessary to your mental/spiritual survival. He presents Buddhist techniques as common-sense, highly effective ways of dealing with existential problems, and Buddhist philosophy as a framework for understanding things that will becom...more
Feb 22, 2009
Wayne
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
anyone interested in the essentials of Buddhism, no nonsense stuff.
Recommended to Wayne by:
Big Sister Di !!
Shelves:
re-reads,
buddhism-self-help
To join the Big Clubs or Cults of Catholicism, Hill Song, the Evangelicals etc. etc one must accept a certain set of so-called truths which in no way impinge on the ethical. (I've known plenty who swear by the Virgin Birth but cheat on their wives.)
Buddhism, shorn of its religious trappings of prayer wheels, exotic names, orange robes, priesthoods, hierarchies and consequent blinding fog etc. becomes no set of beliefs but a way of behaving, which we often stumble upon ourselves through sheer c...more
As this gem of a book points out, "Buddhism without beliefs" is a redundancy. Batchelor cuts to the heart of what sets Buddhism apart from other world religious traditions: It encourages practitioners to question, to penetrate, to rigorously examine everything -- even the Buddha's teachings themselves -- and not to take things on blind faith. In other words, just because a religious leader hands you a doctrine and tells you to believe in something, that isn't good enough. The goal of Buddhism, a...more
This brief book is good in that it clears away a lot of the nonessential undergrowth of Buddhist dogma and schools, of which there seems to be as varied as permutations of belief in western Christianity. This undergrowth is the “beliefs” part of the book.
What Batchelor stresses is the commonsense and rational teaching of Buddha who came to realize when he was living in a carefree “palace” that his world was a false one that avoided real life with its frustrations and suffering. He worked out hi...more
What Batchelor stresses is the commonsense and rational teaching of Buddha who came to realize when he was living in a carefree “palace” that his world was a false one that avoided real life with its frustrations and suffering. He worked out hi...more
This is my second reading of this book. I can't remember exactly when I read it the first time; the early ohs, probably. But given some of the comments I'd made in the margins, I expected to disagree-perhaps violently-with a lot of it. I was pleasantly surprised.
One thought that kept occurring to me as I read was to try to figure out if the book was appropriate for beginners to Buddhism, or strictly for more experienced sorts. Honestly, I'm still not sure about that, because exactly how to clas...more
One thought that kept occurring to me as I read was to try to figure out if the book was appropriate for beginners to Buddhism, or strictly for more experienced sorts. Honestly, I'm still not sure about that, because exactly how to clas...more
I might use this as my standard recommendation both for
1. Fellow atheists and sort of Reason-oriented folks with a mistrust of religion. Point isn't try Buddhism, it's Different; as getting the point across about what Buddhism is about/after.
2. Folks who have embraced Buddhism but seem to have gotten the wrong idea about it (ha! as if I knew what the right idea was)
Quotes I found helpful:
"Dharma practice can never be in contradiction with science, not because it provides some mystical validation...more
1. Fellow atheists and sort of Reason-oriented folks with a mistrust of religion. Point isn't try Buddhism, it's Different; as getting the point across about what Buddhism is about/after.
2. Folks who have embraced Buddhism but seem to have gotten the wrong idea about it (ha! as if I knew what the right idea was)
Quotes I found helpful:
"Dharma practice can never be in contradiction with science, not because it provides some mystical validation...more
In my personal and soon to be trademarked ethical system, Don't be an Asshole, this book would garner a thumbs up and I'd recommend it as a guidebook for not being an asshole, with Meditation! Or if that is grammatically suspect using meditation to not be an asshole. Not how to use meditation in an non-assholically manner, but that might be the case too.
For some reason this book took me two months to read. At 120 pages, that means I averaged a whopping two pages a day. Yay, me! Not that I read...more
For some reason this book took me two months to read. At 120 pages, that means I averaged a whopping two pages a day. Yay, me! Not that I read...more
I picked up this book because my therapist suggested I look into Buddhism. Being highly uncomfortable with religion for myself, I sought out a reference that removed the more fantastical elements and broke it down in logical terms. This book did that in the first half - made the argument that Buddhism (the author doesn't even like the term) wasn't intended to be a religious doctrine at its inception, and that it is an agnostic "religion" based on what was referred to as a "dharma practice" rathe...more
For a long time, I have been interested in attempts to combine certain secular aspects of Western culture with Buddhism. Stephen Bachelor's Buddhism Without Beliefs is an important contribution to the effort to harmonize Western thought with the Buddhist understanding of the mind. Bachelor has helped me see that what I like the best about the West and Buddhism are the same -- the promise of a free mind. I can do without the rest -- the West's militarism, ideological conformity, and mindless cons...more
Reading this book was a bit like listening to my grandpa rant about LBJ's foreign policy decisions - he's probably right, but without the background to appreciate his frustrations, all I can do is listen and squirm awkwardly in my chair.
Batchelor's book is a polemic against the modern transformation of Buddhism into something as dogmatic and unquestioning as Western religions. He points out that Buddhism is a personal practice of continual awareness and questioning, not a set of beliefs, commitm...more
Batchelor's book is a polemic against the modern transformation of Buddhism into something as dogmatic and unquestioning as Western religions. He points out that Buddhism is a personal practice of continual awareness and questioning, not a set of beliefs, commitm...more
I bought this book because I'm going to attend a course of mediation organized by local Buddhist group. My aim is to learn concentration skills, set loose some creativity and achieve more self-awerness. I feel a bit uneasy with anything "religious", but like the fundamental ideas of Buddhism (or the little I knew about it) much more mature than e.g. christianity. Therefore, the title of the book sounded a good introduction for me.
Not feeling "enlightened" or having a new view to the world, I mus...more
Not feeling "enlightened" or having a new view to the world, I mus...more
Batchelor is one of many who shares the wisdom and teachings of Buddhism as a guide to life rather than a religion. He argues for an "agnostic" Buddhism by discarding the traditional (Eastern) tenets of reincarnation and karma. His sections on mindfulness, awareness, and compassion are excellent and his suggestions for meditations and what you'll get from them are clear and inviting.
I've had an increasing interest in the "secularization" of Buddhism in the same way the West has extracted and secularized practices like yoga. Turns out I live in ground zero for this, as San Francisco and the Bay Area are home to a number of Western Buddhist centers, particularly the SFZC (which I remember reading about at 20 at the end of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values ).
Anyway, Stephen is a voice for, as he calls it, "secular Buddhism", stripping the supern...more
Anyway, Stephen is a voice for, as he calls it, "secular Buddhism", stripping the supern...more
Like most of my Buddhist books, if you like Zen shit, you'll like this. It's like a comfort book for me. Very existential, very short, light reading. I'd recommend it, and you will probably like the underlying concepts of Buddhism more after reading it.
I liked this book overall. It was timely for me. I feel challenged and unsettled by it, in a good way, and occasionally I disagreed sharply. But I really appreciated Bachelor's open agnosticism and the positive meaning he gave to 'not knowing', and to the reflexive mutability of identity amid the contingencies of life. It was interesting being introduced to some of the basic concepts of Buddha teaching and some of the different ways it has been interpreted, sanctified, used, abused, reified, ins...more
A great book for those who wish to explore Buddhism, but don't believe in (or are agnostic about) things like karma, reincarnation, etc... The main drawback is at times the book gets a bit wishy-washy. For instance, the author discusses how Buddhism is about confronting these questions as opposed to getting answers. However, isn't Buddhism about overcoming suffering? Why even get into the search for meaning, especially since in an agnostic context, it seems like said meaning may not come? What v...more
Simply wonderful. I really enjoyed his phrasing of the ideas and how he logically dealt with the issue of agnosticism. I felt he was a bit harsh on atheists who I think at times can be just as thoughtful as the emphatic "I don't know" of this type of buddhist approach. However too many times I felt myself in awe with the profundity of his observations on life. It made me feel liberated from ideas I had about astrology, which now I can see don't have any place in my life. Not that they don't have...more
I think that Stephen Batchelor has written a very insightful book. Prior to reading this book, I had not really considered the notion that Buddhism could be "pared down" to an agnostic sort of endeavor via the means of meditation (or "zazen"). I have my own meditation practice and it was helpful to read about how one can immerse one's self in Buddhism without necessarily being "religious" about it. I do think that the art of meditation is something that should be accessible to everyone and that...more
I bought this book because I wanted to expand my Buddhist reading list beyond Shambhala books. I figured that would give me a fuller perspective that would help me both personally and professionally.
The book started off strong, but I have to admit it lost me. I like the idea of Buddhism as a philosophy rather than a religion, but beyond that there wasn't much in this book that inspired new thinking. I wasn't writing down quotes from it as I normally do when I like a book and want to remember a...more
The book started off strong, but I have to admit it lost me. I like the idea of Buddhism as a philosophy rather than a religion, but beyond that there wasn't much in this book that inspired new thinking. I wasn't writing down quotes from it as I normally do when I like a book and want to remember a...more
I've wanted to read this book for the longest time and it didn't really disappoint me but it was kind of underwhelming as anyone with some knowledge of Buddhism won't really learn a whole lot from this book and the argument is fairly simple and what a lot of Western Buddhist practitioners already believe, that the practice of meditation can be beneficial to a person without believing in rebirth or Gods or other realms. So, nothing new there. Still, it was nice to travel through some of the tenet...more
Yes, you can be a Buddhist without believing in karma, reincarnation, or deities. Buddhism is pragmatic, based on empirical evidence, and is actually a system of action rather than beliefs. The actions are what propel you to clarity, and equanimity.
This book is as lucid a guide to Buddhist practice that I've read, and as such is worth the read. I'm told it's caused some controversy in the American Buddhist world, but unless your a practitioner of the bells and smells of Buddhism, there's nothin...more
This book is as lucid a guide to Buddhist practice that I've read, and as such is worth the read. I'm told it's caused some controversy in the American Buddhist world, but unless your a practitioner of the bells and smells of Buddhism, there's nothin...more
Helped me understand more about Buddhism. I especially liked the information about how Buddhism was changed/corrupted from its original teachings, to include more dogma, hierarchy, and institutionalism. Sounds just like my opinion of Christianity. This book helped me understand more about basic Buddhist principles. Deep, but not written from a religious point of view. I liked the concept of being an agnostic, not denying God, but always searching and questioning and never really being certain th...more
Something of a guide to Buddhist meditation and practice. Batchelor discusses what it means to him to practice in the modern world the path described by the Buddha. He says that Buddhism has changed throughout history and that modern westerners can profitably discard archaic beliefs that have accreted around Buddhist culture and thought.
He argues that the Buddha's acceptance of reincarnation is due to his culture and points out that Buddha always said that dharma practice is valuable even if rei...more
He argues that the Buddha's acceptance of reincarnation is due to his culture and points out that Buddha always said that dharma practice is valuable even if rei...more
Good overall position for discussion for those of us who adhere to the philosophy of Buddhism but due to a life time of "joining" Churches flee from the "religious" tag. Its a fine line but one that needs much discussion. Why so many wish to brand Buddhism as a religion when in fact it is not, even the Buddha didn't purport to be a God or have any divine attributes has was very human; he was just enlightened! In that lies the distortion for those of us who wish to organize the mediation group in...more
Nice book. But I admit I got more out of Danny Penman's mindfulness book than out of this in terms of practical application of concepts.
One previous reviewer here has suggested that the question of compatibility between science and buddhism is moot because they are non-intersecting domains. That is, Buddhism is concerned with our state of mind and science is concerned with empirical facts. However, I must disagree with this (and I must agree with the Dalai Lama). Buddhism does make empirically t...more
One previous reviewer here has suggested that the question of compatibility between science and buddhism is moot because they are non-intersecting domains. That is, Buddhism is concerned with our state of mind and science is concerned with empirical facts. However, I must disagree with this (and I must agree with the Dalai Lama). Buddhism does make empirically t...more
Jan 30, 2013
Dharmamitra Jeff Stefani
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
All Buddhist
Recommended to Dharmamitra Jeff by:
Saramati and Sona
Shelves:
suggested-well-worth-it
I really enjoy Stephen Batchelor. A few years ago he was going to join the Triratna Buddhist Community, but I suspect, similar to myself, it is very challenging to be Ordained, regardless of how Affectively, or even ABSOLUTELY Going for Refuge to the Triratna (the Three Jewels)[ I make no attempt to mumble my speech when I state that I have Broken the First 3-Fetters, and this, "Entered the Stream", Thus, My "Going for Refuge" is more "Real", than simply "Affective" or "Tentative".)
But another...more
But another...more
It's long been a cause of great frustration that my attempts to investigate the Buddhist philosophy have repeatedly plunged me into the supernatural. Over the centuries, and in different ways in different areas, Buddhism has become a religion, collecting various ideas on the after-life, reincarnation, multi-incarnation karma, Buddhist hells, demons, and even a pantheon of near-divine once-humans to whom we are exhorted to chant or prostate or pray. Or any combination of the above.
And this was fr...more
And this was fr...more
As a modern reader skeptical of metaphysics yet long vexed by the problems of living as a conscious being aware of its own finitude, I've found this book to be one of the most enriching I have read in a long time.
I've been drawn to Buddhism because it coheres well with certain lines of inquiry that I've found useful over the years: philosophical traditions that begin with the Stoics, run through Nietzsche and Heidegger, and continue into modern discussions of epistemology and in certain science...more
I've been drawn to Buddhism because it coheres well with certain lines of inquiry that I've found useful over the years: philosophical traditions that begin with the Stoics, run through Nietzsche and Heidegger, and continue into modern discussions of epistemology and in certain science...more
Stephen Batchelor is an important author for anyone interested in Buddhism to become acquainted with. Many of the primary tenets of Buddhist practice are quite difficult for westerners to get to grips with and this book is probably the best primer I have seen. He strips away all the jargon and the religious mumbo jumbo that often keeps people from direct contact with a way of thinking and living life that has probably saved mine. The exercises he presents here provide an opportunity for first co...more
It's a good book, and I generally like Stephen Batchelor. But I have two main problems with this book: 1) he tends let his poetic flourishes -- which I usually love -- get away from him, sometimes making his prose seem a bit empty. Words for the sake of words. I don't that's actually a fair assessment of the book -- it's just how I felt while reading it. And 2) -- and MUCH more importantly -- I was expecting a book on how one doesn't need to embrace Buddhism as a religion, by faith alone, but, w...more
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“Great works of art in all cultures succeed in capturing within the constraints of their form both the pathos of anguish and a vision of its resolution. Take, for example, the languorous sentences of Proust or the haiku of Basho, the late quartets and sonatas of Beethoven, the tragicomic brushwork of Sengai or the daunting canvases of Rothko, the luminous self-portraits of Rembrandt and Hakuin. Such works achieve their resolution not through consoling or romantic images whereby anguish is transcended. They accept anguish without being overwhelmed by it. They reveal anguish as that which gives beauty its dignity and depth.”
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20 people liked it
“We could decide simply to remain absorbed in the mysterious, unformed, free-play of reality. This would be the choice of the mystic who seeks to extinguish himself in God or Nirvana—analogous perhaps to the tendency among artists to obliterate themselves with alcohol or opiates. But if we value our participation in a shared reality in which it makes sense to make sense, then such self-abnegation would deny a central element of our humanity: the need to speak and act, to share our experience with others.”
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8 people liked it
More quotes…
Thanks for such an excellent review.
I am on my third read, just trying to get myself back on track, after some family squabbles and everything...more
updated Dec 01, 2008 08:53pm
Nov 03, 2012 05:08pm