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After Buddhism: Rethinking the Dharma for a Secular Age

Stephen Batchelor

4.20 · Rating details · 589 ratings · 76 reviews

Some twenty-five centuries after the Buddha started teaching, his message continues to inspire people across the globe, including those living in predominantly secular societies. But what does it mean to adapt religious practices to secular contexts?

Stephen Batchelor, an internationally known author and teacher, is committed to a secularized version of the Buddha's teac ...more

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Hardcover, 381 pages

Published January 14th 2016 by Yale University Press (first published October 27th 2015)

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Jan 06, 2016 Frederik rated it it was amazing

It would be a mistake to cast Stephen Batchelor as Buddhism’s version of Harris, Hitchens, or Dawkins. Unlike the so-called New Atheists, his objective is not to destroy or ridicule but rather to reclaim the Buddha’s teachings from metaphysical distractions grafted on throughout Buddhism’s 2500 years of evolution. Given that the Buddha’s teachings have been adapted and changed to suit the varying cultures that adopted it – from China and Japan to India, Sri Lank, Vietnam, and elsewhere – it’s en It would be a mistake to cast Stephen Batchelor as Buddhism’s version of Harris, Hitchens, or Dawkins. Unlike the so-called New Atheists, his objective is not to destroy or ridicule but rather to reclaim the Buddha’s teachings from metaphysical distractions grafted on throughout Buddhism’s 2500 years of evolution. Given that the Buddha’s teachings have been adapted and changed to suit the varying cultures that adopted it – from China and Japan to India, Sri Lank, Vietnam, and elsewhere – it’s entirely sensible to engage with the Buddha’s teachings from a Western perspective.

It’s a controversial effort, of course. The secular filter through which he interprets the Buddha’s teachings pulls the proverbial rug out from under many of the world’s leading Buddhist traditions, presenting a dharma stripped of the deities, superstitions, and even popularly known but misunderstood metaphysical concepts such as rebirth. His Buddha is not a supernatural figure, but rather a man who, despite his spiritual accomplishment, was nevertheless still a part of the world.
Insofar as this isn’t an archaeological / historical study but rather a hermeneutic effort, it would be an exaggeration to say that Batchelor is discovering the true Buddhism beneath the fluff of religious trappings. Rather, it’s about understanding the Buddha’s teachings in a coherent, rationally defensible way. His arguments in this regard towards a “systematic theology” are persuasive, well-reasoned, and empowered by their source in canonical texts.

Much like a purist Christian might reason from Jesus’ gospel teachings rather than draw on later additions such as the Pauline epistles, Batchelor turns to the earliest written record of the Buddha’s teachings, the Pali Canon, and disregards the voluminous number of texts subsequently written in later traditions such as Tibetan Buddhism. But the Pali Canon comes with a proviso. It was written 450 years after the Buddha’s death, after a long tradition of oral tradition and memorization. Like the Bible, it was subject to editing by community leaders. Batchelor, quite rightly, strives to distinguish between teachings that can be reasonably ascribed to the Buddha and ideas more plausibly attributed to later political and cultural adaptation. A key concern is the extent to which Buddhism was assimilated by ascendant Hinduism and inflected with metaphysical doctrines (e.g. rebirth) along with more practical concerns for ritual and other religious/clerical trappings. (To put it differently: the moment when Buddhism transitioned from a spiritual-philosophical system to a religion.)

By way of response, we find a backlash that is startlingly similar to that of religious (e.g. Christian) apologists and defenders of paranormal claims, such as Dennis Hunter’s piece at Buddhist Geeks (http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/2010/10/...). Aside from the religious perspective’s inability to fully grasp atheism as a philosophical stance and not a rival religion, we find the kind of calls for open-minded science – a science not limited to reductionist materialism, as it were – that really mask the wish to hang on to dubious concepts without either a) good reason and/or b) empirical evidence. The trouble with metaphysical claims, whether God or rebirth, stems from a sort of paradox. Either the concept is so vague and incoherently defined as to be practically meaningless, or the concept is precise but stubbornly eludes any sort of experimental verification. The result, historically, tends to be a reliance on the fallacious god of the gap argument – science doesn’t have all the answers, so it remains “reasonable” to believe in the truth of a metaphysical concept – or an intellectually dishonest moving of goal posts. And so it goes with concepts like karma tied to a literal understanding of reincarnation.

Regardless, as interesting as the discussion is regarding the role of metaphysics in Buddhism, it largely misses Batchelor’s point, which is that path to our liberation from suffering doesn’t depend on the doctrine of rebirth or any other metaphysical additions espoused by traditions such as Tibetan Buddhism, Pure Land, and others. His speculation regarding Siddartha Gautama’s biography sometimes give the impression of History Channel reenactments. But his straightforward description of the Dharma – particularly the noble truths and the eightfold path – demonstrates how the Buddha’s fundamental insights are entirely relevant to the West’s spiritual challenges today.

Essential reading for both practicing Buddhists, regardless of their agreement with Batchelor, and anyone interested in getting an insider’s perspective on Buddhism and its relevance to the West.
...more

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Mar 11, 2016 James rated it it was ok

Shelves: buddhisty-stuff

There is something strange about a “Secular Buddhism” that is self-consciously modern, non-dogmatic, that purports to be a scientifically and critically informed Buddhism, and which harks back 2,500 years to the “true” words of the Master. Yet this is what Stephen Batchelor seems to do. Seeking to develop a modern approach to Buddhism by determining what the original Buddha said (and then interpreting what he really meant).

In general I like Stephen Batchelor’s work. He is thoughtful, engaging, There is something strange about a “Secular Buddhism” that is self-consciously modern, non-dogmatic, that purports to be a scientifically and critically informed Buddhism, and which harks back 2,500 years to the “true” words of the Master. Yet this is what Stephen Batchelor seems to do. Seeking to develop a modern approach to Buddhism by determining what the original Buddha said (and then interpreting what he really meant).

In general I like Stephen Batchelor’s work. He is thoughtful, engaging, clear, and he makes you think. He provides a lot of interesting information, especially if you are at all intrigued by ancient history, early Buddhism, and what has become known as the Pali cannon. And he seems like such a nice guy. Yet, there is something missing. I believe this is reflected in his discussions of dependent arising, and nibbana. There are also I believe some failures of logic in the approach put forward by Mr Batchelor. Rather than write a treatise which would probably be nearly as long as the book itself I will limit my comments to some brief(ish) bullet pointed reflections.

• Batchelor’s general aim is basically an attempt to develop a modern approach to Buddhism by determining what the historic Buddha really said, and even more tenuously, by interpreting what he really meant.

There is a very protestant flavour to Mr Batchelor’s work, and too much of the popular, or at least the most vocal “secular Buddhist” approach. It smacks of a fundamentalism that gives primacy to “the book”, or to sacred texts. In this case the Pali cannon; and the earliest texts in particular. There is a clear sense of the early Pali texts as the true legitimate source of knowledge. These texts are those that fit the view of the author, or alternatively they are interpreted in such a way as to fit the author’s views. Now this is a slightly harsh criticism as Batchelor generally makes a good case, nevertheless these are the facts. Certain comments from the texts are given primacy over others. The argument goes that there were latter additions to fit with the cultural and political demands of the past. This does not seem unreasonable, and it is possible that some texts were also supressed, or lost, however this is not mentioned.

• The fact that the Pali texts are not really the earliest texts seems to be ignored. Those are the Gandharan texts. The oldest Pali texts are from around the 1800’s, and are based on earlier copies, and an even earlier oral tradition. Of course the Gandharan tests have really only begun to be translated, but the scholarship is clear, they are far older. They also show that texts from various Buddhist schools were written on the same scrolls. The feeling among scholars is that this indicates that the breaking up into distinct schools with their own primary texts happened later than originally thought and that those schools then purged or gave less precedence to texts that became associated with other traditions of Buddhism. That is, the Pali texts were edited, and probably edited out teachings that did not agree with their brand of Buddhist philosophy, or at least with that of the precursors to modern Theravada.

• Much is made of the fact that Gotama, the Buddha, was an human being, just like us. If that is so, then why is so much emphasis put on what he said, and on getting absolutely right what he meant, Isn’t it possible that among those who have practiced in the various Buddhist traditions for the last two and a half thousand years someone might have come up with ideas and practices just as good, and maybe even better than Mr Gotama’s?

• Batchelor’s view of dependent arising and nibbana (nirvana) appears very cognitive, and psychological (in the popular sense). It is explanative in nature. What is missing is acknowledgment of the importance, even the primacy of the experiential nature of these components of Buddhism as non-cognitively mediated ways of experiencing our lives and our experience in various Buddhist schools of practice. For example this is central to the Son/Chan/Zen schools. It also seems consistent with the story of Buddha’s awakening, and with statements in the Pail texts such as that quoted on Batchelor’s page 309.

In addition, while Batchelor claims that a secular Buddhist approach places a form of realisation before the engagement with life through the eight fold path, and the four tasks (four truths) much of his writing appears to describe the opposite. That is he describes a secular Buddhism that entails what appears to be a bhavana or a cultivation approach. An approach he attributes to more traditional forms of Buddhism. In my experience such bhavana approaches tend to be supported by the Theravadan schools, and perhaps some Tibetan, but certainly not the main Chan/Zen approaches. That is, it is certainly not representative of traditional Buddhism, but does appear to be the approach of secular Buddhism.

• He seem to make a big thing about “religious” Buddhism and beliefs in the supernatural, reincarnation, the exclusion of women from “the clergy”, and an antipathy among traditionalists towards those of certain sexual orientations - yet this does not really appear to be an issue in those forms of Buddhism which are primarily western. There are existent forms of Buddhism closely derived from Asian traditions, or even considering themselves traditional, that deal with these issues in a very liberal western manner. Some variants of the Sanbo Kyodan tradition springs to mind as examples.

Overall I believe that Mr Batchelor’s arguments are most appropriately relevant to those western Buddhist converts who adopt the belief systems of Asian cultures as part of their Buddhist practice. This would be a minority of western Buddhists in my experience; that experience is naturally limited, so I could be wrong. However, the real difficulty with After Buddhism is that it could give an erroneous view of Buddhism and its varied practices for those interested in the subject. It’s explanations of dependent arising and nibbana (nirvana) seem simplistic, and I believe misleading. Overall I fear the book might lead some readers to a superficial practice. An intellectualisation of Buddhist practices rather than to a practice which leads to a full embodiment of our experience, and of this wonderfully articulated method of experiencing this strange life we live.
...more

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Nov 25, 2015 Tom rated it it was amazing

With his latest book, After Buddhism, renowned scholar Stephen Batchelor continues to expand his vision for a “secular Buddhism”, a project he began nearly twenty years ago in his 1997 book Buddhism Without Beliefs. In that groundbreaking book, he sounded an urgent alarm about what he saw as the growing institutionalization of Buddhist thought and the consequences of such a rigid traditionalist approach. Now, in this new volume, he has put forth a less alarming, but still intensely urgent, call ...more

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Apr 13, 2016 Ken rated it really liked it

Shelves: nonfiction, finished-in-2016

I learned a thing or two about the Buddha, that's for sure. For one, I always thought he was top-drawer royalty, when really he was no big deal in the royal flush of lineages of India in his day. I also learned that the famous story of his striking out from the royal grounds and discovering sickness, old age, and death is made up. That shouldn't surprise me, though. He may have told the story himself, but he didn't live it in a biographical way. Certainly, though, it fit his dharma lessons. And ...more

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Sep 18, 2016 Michael rated it it was amazing

Shelves: buddhism-etc, zz-0000, phil-indic-buddhism, religion, philosophy, zz2015, aaa-top-translation, nonfiction, philosophycrit, all-five-star

180916: this is a very interesting take on buddhism. at the beginning the author describes in his project, a desire to update buddhism of several religious interpretations with a secular understanding, born of the 2 500 years since gotama buddha is said to have lived. this is a noble intent. this requires a lot of rereading and much translation to identify exactly what early texts said, before they were 'corrupted' or 'overwritten' by descendant followers whose additions, emphasis, exclusion, of 180916: this is a very interesting take on buddhism. at the beginning the author describes in his project, a desire to update buddhism of several religious interpretations with a secular understanding, born of the 2 500 years since gotama buddha is said to have lived. this is a noble intent. this requires a lot of rereading and much translation to identify exactly what early texts said, before they were 'corrupted' or 'overwritten' by descendant followers whose additions, emphasis, exclusion, of various thinkers and writings created the 'tradition', the 'canon', in view of politics and culture of the time...

i have read a few buddhism books, only in english, so i will not judge this work in the author's extensive translations. he is consistent. he is resolutely motivated by some desire to update and 'secularize' from the earliest extant work from say a hundred years after gotama's death. he gives his reading of the process of dissemination of original insights. he notes which common terms were added to express the practical, somewhat 'physician'-like, insights of the 'four noble truths' as some great, miraculous, wondrous gift that could only have come from a divine religious figure rather than a thoughtful, insightful, communicator who was human as they...

the author does not hesitate to re-translate early works and critically examine exactly when and how such generally applied concepts such as 'emptiness' of all things, can be drawn out of 'impermanence', but are in his reading not paradoxical and requiring the distinction of 'conventional truth' versus 'ultimate truth'. which means... well you just don't get it, listen to us. there is discussion of how rebirth and karma are not necessarily linked, that there was never any need to argue for these concepts in the various original cultures of buddhism, and the author usefully parallels such thought-worlds with our current natural/physical/scientific worldview in our place and time. the big bang, the extensive story of evolution by natural selection- these are generally accepted if not widely understood...

that the author returns to earliest texts both within the canon and eventually as written outside india, by the greeks, by the later europeans, is a useful way of developing a sense of early 'practice' of buddhism and also an understanding of how buddhism declined and almost disappeared in india. it is well argued that some texts are in need of newer translation, that sometimes history has been rather unkind, that there is a weight of conservatism that holds this way from maturing into a useful practical addition to our globalized world, that 'buddhism' as we know it might not be recognizable to that era...

i have read a lot of buddhism but not much ‘practiced’ it, in ritual or religion... i have read a lot in general. in looking for this 'secular' version of buddhism i seem to find many references/arguments/terms to have rather more 'poetic' values and i never much worry about contradiction and paradox or just bad logic. i find this with heidegger, who is here used as well. and then, something essential i would think, is the buddha's insistence that the dharma (teaching) must make sense, must be come to not as 'revelation' but as 'argument' to each and every follower. so 'original texts' should perhaps be considered directions to explore thought, to elaborate, to render current and consistent- rather than perfect and inflexible for all time, with only ancientness validating insights. think of buddhism as practice. think of the buddha as practical ethicist and not dogmatic metaphysician. this book is not the only book to read on buddhism but best read after some other texts... ...more

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Jan 23, 2016 Tim Hickey added it

Shelves: secular-buddhism

For the past couple of years I've been reading books about Secular Buddhism. I'll post reviews of some of those books soon. This one is the latest by Stephen Batchelor, a Buddhist who has trained in various traditional forms of Buddhism over the past 40 years, but after long reflection he rejected the metaphysical parts of Buddhist though (reincarnation, karma, etc.) and discovered that you can be an atheist and a Buddhist. This particular book lays out his view of a Buddhism for the modern age. For the past couple of years I've been reading books about Secular Buddhism. I'll post reviews of some of those books soon. This one is the latest by Stephen Batchelor, a Buddhist who has trained in various traditional forms of Buddhism over the past 40 years, but after long reflection he rejected the metaphysical parts of Buddhist though (reincarnation, karma, etc.) and discovered that you can be an atheist and a Buddhist. This particular book lays out his view of a Buddhism for the modern age. Many people are calling this Secular Buddhism.

The book alternates Chapters about Secular Buddhism today with Chapters about some of the important figures in Buddha's life, people who were not "monks" but were "laypeople" and yet still followed the Buddhist dharma, engaging with life from a Buddhist perspective.

This form of Buddhism is immensely appealing to me because it is a way of living, rather than a religion and, to me, it is a truly scientific approach to spirituality. It describes some practices (mindfulness meditation) and some ideas that help one live a life without much of the unnecessary suffering that we often live through. You don't have to accept any of these ideas or practices on faith. If they work, then use them; if they don't then don't. This is a "religion" with no required beliefs and where there are no authorities; rather there are people with ideas that you can explore if you want...

The goal of Secular Buddhist practice, in my opinion, is to achieve Nirvana and to act effectively as a positive force in the world. Nirvana itself is characterized by living effectively in a complex world without the unnecessary suffering that many accept as a necessary part of life.

The ways to achieve Nirvana are pretty straightforward and involve learning how to discover that you have much less control over your life than we think. Once we accept that much of our inner life (thoughts, emotions) are not fully within our control, we can work on taking them less seriously and seeing live more clearly without the lens of ego distorting everything. Meditation allows one to have some space without these automatic thoughts (or with fewer of them and more distance from them).

This is very similar to the approach used in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, where we learn to question our automatic thoughts and to explore the root causes of our painful emotions. In Secular Buddhism you can deal with painful emotions by recognizing them, labeling them, analyzing them, and then letting them go -- which to me means not spending any more time actively thinking about those issues.

I'm only a few Chapters in to the book, but I very much enjoy his attempt to make the historical parts of Buddhism relevant and informative in our modern age. I'll post more when I finish this book.

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I just finished the book and found it very interesting. The author has a vision for a new renaissance of Buddhism and he makes a case that the secular version he proposes is much closer to what Gotama, the original Buddha, was teaching than any of today's Buddhist sects. He makes an excellent case for this argument by sharing with us a close reading of the oldest manuscripts in the Buddhist cannon, principally the Pali documents, and looking closely at the meanings of the key words in Gotama's discourses. Another interesting approach he takes is to look closely at a few of the regular people (non-monks) that play a major role in Gotama's discourses as a way of understanding how he saw the dharma practiced in people who also fully engaged in life - from kings, to his personal assistant.

Ironically, all of this scholarship is designed to show that the historical Buddha would greatly disapprove of the current state of Buddhism, with its strict hierarchical ecclesiastic structure and dedication to "sacred" texts. The main message that connects with me is that what makes Buddhism work is the dharma, i.e. the actual practice, and that once we start along that path and enter the stream, we can, and indeed must, discover for ourselves how to live the dharma in a way that frees us from needless suffering and allows us to be more freely creative and effective in making the world a better place. ...more

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May 22, 2020 Illiterate rated it liked it

Yes, modernize metaphysics. But why not also ethics? Why adopt non-reactivity, compassion, and the canon, not spontaneity, hedonism, and rationalism?

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May 06, 2018 James M. Madsen, M.D. rated it really liked it

Shelves: consciousness, psychology, nonfiction, philosophy, religion-buddhism, history

This was for me an exceptionally enlightening (pun intended) and enjoyable read--and listen: for parts of the book, I listened to parts of the iBooks audiobook narrated by the author and found his voice and tone to be suggestive of both care (with proper enunciation, pronunciation, and inflection) and also caring. I've read several of the reviews on Goodreads and understand how some readers can accuse Batchelor of trying to remake Buddhism to his own ends, much as Thomas Jefferson cut up a Bible ...more

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Aug 13, 2017 Carol rated it really liked it

One of the better books on Buddhism that I've read and almost as useful and thought-provoking as Nichtern's ROAD HOME. Once again, as ever, "cultivating an awareness of feelings is crucial because many habitual reactive patterns are triggered as much by these subjective bodily affects as by the objects or persons we believe to be responsible for them". Ah those habitual reactive patterns, born of unmindful feeling states and unskillful thinking! Excellent analysis from a secularist viewpoint, co ...more

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Apr 18, 2019 Jenny rated it it was amazing

Shelves: non-fiction, religion

Phenomenal (in all senses of the term). I’m on board with Batchelor: Buddhism as a pragmatic ethics rather than metaphysics is the way to go.

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May 08, 2019 Lachlan rated it it was amazing

A wonderfully lucid exploration of Stephen Batchelor’s Secular Buddhism - that is, Buddhism for atheists and existentialists.

Putting the question of sanctioned doctrinal interpretation to one side (some of Batchelor’s translations and interpretations are contentious), this is a beautiful, thoughtful, reflective book about life, ethics, and morality. Hugely inspiring and highly recommended.

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Apr 04, 2016 Peter Landau rated it really liked it

Buddha died after a bout of bloody diarrhea, but Buddhists don’t wear red stool around their necks. Otherwise, the religion that developed after the Buddha’s death shares many qualities with Christianity: conservative, staid and dogmatic. In his new book, AFTER BUDDHISM: RETHINKING THE DHARMA FOR A SECULAR AGE, Stephen Batchelor tries to free the Buddha from the cycle of repetitive traditions that neuter his teachings.

Much like recent books on the historical Jesus, which exposes a radical Jew w ...more

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Apr 25, 2018 Angela rated it liked it

Shelves: audiobook, dharma

GOOD. Good. Actually, kind of a slog in the beginning. The first 50% of the book was a slog for me - I really struggled, ho jeez. 1-star start. But a 4-star end, really. I think I needed time to get into this: this is a DENSE book, it requires deep engagement, and that can be hard when you're trying to audiobook this on 2x speed while commuting to work and your USB-C cable keeps futzing out.

So, first recommendation: don't do this on audiobook, READ this instead.

Second recommendation: convert to ...more

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Oct 18, 2017 William Dury rated it liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 23, 2016 John Jr. rated it liked it

Shelves: philosophy, religion

This sentence from the publisher’s description puts it well: “Combining critical readings of the earliest canonical texts with narrative accounts of five of the Buddha’s inner circle, Batchelor depicts the Buddha as a pragmatic ethicist rather than a dogmatic metaphysician.” I won’t attempt to assess the book; other readers here and elsewhere have done that. I’ll say only that I was looking for things I can use and that I found some, among them the broad view of Buddhism as less concerned with u ...more

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Sep 07, 2017 Roger Morris rated it it was ok · review of another edition

The author managed to make a potentially intriguing thesis into a tedious exercise in retelling legendary narratives of Buddhism. I fail to see how spending entire chapters recounting the biographies of various Buddhist saints aimed to achieve his thesis of promoting a secular Buddhism for the 21st Century, devoid of ancient superstitions. Robert Wright has managed to achieve this in his recent book "Why Buddhism is True", and maintain a much more entertaining read in the process. ...more

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Dec 03, 2015 Chris rated it it was amazing

Absolutely fantastic. One of the best books I have ever read. Secular Buddhism the way Batchelor explains it is crystal clear and its implications are profound. If you are interested in buddhist philosophy without dogmas this is a great place to start.

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Jan 29, 2016 Josh Lovejoy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I rated this book four stars when I was part way through it then changed it to five once I finished. The structure is tough at first because it seems all over the place. But the end brings it all together so perfectly and connects it all with such clarity. Amazing.

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Jun 19, 2017 Jon Bash rated it really liked it

Sometimes a difficult and dense read, but so full of giant nuggets of wisdom.

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Dec 18, 2016 Jacques Coulardeau rated it it was amazing

Who am I to tell Stephen Batchelor what to think? I discovered Buddha in 1961 or 62 when I equally read the Bible, Shakespeare, Thomas Mann, Buddha, Marc and Engels, Lenin and even a little bit of Mao Zedong, not to speak of many other things and works like books on mathematical logic and building technology. At the time the Quran was not on my personal syllabus.

Buddhism never was a religion for me because for me a religion is attached to the concept of God or some supreme being and the immortal ...more

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Jan 13, 2018 E.P. rated it it was amazing

My rather faint and dilettantish interest in Buddhism has in recent years grown more serious, inspired in part by being seriously ill and unable to practice yoga as I used to, forcing me to turn to meditation instead. So I guess the people who believe that yoga is a gateway practice to Satanism are not entirely wrong.

Anyway, a regular meditation practice has led to an increasing interest in the philosophy and ethics of Buddhism, which, inasmuch as I knew anything of them, seemed more aligned wi My rather faint and dilettantish interest in Buddhism has in recent years grown more serious, inspired in part by being seriously ill and unable to practice yoga as I used to, forcing me to turn to meditation instead. So I guess the people who believe that yoga is a gateway practice to Satanism are not entirely wrong.

Anyway, a regular meditation practice has led to an increasing interest in the philosophy and ethics of Buddhism, which, inasmuch as I knew anything of them, seemed more aligned with my own beliefs than anything from the Middle Eastern monotheistic tradition. However, I still had and have a key problem with Buddhism, just as I do with any other religion; namely, that while on the one, instinctual, level, I *do* kind of believe in magic (I write fantasy, after all), and experience the world as being a sort of semi-magical, semi-mystical place where I encounter signs and portents, have prophetic dreams, and frequently turn on the radio just as that song I've been thinking about all morning comes on (all true things), I try not to get too caught up in believing that magic, conspiracy theories, and aliens have much impact on how I should live my day-to-day life. After all, when it comes right down to it, I never got my letter from Hogwarts.

Which is to say that I've always been skeptical of the supernatural, "religious" side of religion. Plus, it's *so funny* how religious doctrine handed down for millennia tends to be deeply sexist and uphold the social conditions of, say, 1st century Judea or 4th century India. I just can't throw myself wholeheartedly behind any belief system that declares I must wear a sign of authority on my head (which, for the record, is not empowering, no matter what brainwashed apologists might claim), walk x number of paces behind my (non-existent) husband, avoid holy sites while menstruating, or only buy slaves from certain countries.

All of which means that organized religion, even Buddhism, has never been for me. Which has not stopped me from reading up on it and thinking fairly seriously about what I might glean from it and how I might incorporate select teachings into my day-to-day life.

It is to just such people that Stephen Batchelor's "After Buddhism" is aimed. Dense and well informed from close readings of some of the foundational discourses, the book attempts to illuminate what Batchelor believes to be the fundamental teachings of the Buddha, teasing out their historical and cultural bases from their eternal truths.

Although Batchelor might argue with my use of the word "truth" there, especially yoked to the word "eternal," because one of the points he makes repeatedly is that the teachings of the Buddha and the dharma as envisioned by Gotama were not supposed to provide timeless, ungrounded truths, but rather a pragmatic way of living that reduced suffering in the here-and-now. Rather than arguing over metaphysics, the Buddha as Batchelor describes him was primarily concerned with teaching his followers to let go of reactivity, break their repetitive patterns of negative behavior, and act according to the wisdom and compassion of the concrete situation, rather than abstract concepts of right and wrong.

Batchelor refers to modern science, particularly evolutionary biology, as he constructs his arguments, but he does so, he explains, because that is the lens through which Western readers are best able to understand the world, just as the people of the Ganges basin 2500 years ago understood the world through the concepts of reincarnation and karma. For the practicing Buddhist, Batchelor says, what matters is not so much whether "karma is real" or evolutionary biology is "true," but that both of these concepts point to the fact that sentient beings live in a here-and-now conditioned by the actions of others and events in the past, and affect the lives of others and the events in the future in turn.

"After Buddhism" is not a quick read, and assumes a certain base knowledge of Buddhism and the dharma, but it still accessible to the lay reader who is willing to engage actively with the text. Strongly recommended for Western Buddhists or Westerners interested in Buddhism, especially those who may be struggling with some of the more supernatural or archaic aspects of traditional practice. ...more

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Oct 16, 2017 Eric rated it it was amazing

Shelves: dharma

The core of Buddhism is a teaching by one man, Gautama Siddharta. All the rest is ‘religion’: dogma’s, rituals, fantasy stories and shiploads of incense sticks. What if you would cut that all away, though? That is what Stephen Batchelor is after in ‘After Buddhism’, which I found to be a very lucid, inspiring and important book for a ‘post-credal age’.

First off, what was it that the Buddha was after?
[Gautama's] project was primarily ethical. He sought to establish a pragmatic framework to enabl ...more

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Nov 23, 2019 Justin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: the-path-and-the-way

Having read and reread “Buddhism Without Beliefs”, I went into this book with a familiarity with the author’s tone, ideas and approach. This latest evolution of his agnostic Buddhism (a term I self-identify with more so than with secular Buddhism) is a profound and thoughtful evolution of his ideas. I really appreciated and enjoyed the thorough research of the Pali cannon, his ideas about the differing voices and motivations for how it has been passed down and translated and interpreted, and how Having read and reread “Buddhism Without Beliefs”, I went into this book with a familiarity with the author’s tone, ideas and approach. This latest evolution of his agnostic Buddhism (a term I self-identify with more so than with secular Buddhism) is a profound and thoughtful evolution of his ideas. I really appreciated and enjoyed the thorough research of the Pali cannon, his ideas about the differing voices and motivations for how it has been passed down and translated and interpreted, and how he frames what the future of the dharma might and should entail. I understand the criticisms others have posed here about the confusion of promoting this idea of the buddhavaccana (what the words of the Buddha really meant) versus the way they’ve come down to us in regards to the very nature of oral traditions, the cherry picking of suttas and accounts and also the strange idea of both stripping the divinity of and humanizing Gotama Buddha while also unfolding Batchelor’s idea of his true intent and message as an ideal to strive for a though it were from an infallible source (for instance; his denial that the Buddha may have really believed in reincarnation or karma even though he discusses them throughout the cannon). Regardless, I really love and appreciate the way that he discusses the practice of the dharma as a way of life, a way of living that ultimately brings human flourishing in the here and now and was always meant to be this. I love the mysticism and the traditions of all of the schools of Buddhism but as a westerner brought up in the cultural context that I have been brought up in, I appreciate the ability to share in the ideas and conversation that people like Batchelor are creating about what it means to behold the beauty and profundity of the teachings of Buddhism while also not being a person rooted in the metaphysical worldview of ancient India. I look forward to expanding my understanding, my practice and my involvement in this conversation as it unfolds throughout our era. A very insightful and thought-provoking read. ...more

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Jul 18, 2019 Maughn Gregory rated it it was amazing

Shelves: religion-about-for-and-against, history-biography, south-asia, wisdom-studies

"To embrace life with comprehension involves coping. It has more to do with how we get about, deal with conflicts, realize possibilities, and engage with others than with acquiring knowledge of the nature of the mind or reality. Comprehension requires the opposite of aloofness; it requires being embedded in a culture, a language, a society, not to mention a flesh-and-blood body that inhales and exhales, eats and drinks, pisses and shits…. The knowing of pariñña is like the ways in which we know ...more

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Nov 13, 2019 Joshua rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Great For Thinking Through Buddhism

It's a very insightful book. The reconstructions of what might have happened historically from the various texts Batchelor pieces together are intriguing and convincing. I'm not convinced about the way he translates some buddhist terms, but I'm not an expert on the languages he translates from. I think what I have gained is a better understanding of the historical context of the establishment of Buddhism. Hoping to find liberation myself from the fears and anxi ...more

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May 02, 2020 Chris rated it liked it

While there’s a lot of slogging through metaphysics and semantics (very ironic given that the author states repeatedly that Gautama shunned these intellectual ways of teaching), Batchelor also pieces together a likely picture of the historical person, and there are also many insights. He claims that the core of Gautama’s teachings came to him over the course of years (not one day sitting under a tree) and consist simply of:
1. Contingent Arising - What I like to summarize as, “things happen, whic ...more

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Aug 11, 2017 Dave rated it liked it

Batchelor's goal is to get back to the historical Buddha by reading the foundational text anew and stripping out the cultural layers that were added to Buddhism following the death of Gotama. What is left is a pragmatic way of living that is not dependent on a belief in an almighty God or afterlife or dogma. Batchelor's vision is a city of secular Buddhist who practice the orginal Buddhas teaching by caring for each other and living in this world. His city is not a utopia or city of God like St. ...more

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Apr 21, 2020 Steve McCullough rated it liked it

Shelves: 2019-2020-challenge

I found much of this book fascinating and much of it frustrating. Batchelor is at his best when he puts a human face on the Pali stories and places them in historical context. He also offers some eloquent readings and interpretations of basic Buddhist concepts. This book is weakest when polemical, which is unfortunately its main purpose. Knowledgeable folks have sharply criticised his Pali translations and philology. More obvious and problematic for me was his tendency to treat sources and texts ...more

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Apr 13, 2019 Zachary Flessert rated it really liked it

Shelves: buddhism, meditation, non-fiction

This book is a starting point for the hammering out of the philosophical foundation of secular buddhism. By alternating in chapters that investigate the lives of Gotama and his followers, Batchelor writes a book that is critical and analytical of the source text material (particularly the Pali canon) in order to understand certain aspects of Buddhism in its early days to see if a secular Buddhism can be constructed.

I think Batchelor has succeeded in that, in particular in creating something tha ...more

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Apr 12, 2018 Roger Whitson rated it it was amazing

4.5 stars

I've read several self-help books on Buddhist thought, but very few of them match the erudition of Batchelor's study of the Pali texts in early Buddhism. To be sure, as other reviewers have noted, there's an assertion of an essential Buddhism in parts of the text that runs counter to its overall ethos — which is the only reason why this book didn't get 5 stars from me.

Putting that aside, it's a powerful introduction that is both historical and theoretical on what Batchelor calls "secul ...more

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About Stephen Batchelor

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“Instead of asking “What is the ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ thing to do?” the practitioner asks, “What is the wisest and most compassionate thing to do?” — 4 likes

“Many centuries after the Buddha, the Chinese Chan (Zen) patriarch Yunmen (c. 860–949) was asked: “What are the teachings of an entire lifetime?” Yunmen replied: “An appropriate statement.”6 For Yunmen, what counts is whether your words and deeds are an appropriate response to the situation at hand, not whether they accord with an abstract truth.” — 4 likes

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