Buddhism without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening

by Stephen Batchelor

If we try to avoid a powerful wave looming above us on the beach, it will send us crashing into the sand and surf. But if we face it head-on and dive right into it, we discover only water.

Dive into anguish, its just water in the form of a big wave

craving is manifest in a variety of ways: it extends from simple egoism and selfishness to that deep-seated, anxious longing for security to fear of rejection by those we love to

Craving for security and fearing rejection from those we love

The difference between then and now is like the idea of sex and the first experience of it. On the one hand, the act is a momentous and irrevocable step; on the other hand, it is just a part of life.

Realization like Sex

understanding anguish leads to letting go of craving, which leads to realizing its cessation, which leads to cultivating the path.

The process oc awakening

Understanding matures into letting go; letting go culminates in realization; realization impels cultivation.

The processs

As soon as understanding is isolated from letting go, it degrades into mere intellectuality. As soon as letting go is isolated from understanding, it declines into spiritual posturing.

All 4 as single simultaneous process

Rather than a creed, though, he saw it as a method realized through “the rigorous application of a single principle.” He expressed this principle positively as: “Follow your reason as far as it will take you,” and negatively as: “Do not pretend that conclusions are certain which are not demonstrated or demonstrable.”

Agnosticism As Method