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 | | Buddhism without Beliefs by Stephen Batchelor ISBN-10: 9781573226561 ISBN-10: 1-57322-656-4 ISBN-13: 9781573226561 ISBN-13: 978-1-57322-656-1 Paperback 1998-03-01 Riverhead Trade Find Lowest Price |
Editorials | ||
Product Description Those with an interest in Buddhism will welcome this new book by Stephen Batchelor, former monk and author of Alone With Others and The Awakening of the West. But those who are just discovering this increasingly popular practice will have much to gain as well-for Buddhism Without Beliefs serves as a solid, straightforward introduction that demystifies Buddhism and explains simply and plainly how its practice can enrich our lives. Avoiding jargon and theory, Batchelor concentrates on the concrete, making Buddhism accessible and compelling and showing how anyone can embark on this path-regardless of their religious background. | ||
Amazon.com Review As in all the major religions, there is a wisdom behind the theology of Buddhism that informs the believer in daily life. Stephen Batchelor would argue that the difference with Buddhism is that the wisdom is in fact independent of the theology and is not informative to believers only, but to everyone. In Buddhism Without Beliefs Batchelor lays out the major tenets of Buddhist wisdom, commenting on their relevance to modern life. The Buddha said that seekers must find the Truth for themselves, and Batchelor offers this book as a roadmap. | ||
Reviews | ||
Grounded in reality This book is perhaps one of the best books on Buddhism I've read! Buddhism has a tendency to be regarded as a religion. Religions as batchelor implies are dogmatic organizations with beliefs in esoteric and paranormal things. His version of Buddhism doesn't involve believing things that aren't known. Simply it is a process of "Awakening". In much the same way that the scientific method is the process for discovering truth. He describes the process and what it means in simple and understandable language. For a beginner is Buddhism, that is quickly turned off by the "New Age-ness" and robes and reincarnation and mantras that comes to mind when thinking of buddhism. This book is an excellent introduction, it is grounded in reality but still inspiring and calming. It made me want to read more of stephen batchelor's books. | ||
Interesting book but didn't rock my world As someone who feels that too much superstition and religion has been wrapped around the simple truths of Buddhism, I was intrigued by the title of this book. In my case the author was preaching to the choir, but this would probably be a good read for someone who feels like they're on the right road but perhaps headed in not quite the right direction. | ||
Try and see for yourself. First of all I have to admit that I have not received my "Official Buddhist" certificate; it must have been lost in the mail. Despite this I will have to overstep the bounds of my credentials and say that I have confidence that if Shakyamuni Buddha was writing a review of this book he would simply say "try it and see for yourself." Perhaps he would even add, "Be wary of people who tell you to accept ideas that you cannot verify for yourself, through your own experience." This is the only test. Your life has nothing to do with my opinion, and even less to do with laying faith in something out of fear of the reprimands from the self proclaimed "higher-ups". I will even go against these declarations of inferiority-by-unorthodoxy by characterizing Buddhism as a living tradition that has continuously developed along lines of unorthodoxy, beginning with the Buddha himself. I would like to think that much of the criticism of this book is done out of love for the traditions and cultures through which Buddhism comes to us. The beauty of the Buddha's message is that whenever it has crossed cultural borders, or is faced with institutionalization and codification, it always seems to emerge renewed, refreshed, and alive, with new words and new ways to reach many different minds, with a respect and reverence for all things, all views, and all paths. The tradition should be a vehicle for a message of release from attachments, and should not simply become another attachment. This is the truest tradition of Buddhism of which I am aware (look and see for yourself), and that is where this book fits in. The audio version is excellent, perhaps better, and it contains clarifications of many things in the book that orthodox traditionalists or "conservative Buddhists" may take issue with. My advice, get both. A lotus for you, a Buddha to be. | ||
Healthy and attitude changing This book is a keeper to refer to for many years to come. I look forward to my second reading with as much enthusiasm as I did when I first bought it. This path can be more easily interpreted by western minds, without instilling any concerns about conflicts with other belief-based religions. In this way a Christian (or any other religion) reader can start to few other paths without challenging any of their "beliefs". Any work that brings different sects / faiths / belief structures to more common and positive ground is healthy and may facilitate contructive and peaceful change. There are many paths to enlightenment. This book illuminates one such path, that can also be followed by most believers of other faiths. Did Sittharra state something like - let each of you go out and serve, but let no two of you take the same path? As a Christian, I found the book to be outstanding, attitude changing, healthy and constructive reading. Another good book to help understand other viewpoints is "The World's Religions" by Huston Smith. | ||
Buddhism Without Beliefs This book is excellent reading. The meditation and Buddhist study group (Sangha) I belong to bought several of these books. We read them as a group after our meditation. We thoroughly enjoy the way that it is written. We never seem to read very far into the book as the conversation started by the topics, is always fascinating. I think this book best for someone with good foundational Buddhist knowledge. I think that some of the topics require more basic explanation before they can be appreciated in this book. Buddhism without Beliefs | ||