Buddhism Without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening

Clear, insightful, and well written. A must read for any rational human in search of a comprehensive set of values that does not depend on a leap of faith.

Stephen Batchelor has studied in several different countries and Buddhist traditions, but he thinks there is a core of teaching that transcends both the religion and any dogma. "Buddhism Without Beliefs" outlines a spare but elegant way of life and looking at the world that invites humans of every kind into the fold. When Batchelor talks about being “without beliefs,” what he means is separating vital teaching from formal orthodoxy. In the case of Buddhism, he goes so far as to suggest that the notions of rebirth and karma (the idea that our actions influence the course of future lives) may do more harm than good, and that they should be left behind as relics of another time and culture. In place of such creeds, Batchelor focuses on what has always been the heart of Buddhist instruction: the four noble truths, or as he strikingly calls them, the four ennobling truths. These include the fact of our dis-ease with life—what has often been called “suffering” and what Batchelor refers to as “anguish”—followed by the fact of what causes anguish and the fact that there is a way to relieve anguish, and finally a path that allows us to realize and embody that relief. Batchelor also addresses emptiness, the teaching that all people and things are connected in an ultimate sense. "Buddhism Without Beliefs" reminds me of the book of James in the New Testament, in that it is intensely pragmatic, and unsparing in its view of our human faults. It is not, however, without hope; Batchelor is no more upset with his readers than is a doctor diagnosing an illness. Identifying the problem is simply the necessary first step to curing it. The key words in Batchelor’s vision of Buddhism are creativity and freedom. Through practice of the teachings of the Buddha, we seek to obtain freedom from anguish, which is to say, freedom from the wish that the world be other than the way it is. In this freedom, we find the ability to creatively reimagine our lives and produce novel expressions of compassion, among others. This book is short and stark; hardly a sentence in it is without import. (Notwithstanding some of Batchelor’s early fulminating against religious institutions, which goes on just a bit too long.) Many of Batchelor’s insights are startling. He is not proposing something new, but artfully clarifying something very old. Although this book contains a few basic meditation exercises, it is not a book about meditation. And although it makes reference to the life and teachings of a figure called the Buddha, it is, oddly, not a book about Buddhism. It a book about a profoundly human problem, and a solution to that problem that can be embraced by anyone, regardless of age or nationality or faith. To achieve true understanding, of course, would entail leaving behind the need for this book, as one would leave behind a raft after crossing a river. But as long as we find ourselves on the river—which most of us do, most of the time—we need rafts; as long as we are adrift we need guides; and Batchelor is an exemplary one. ~

Clear, and beautifully written - lots of quotable passages that are illustrative of the essential point - the practice is the key Specific belief and/or tenets aren’t

I am so fascinated by the negative reviews of this book. One camp says there was too much Buddhism in it, which is an absurd objection, considering the title. If you didn't want to read a book that had *anything* to do with Buddhism, then this was a poor reading selection and your review shouldn't reflect your stupidity. The other negative camp says Batchelor irreverently strips the substance out of Buddhism, leaving us with his own watered-down version of a spiritual tradition. And while I disagree with this assertion as well, it is at least something logical enough to work with. Prior to reading this book, I always instinctively self-identified as an agnostic, with perhaps a curious interest in Buddhism. I am a psychologist by trade, and therefore a kind of scientist, and I prefer to interact with my environment from the perspective of using the scientific method to filter out things that are not true and clarify things that are slightly less true. I will spare you any unnecessary details about my personal journey from a theistic religion to a kind of nontheistic, optimistic, humanist, agnosticism. I will, however, point out the work of Dr. James Fowler, a kind of hybrid psychologist-theologian, who wrote extensively during his career about the stages of faith, the faith-identity triad, as it parallels to the stages of human development. This is relevant to this book because he outlines six stages of the way a person interacts with faith, and faith here is not necessarily meaning "a religion" or faith in unproven things, but rather the sort of cohesive structure with which each and every person uniquely views the universe and its meaning. Bear with me, this is relevant. As a person progresses along their life, they will evolve along certain relatively predictable stages of personal development. Of course these aren't ranks, or a kind of leveling system like in a video game. The person *has* to integrate certain things in order to move to different ways of integration and this can't be forced, or even taught, but it can be guided. Anyway, how a person interacts with their religious beliefs, or their "faith" in Fowler's sense, is directly related to this stage of personal development. Below is a brief list of the Stages of Faith, and they loosely correspond with age, however a 65 year old person could very easily be a Stage 3. *** The Stages of Faith: Stage 0 - "Primal or Undifferentiated" faith (birth to 2 years), is characterized by an early learning of the safety of their environment (i.e. warm, safe and secure vs. hurt, neglect and abuse). If consistent nurture is experienced, one will develop a sense of trust and safety about the universe and the divine. Conversely, negative experiences will cause one to develop distrust with the universe and the divine. Transition to the next stage begins with integration of thought and languages which facilitates the use of symbols in speech and play. Stage 1 - "Intuitive-Projective" faith (ages of three to seven), is characterized by the psyche's unprotected exposure to the Unconscious, and marked by a relative fluidity of thought patterns. Religion is learned mainly through experiences, stories, images, and the people that one comes in contact with. Stage 2 - "Mythic-Literal" faith (mostly in school children), stage two persons have a strong belief in the justice and reciprocity of the universe, and their deities are almost always anthropomorphic. During this time metaphors and symbolic language are often misunderstood and are taken literally. Stage 3 - "Synthetic-Conventional" faith (arising in adolescence; aged 12 to adulthood) characterized by conformity to religious authority and the development of a personal identity. Any conflicts with one's beliefs are ignored at this stage due to the fear of threat from inconsistencies. Stage 4 - "Individuative-Reflective" faith (usually mid-twenties to late thirties) a stage of angst and struggle. The individual takes personal responsibility for his or her beliefs and feelings. As one is able to reflect on one's own beliefs, there is an openness to a new complexity of faith, but this also increases the awareness of conflicts in one's belief. Stage 5 - "Conjunctive" faith (mid-life crisis) acknowledges paradox and transcendence relating reality behind the symbols of inherited systems. The individual resolves conflicts from previous stages by a complex understanding of a multidimensional, interdependent "truth" that cannot be explained by any particular statement. Stage 6 - "Universalizing" faith, or what some might call "enlightenment." The individual would treat any person with compassion as he or she views people as from a universal community, and should be treated with universal principles of love and justice. *** The reason why this is relevant to this book, and the negative reviews, is that people who find Batchelor to be a heretical Buddhist are roughly at a Stage 3 of personal development. We can all probably call to mind many such Stage 3 people of varying religions. Neither Gautama Buddha nor Batchelor can "force" anyone into their viewpoint (anymore than a psychologist can force someone into another stage of development), and when they read this work, they will most likely be offended, feeling the need to defend their faith-identity triad from a perceived threat. And this is a fairly normal response, to be honest. I'm not suggesting these people are "incorrect" either, but it's interesting to evaluate their defense of the organized religion of Buddhism in light of the understandings that Dr. Fowler contributed, and arguably, that Stephen Batchelor contributed with this work. In this sense I think that it is a wonderful thing that Buddhism has come to the United States, because we are many things, including being generally pragmatic and utilitarian. We are also influenced by the tradition of material realism and the scientific method, some more than others. This at times comes off to traditionalists as being irreverent or flippant, but it comes down to the burden of proof. What is the proof that reincarnation exists? Or that anyone's deity exists, including the deity of the major monotheistic faiths as well as the less acknowledged Buddhist deities... Kwan Yin, the Medicine Buddha, etc.? What is your evidence that karma is some intergalactic referee blowing the whistle and giving you a yellow card? Which is not to say that none of these things exist, but it is to say that we each have the responsibility to be present in our own lives, to be little objective scientists, questioning everything, and choosing to move beyond or remain ambiguous (until better evidence presents itself) about those things that are unproven or have been proven untrue. And this is what this book is about. Building yourself a light. Learning to question your existence with friendly curiosity, and not needing to be bound by the social control valves of religions.

Firstly the book is quite expensive, and to make it worse, it arrived damaged...Really disappointing... Anyway, let's head to the book review, which is the main part : Soo- I'm currently reading it and I had heard a lot bout this book befo- how it's super refreshing and a diff take on Buddhism- and honestly, that's what made meh want to pick it up!! And I'm glad I did!! Even tho I haven't completed it yet, I can already say it’s one of those books that really makes uh think without forcing anything on uh. It strips away the religious layers and presents Buddhism more as a philosophy for life- something that's practical and relatable even today! Stephen Batchelor writes in a way that's clear, honest, and very grounded. No heavy jargon, no feeling of being "preached to" just simple reflections that hits somewhere deep... I also checked out other reviews, and honestly, most people have said the same, that this book feels like a breath of fresh air, especially if you’re someone curious bout Buddhist ideas but not into the religious side of it. Overall, even thou my book came a little messed up (sighhhh), the content inside makes it totally worth it. I’m really enjoying the journey so far... Let's seeee what's ahead!

This author has been a revelation to me. This book bridges the gap between western and western thought. It is written in succinct prose and is easily understandable to the lay person. There is nothing nihilistic or depressing about the arguments. You are not persuaded into a materialistic view of the world, although the author is not a believer in God in the accepted sense. You begin to grasp the extraordinariness of existence without going all airy fairy on it. However, I can also see that to reap the benefit of these understandings would require a lot of hard work on the part of the seeker. You've got to know yourself very deeply, and this won't happen without loads of self-discipline in meditation and such-like.

Remarkable, very Insightful and inspiring book. Would give it 10 stars if I could

This is a wonderful book that I could not put down. Brilliantly written and with millions of nuggets of wisdom

Apres des sejours en Birmanie, au Cambodge, au Vietnam et autres pays asiatiques, fascinee par le bouddhisme mais un peu (ou plutot beaucoup !) perdue entre les differnentes orientations de cette pensee ce livre m'a passionnee. Il est clair, concis et bien construit. Je le recommande a tous en particulier bien sur aux non croyants et a tous ceux qui veulent mieux comprendre sans se plonger dans d'enormes ouvrages specialises J'ai un regret: j'aurais aime l'offrir a des amis malheureusement je n'ai pas trouve de traduction francaise.