Secular Buddhism: Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World - Softcover

Batchelor, Stephen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0300234252 ISBN 13: 9780300234251

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2018

Synopsis

An essential collection of Stephen Batchelor’s most probing and important work on secular Buddhism
 
As the practice of mindfulness permeates mainstream Western culture, more and more people are engaging in a traditional form of Buddhist meditation. However, many of these people have little interest in the religious aspects of Buddhism, and the practice occurs within secular contexts such as hospitals, schools, and the workplace. Is it possible to recover from the Buddhist teachings a vision of human flourishing that is secular rather than religious without compromising the integrity of the tradition? Is there an ethical framework that can underpin and contextualize these practices in a rapidly changing world?
 
In this collected volume of Stephen Batchelor’s writings on these themes, the author explores the complex implications of Buddhism’s secularization. Ranging widely―from reincarnation, religious belief, and agnosticism to the role of the arts in Buddhist practice―he offers a detailed picture of contemporary Buddhism and its attempt to find a voice in the modern world.

About this title

About the Author

Stephen Batchelor is a teacher and scholar of Buddhism. He trained as a monk for ten years in traditional Buddhist communities and now presents a secular approach to Buddhist practice. The author of the bestselling Buddhism without Beliefs, he lives near Bordeaux, France.

Edition details

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0300234252
• ISBN 13: 9780300234251
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 296