REVIEW: Book Urges Buddhism Without Belief

c. 2000 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Explaining the existential complexities of Buddhism is a bit like trying to nail down mercury. But with simple language and a straightforward approach, Stephen Batchelor demystifies some of the faith’s baffling paradoxes and strips away much of its dogma. Batchelor, who claims the unusual distinction of having been a […]

c. 2000 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) Explaining the existential complexities of Buddhism is a bit like trying to nail down mercury. But with simple language and a straightforward approach, Stephen Batchelor demystifies some of the faith’s baffling paradoxes and strips away much of its dogma.

Batchelor, who claims the unusual distinction of having been a monk in both the Zen and Tibetan traditions, examines his practice with the skeptical eye of the agnostic in his new book “Buddhism Without Beliefs” (Riverhead Books). In fact, he’d prefer Buddhism not be regarded as a religion, nor does he believe its founder intended it to be one.


“As Buddhism became institutionalized as a religion, awakening became progressively more inaccessible,” Batchelor writes. “The Buddha did not reveal an esoteric set of facts about reality, which we can choose to believe or not.”

What the Buddha did, he contends, is present four “truths” focusing on understanding the nature of anguish, letting go of its origins, realizing its end and cultivating a path of enlightenment.

Dharma practice, the Buddhist path to spiritual awakening, is a course of action, not a matter of contemplation, Batchelor says. The surest way to achieve awakening is not to believe in it; the secret is to stop thinking about it and simply do it.

But as Buddhism has evolved over the centuries, much of the dharma has turned to dogma, and awakening, once regarded as something readily available to everyone, became the exclusive province of the “detached and pure of heart.” In other words, of monks. This was not what the Buddha had in mind, Batchelor asserts. Buddha saw himself as neither a mystic nor a savior, but as a healer.

And he offered his “truths” as a cure for what ails the human spirit. He refused to appoint a successor when he died, declaring that people should be responsible for their own freedom and needed no spiritual leader or intermediary. The dharma practice itself would guide them to freedom from the suffering that is the human condition.

The foundation of dharma practice is meditation, and the author offers a simple technique that uses breath to calm the mind and focus the attention, quieting distracting internal chatter. Meditation also is the vehicle to achieving other states of being on the path to enlightenment: emptiness, compassion and ultimately freedom, or the cessation of the craving that keeps us always wanting something just beyond our grasp, and never able to be totally satisfied even if we attain it.

Batchelor devotes a chapter to each of these aspects, breaking them down to make them easily comprehensible while illustrating how each forms a part of the whole. The result is an engaging read that serves as a primer for the novice and offers a fresh perspective for those versed in the subject.


He is sure to ruffle some traditionalists’ feathers with his iconoclastic views. He challenges the fundamental Buddhist tenet of reincarnation, taking as always the perspective of the objective seeker. He encourages readers to use their integrity and imagination and follow the path to wherever it leads them; therein will lie their own awakening.

As he points out, quoting one of the masters: “When you practice, there is no distinction between the dharma and your own mind.”

DEA END TAMBURRO

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