Secular Buddhism
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Secular Buddhism—sometimes also referred to as agnostic Buddhism, Buddhist agnosticism, ignostic Buddhism, atheistic Buddhism, pragmatic Buddhism, Buddhist atheism, or Buddhist secularism—is a broad term for a form of
Secular Buddhists interpret the teachings of the
The secular Buddhist framework strips Buddhist doctrine of various traditional beliefs that could be considered
Traditional
History
Secular Buddhism has its roots in
The
Stephen Batchelor is a self-proclaimed secular Buddhist who promotes a strictly secular form of Buddhism. Batchelor was a Buddhist monk ordained in the more traditional forms of Buddhism. From his experience as a monk practicing Tibetan Buddhism and later Zen,[7] he felt the need for a more secular and agnostic approach. In his books Buddhism Without Beliefs and Confession of a Buddhist Atheist he articulates his approach to the Buddha's teaching, describes Siddhārtha Gautama as a historic person rather than an idealized religious icon, and scrutinizes typical Buddhist doctrines dealing with the concept of an afterlife.[7][8] In his book After Buddhism he promotes a skeptical philosophical interpretation of Buddhism akin to the Hellenistic philosophical tradition of Pyrrhonism. Batchelor suspects that Pyrrho learned some Buddhism while Pyrrho was in India as part of Alexander the Great's conquest and that Pyrrhonism may reflect the skepticism of Early Buddhism before Buddhism fell into dogmatism.[9]
Key concepts and practices
Unlike the various kinds of Buddhist modernism, which tend to be modifications of traditional schools of Buddhist thought and practice in the light of the discourses of modernity, secular Buddhism is founded on a reconfiguration of core elements of the dharma itself.[10] To this end it seeks to recover the original teachings of Siddhattha Gautama, the historical Buddha, yet without claiming to disclose "what the Buddha really meant". Rather, it interprets the early canonical teachings in a way that draws out their meaning in the Buddha's own historical context (the culture of the Gangetic plains in the fifth century BCE) while demonstrating their value and relevance to people living in our own time. Both aspects of this interpretation are literally "secular" in that they evoke the Latin root word saeculum – a particular age or generation. The ethos of the movement is captured in Stephen Batchelor's Confession of a Buddhist Atheist.[11]
Secular Buddhism proposes metaphysical beliefs and
Secular Buddhism rejects power structures legitimated by the metaphysics of orthodox Buddhist belief.[14] It questions notions of spiritual progress based on standardized prescriptions for meditation practice, as well as the idea that Buddhist practice is essentially concerned with gaining proficiency in a set of meditative techniques endorsed by the authority of a traditional school or teacher.[15][16] Instead, secular Buddhism emphasizes a praxis, encouraging autonomy and equally encompassing every aspect of one's humanity, as modeled by the noble eight-fold path (appropriate view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness and concentration). Such an approach is open to generating a wide range of responses to specific individual and communal needs, rather than insisting on there being "one true way" to "enlightenment" valid for all times and places.
See also
- Adevism
- Buddhism in the Americas
- Buddhism in the West
- Buddhist modernism
- Buddhist paths to liberation
- Criticism of Buddhism#Arguments of secular origin
- Index of Buddhism-related articles
- Religious views on truth
- Schools of Buddhism
- Secular spirituality
- Shambhala Buddhism
- Similarities between Pyrrhonism and Buddhism
- Spiritual but not religious
- Spiritual naturalism
Notes and references
- ^ Vernon, Mark (10 March 2010). "The new Buddhist atheism". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 22 July 2019.
- ^ Fronsdal, Gil (2014). "Natural Buddhism". Insight Journal. Barre Center for Buddhist Studies.
- ^ a b c Higgins, Winton (2012), "The Coming of Secular Buddhism: A Synoptic View", Journal of Global Buddhism, 13: 110–113, archived from the original on 2018-04-11, retrieved 2015-05-26
- ^ Fronsdal, Gil (1998), "Insight Meditation in the United States: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness", in Prebish, C.S.; Tanaka, K.K. (eds.), The Faces of Buddhism in America, University of California Press
- Tricycle:The Buddhist Review. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
- ISBN 9781611808186
- ^ a b "Buddhism Without Beliefs". Publishers Weekly. March 31, 1997. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
- ^ Bodhi, Bhikkhu (1998). "Buddhism without Beliefs: Review" (PDF). Journal of Buddhist Ethics 5:14-21.
- ^ "Batchelor's "After Buddhism": A Review – Secular Buddhist Association". secularbuddhism.org.
- ^ Batchelor, Stephen (2012), "A Secular Buddhism", Journal of Global Buddhism, 13: 87–107, archived from the original on 2019-07-05, retrieved 2015-05-26
- ISBN 978-0-385-52706-4
- ISBN 978-0465045143
- ISBN 978-0231106283
- S2CID 148960240.
- ISBN 978-0861715534
- ISBN 978-1590307526
Further reading
- ISBN 1-57322-656-4
- ISBN 978-0300205183
- ISBN 978-1451636017
- Higgins, Winton (2021), Revamp: Writings on Secular Buddhism, Tuwhiri, ISBN 9780473571399
- Payne, Richard (2021), Secularizing Buddhism: New Perspectives on a Dynamic Tradition, ISBN 9781611808896
- Stuart, Daniel M. (2020), S.N. Goenka: Emissary of Insight, ISBN 9781611808186
- Ward, Tim (1995), What the Buddha Never Taught, ISBN 0-89087-687-8
- ISBN 9781439195468
External links
- Secular Buddhism in Tricycle's Buddhism for Beginners series