Customer Reviews

Confession of a Buddhist Atheist

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

At the end of "Confession of a Buddhist Atheist", Stephen Batchelor speaks briefly of the collage art he creates from found materials. This book is something of a collage, pieced together with three major themes, the whole forming a work that is complete and beautiful, with a wholly admirable integrity.

The first theme is expressed as a memoir. Batchelor tells us, with just enough detail to bring the story to vivid life without distracting us from its narrative course, how he journeyed from a childhood in provincial England, raised without religious indoctrination by a single mother, through a classic '60s-style road trip, with plenty of drugs, little money and no clear end in mind, Eastward through Afghanistan and Pakistan to Daramsala, where the young Dalai Lama had recently settled with his community of exiled Tibetans, and where Batchelor first encountered the Buddhist thinking that would inform his life. He learned Tibetan, ordained as a monk in the Dalai Lama's Gelug tradition, and discovered the first of a series of teachers who would, through the next 30 years, conspire, albeit unknowingly, to form the person who has emerged as Stephen Batchelor, a very different person than any of them sought to form, but a person whose goodness and honesty would compel their admiration, being themselves good and honest people.

In addition to Geshe Rabten, with whom Batchelor studied in India and later in Switzerland, those teachers included S.N. Goenta, from whom he learned the technique of mindfulness meditation (the fundamental practice of the Theravadin school of Buddhism), and Kusan Sunim, the Korean Zen master under whom Stephen practiced for seven years as a monk when his emerging doubts about the dogmatism of the Tibetan schools no longer allowed him, in good conscience, to stay with Geshe Rabten. Kusan Sunim, like Geshe Rabten, and like the Dalai Lama himself, with whom Batchelor was privileged to have close contact several times through those years, turned out to be attached to the rituals and texts of his particular tradition with an intensity that did not allow him to understand or accept the validity of the Dharma as Batchelor was increasingly coming to experience it.

That first part of Batchelor's life ends with his decision to disrobe. He married Martine, a French woman whom he had met and come to love as the nun Songil at the monastery in Songgwangsa, and the two have been creating, ever since, a new way of being Buddhist teachers, without the protective authority of either a traditional sangha or an academic institution, but working from their continually deepening understanding of Buddhism, informed by meditative practice and far-ranging scholarship.

The continuity of the memoir theme pretty much ends with Stephen and Martine's move back to the West. We learn some details of their life, the friends they've made, the work they do, and the influences they've felt, but the thrust of the book turns to the second and third themes: first Stephen's cogent articulation of what he has come to understand as the fundamental message of Buddhism and the urgent relevance of that message to our lives; and, second, his long and perceptive attempt to recreate the biography of Siddhattha Gotama, the wealthy and privileged son of a Sakiyan nobleman who Awakened as the Buddha. Each theme--memoir, Dharma teaching, and historical biography--is present from the beginning and throughout, but, as in a collage, as the book proceeds, each theme, in turn, assumes a dominance that completes it as a theme and gives the whole book structure and thrust.

In "Buddhism Without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening", Stephen Batchelor explained the Buddha's Dharma so simply, so persuasively, in such an approachable idiom, that it evoked my recognition that I was, in fact, a Buddhist, and no longer simply someone "interested in Buddhism" or "studying Buddhism". Now, in this book, the explanation is very much deeper, very much more tied to the phenomena we experience in the course of our noisy and surprising lives, but still clear, still free of jargon, even more persuasive. As the first book invited me to adopt it, this book invites me to reject the label "Buddhist", even as I realize that there is nothing to do, as each new surprise arrives and death comes every minute closer, but follow the Dharma that the Buddha elaborated with lively detail and remarkable subtlety in the teachings we find in the Pali Canon.

In elaborating the theme within which his understanding of the Dharma is clarified, Batchelor explains his method for creating that understanding, which involves examining the canonical texts for elements which were part of Siddhattha Gotama's cultural environment, and those other elements, standing out from the rest of the texts, that could have been inserted later to justify the various orthodoxies that formed after the Buddha's death. Then, without necessarily rejecting those elements, we set them aside; what is left must be considered new and original, even radical. That is the Buddhadharma.

Batchelor's method leads directly to the third major theme of the book, the author's story of the Buddha's life as an individual human being. Without understanding that, one cannot separate the extraordinary experience that the Buddha awakened to after deep examination from the experience that all other human beings of his time saw as ordinary, needing no examination. Recreating the Buddha's life is no simple task; much of what's been handed down is clearly myth, and the community of monks who remembered the Buddha's teachings with such deliberate effort, in such remarkable detail, and with such probable fidelity, were simply not interested either in the parts of the story that presented fairly the views of those with whom the Buddha held debate, or in any narration of events that we today would identify as "historical". So Batchelor is left to tease a plausible story from brief segments found here and there in the texts, from what we know about the men and women with whom the Buddha associated and whose way of life he shared, and from uncommonly well-informed guessing. The figure that Batchelor sculpts of the man Siddhattha Gotama looks real to me; that figure could very well be the man who delivered the teachings that have come to inform my life. It is certainly truer to that man than the fat happy Buddhas in Chinatown gift shops or the austere Hellenic statues in museum galleries. Beyond that, who can know?

And that brings us to the essential message of "Confession of a Buddhist Atheist": the impossibility of knowing, and the freedom we gain from that impossibility--the freedom to trust our experience and follow that to an understanding of the Dharma that works on our lives, the freedom to create those lives, the freedom to cultivate a path that allows me to awake tomorrow morning (barring the inevitable surprises) a better person than the person who woke this morning.

This is an important book. Batchelor's writing style is the very model of "right speech", articulating the most subtle and difficult notions with wit and clarity. For those who think they know Buddhism, the book will illuminate that knowledge. For those who are coming fresh to the study of the Buddha and his teachings, this is a wonderful introduction, requiring no pre-requisite study, demanding nothing of the reader but diligent attention.

I actually finished this book a week ago, and at the time was unsure how I was going to rate it. Batchelor's conclusions re: Buddhism are very different from my own. I enjoy the magic, the mystic, expressions present in some lineages of Tibetan and Zen Buddhism, and with connecting with Buddha as an eternal force, not only a human being. So I was faintly dissatisfied with where the author's own journey and research led him, and almost docked a star because of it.

In the end, though, I didn't, because the book is so well-written and well-researched, and I have found myself thinking about it and discussing it frequently with people I know. I read and review a lot of books, many of them Buddhist, and few of them stay with me for this long. So that to me is a sign of a five-star book, whether I personally agree and relate to all the author's points or not.

My favorite parts of the book were his stories regarding his own experiences as a young Tibetan Buddhist monk, and then studying in Korea with a Zen teacher, while grappling with existential questions and increasingly exploring Western philosophy as well. What a profound seeker! As I said, my own personal experiences have led me to a more mystic orientation, and I kept feeling like the author's intellect was getting in his way. But that is not for me to say. In the end, I admired his integrity and dedication to seeking truth. It is rare that someone is willing to throw away everything they have known, all that has made them comfortable, over and over again as their searching brings them to new conclusions. And that is what Mr. Batchelor did - first by becoming a Tibetan Buddhist monk, then by leaving his Lama teacher to study with a Zen monk, and then by leaving his monastic vows behind entirely, marrying, and continuing to practice as a layperson.

As a married person with a family myself, I also appreciated his analysis of the social forces that made celibacy a necessary choice for serious seekers in ages past, and his conclusions that in today's world, a lay life may actually be the ideal way to practice what the Buddha really taught. And his analysis of the latter - what the Buddha taught - is fascinating. He is focused on Buddha as a real person with real struggles, and within the social and cultural context of his time. Whether or not this is the 'true Buddha', I have no idea. The suttas are like the Bible in that way, as far as I am concerned - anyone can find something to support their view.

What can't be disputed though, is the thoroughness and intensity of Batchelor's research and presentation. I think all Buddhists should read this book to put their own beliefs to the test. And I think anyone interested in Buddhism, but wary of 'religion', should read it as their number one guide.

So five stars it is!

"Consciousness is an emergent, contingent, and impermanent phenomenon. It has no magical capacity to break free from the field of events out of which it springs.

There are no wormholes in this intricate and fluid field through which one can wriggle out, either to reach union with God or move on to another existence after death. This is a field in which one is challenged to act: it is your actions alone that define you. There is no point in praying for divine guidance or assistance. That, as Gotama told Vasettha, would be like someone who wishes to cross the Aciravati River by calling out to the far bank: "Come here, other bank, come here!" No amount of "calling, begging, requesting or wheedling" will have any effect at all."

I was first introduced to Mr. Batchelor through his book "Buddhism Without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening," which radically changed my perception of the religion. Mr. Batchelor continues to forge new ground with his newest release "Confession of a Buddhist Atheist."

The book is an exquisitely woven tapestry, threaded via a seamless combination of personal narrative, historical tracing, and dissection of canon. Mr. Batchelor doesn't simply deconstruct the milieu of Buddhist dogma (karma, reincarnation, et. al.), he presents how they are the antithesis of what Gotama intended, and how they are unnecessary (and often hindrances) in the application of his message.

Based on the title, in combination with the jacket blurb from Christopher Hitchens, one may be inclined to foresee the book as a complete disemembering of the Buddhist religion. However, this book is more of a "decluttering", sweeping away thousands of years of dust that have accumulated on The Buddha's declaration.

Whether you are a practicing Buddhist, a staunch atheist, a purveyor of Eastern thought, or simply looking for an innovative perspective, "Confession of a Buddhist Atheist" will not disappoint. Thrilling in its revelation, breathtaking in its artistry, and erudite in its reasoning, this book is destined to become a classic.

Highly recommended, and thoroughly encouraged. An 11 out of 10.

This book should have been at least two books, if not three. One, a memoir, another, a re-examination of the Buddha's life and his doctrines. As a reader, I never quite understood why I was being presented with the author's life and the Buddha's life in the same book. If there was supposed to be some parallel, it didn't come across well.

The strange and jarring jump from one chapter to the next between parts that felt like they should have been in two different books is unfortunate, and left me wishing Batchelor had written a stand-alone book with only the material about the Buddha. The examination of the Buddha's life in its historical and sociopolitical contexts is well researched, compelling, and enjoyable to read; I would have loved to have had more of it. I also found the critical examination of the Buddha's teaching and whether it advocated any metaphysical views thought-provoking.

That said, I was not convinced by the author's theses. Batchelor takes pains to remind the reader multiple times that he cherry picks what parts of the Pali Canon support his argument and focuses on them, while setting aside the parts he finds disagreeable. This is admirable for its honesty--because it's exactly what he does--but doesn't do much by way of convincing the reader that his interpretation of the Buddha's teaching should be given more weight than anyone else's. Which undermines the entire point of writing such a book, because most people reading it aren't reading it simply to find out what Stephen Batchelor's intellectual predilections are.

I liked the portrait of the Buddha that Batchelor painted, and think it is a Buddha many modern readers will find relatable, but I wasn't convinced this was the 'real Buddha,' any more than Thomas Jefferson's Jesus was necessarily the 'real Jesus.' There are many passages in the Pali Canon that quite clearly and directly contradict the portrait of the Buddha that Batchelor paints. So the book amounts to a bit of slight of hand--if you go along with what the author wants you to see, it's because it's what you want to see as well, not because it's what actually is there.

As a Buddhist, my primary interest is in what is true. As a Zen practitioner, I've learned that most of the time when I believe or think I know something, I really don't. As for rebirth, it's not something that has bothered me too much because I have no way of really knowing if it's true or not, and it wouldn't change how I lived my life anyway. It is pretty clear to me that the Buddha taught rebirth, and I think it's lazy and condescending to just wave this off as a 'cultural thing.' The Buddha, as Batchelor points out in this book, ignored and went against many cultural givens of his time, so he wouldn't have just taught rebirth because it was a common belief.

So the main thrust of this book, an argument that the Buddha was a skeptic and a materialist, falls flat and does not convince, especially as the Buddha directly refuted materialism as a philosophical position (something that Batchelor, of course, fails to mention). The historical portrait of the Buddha is nice but clearly comes across as incomplete. And the memoir part of the book gives insight into the motives of the narrator, but it's also very dry. Batchelor ignores what could have been a compelling narrative turn by failing to give the reader the story of how his romance with Martine developed. This is but one of many examples of moments when Batchelor could have gone into more personal and emotional detail, but neglects 'personal growth' or 'human interest' moments in favor of intellectual points. The dry tone leaves the reader following the life story of a narrator with no charisma or interest at all other than as a thinker, but as a thinker, he's problematic because he ignores a lot of evidence that the educated Buddhist reader knows challenges his arguments.

In the end, I think this book is worth reading and considering, but advise taking it with a few grains of salt. It would have been much better had it been two books--one fuller and more strongly argued account of the Buddha's life and teaching, with more excellent historical research, and one memoir, with more focus and attention given to other aspects of the narrator's life besides his ideas, especially the story of his relationship with his wife, which I suspect is interesting.

I found this book to be thought provoking and interesting. I'm new to Buddhism and having been on a ritual free nine day retreat with an ex monk then to a three day retreat with a monk filled with chanting and ritual, I began to question what exactly Buddhism meant to me. I didn't want it to become a religion and that's how it was presented on the second retreat. So reading 'Confessions of a Buddhist Atheist', was like a breath of fresh air. It made me look at what I believed in. I don't want to be a follower, I want to find my own way with Buddhism. Even if one doesn't agree with everything that is presented in the book, it doesn't matter, if it gets you thinking and contemplating and that's what matters. I also liked Stephen Batchelor's honesty and reading about his journey. I highly recommend the book.

One of the attractions that Buddhism has offered to Westerners is the opportunity to pursue a nontheistic spiritual life outside the contours of traditional Judaism or Christianity. Thus, the title of Stephen Batchelor's recent book, "Confessions of a Buddhist Atheist" (2010) is provocative and surprising on the surface in that Batchelor is "confessing" his "atheism" as if it were inconsistent with "Buddhism". But Batchelor understands the teachings of various traditional Buddhist schools well. In addition to rejecting Western theism, Batchelor also seriously questions Buddhist teachings such as rebirth and Karma in favor of an outlook which is secular and scientific. Thus, his book deserves the title of the "confession" of a Western Buddhist seeker.

Batchelor's (b. 1954) best-known earlier work on Buddhism was his controversial 1997 study "Buddhism without Beliefs" Buddhism Without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening in which he articulated his secular understanding of Buddhism. His recent "Confessions" is an intruiging collage of autobiography, philosophy, and history. Raised in England without a formal religion by a single mother, Batchelor did not attend college. Instead, he left home as a hippy and traveled through Asia where he became an early Western student of the Dalai Lama in his Indian exile. In the first part of his book, Batchelor recounts how he learned Tibetan and became a monk in the Tibetan tradition even while entertaining serious doubts about the specifics of Tibetan teaching. During this time, Batchelor also read Western existential philosophy and was greatly influenced by Heidegger's "Being in Time" with its emphasis on "being-in-the world" and experientialism rather than rationality as the basis for understanding the human condition. As a young Tibetan monk, Batchelor also had his first exposure to earlier non-Tibetan Buddhist tradition when he attended a meditation retreat under the Burmese lay teacher S.N. Goenka.

Batchelor left his Tibetan teacher and became a Zen monk in Korea together with a group of other Westerners. His doubts about Zen teachings paralleled his doubts about Tibetan Buddhism. After ten years as a monk, Batchelor disrobed and returned to lay life. He married a former colleague, a nun named Songil (Martine); and he and Martine moved to England as Buddhist laypeople to participate in a newly founded Buddhist meditation center known as the Gaia House, founded by the Sharpham Trust. Steven and Martin Batchelor eventually left the Gaia House. They live in rural France, and both continue to teach and write.

The second part of the book continues Batchelor's autobiography combined with his more detailed reflections on Buddhism and on early Buddhist history. Both Tibetan and Zen Buddhism are part of what is generally referred to as Mahayana Buddhism which emphasizes the figure of the Bodhisattva -- an individual who delays his or her own full enlightenment to work towards the enlightenment of everyone -- and a philosophical, ahistorical understanding of the Buddha. Batchelor became interested in the earlier Theravada Buddhism, which is found in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, and elsewhere and in its texts which are known as the Pali canon. The Pali Canon is lengthy and diffuse, but is texts and Suttas show Gotama Buddha as a person and as a wanderer rather than as an abstraction. I have been fortunate to be part of a long-standing study group under the guidance of a capable teacher where I have had the opportunity to read and think about the Pali Suttas for the past 15 years.

Batchelor argues that Buddhism needs to be understood in its historical context as teased out of the Pali Suttas. In his book, he tries to show how Buddha was part of his times, how he may have studied, and how his teachings were the product of long reflection and engagement, rather than only of introspective meditation, that involved the rejection of much of the Hindu/Brahmanic teachings in which the Buddha was raised. While seeking the historical Buddha, Batchelor freely admits to "cherry-picking" the tradition by focusing on the teachings he can understand and accept. Batchelor's Buddha thus is a rationalist and something of a skeptic whose teachings focus on four distinctive elements: 1. the conditionality and changeable character of everything, 2. the process of the Four noble truths. 3, mindful awareness and 4. the power of self-reliance. (p. 237) The teachings are pragmatic, for Batchelor, and based upon ever-present change and groundlessness as opposed to dualism, transcendence, Nirvana, or fixity. These teachings, for Batchelor, rather than traditional Asian Buddhist teachings are those that speak to the "peculiar maladies of a late-twentieth century post-Christian secular existentialist like myself." (p.66)

Whether Batchelor offers a convincing portrayal of Buddhism or a highly sophisticated form of modern secularism is a subject for debate and disagreement which cannot be resolved in a short review. In addition to the many unusually detailed reviews of this book here on Amazon, there is an excellent review of Batchelor's book in the Fall 2010 issue of the Buddhist review, "Tricycle" called "Secular Buddhism?" by David Loy. But on all accounts, Batchelor's book is engagingly and thoughtfully written and challenging. It is full of digressions and discussions of people worth knowing in their own right, including Batchelor's own Buddhist teachers, Geshe Dhargyey, Geshe Babten, and Kusan Sunim, and Goenka. Other figures discussed in the book include the French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas, the English theologian Don Cuppit, the Italian writer on Buddhism Julius Evola, and two early English Buddhist monks, Nanamoli and especially Nanavira who particularly influenced Batchelor. There is also a fascinating aside on one Leonard Cranke, a distant relation of Batchelor who designed a famous sculpture of a fisherman in Gloucester, Massachusetts, that I have visited and admired.

Batchelor has written a thoughtful, challenging book on his own spiritual journey, on Buddhism in the West, and on Buddhism and its possible relationship to Western secularism.

Robin Friedman

Reading this finely written autobiographical account of Stephen Batchelor's rich spiritual and philosophical life, I, as many other readers, reflected on our own similar journeys, my own scientific life of doubt, Korean Zen Buddhist training, philosophical inquires, and eventual syntheses. Some biographies and autobiographies allow contrasts with our less glamorous or accomplished lives; this book instills concordances with our own sagas and quests.

Doubt has guided Batchelor's life since he completed the English equivalent of high school and immediately set upon his long journeys in India, Korea, and Switzerland, his spiritual and religious studies, and meetings with remarkable men...and women. His serious examinations and experiences with religious traditions amounted to his basic training, and as each person has a unique path, Batchelor's eclectic approach resulted in final independence. He had "killed Buddha on the Road," tossing out rigid, unquestioned dogmas and by doing so, he echoed many mountain hermit monks who pursued their own accommodations. Having immersed himself in Tibetan rituals and practices, vipassana mindfulness, and Zen's 'Don't Know mind', Batchelor in this book sweeps away the cultural conditioning of various Asian lands, their folkloric influences, and later philosophical and metaphysical additions to focus on what he regards as the core, the essential early pragmatic psychological teachings of Buddha and his life as a social critic, advisor, and teacher amid the politics and strife of India's many kingdoms, as recorded in the Pali Canons.

There is some aspects of a travelogue in this book as well, and the reader is introduced to various characters and writings that influenced Batchelor's criticism of entrenched Buddhism. Batchelor's first and primary doubt concerned the concept of 'reincarnation' and particularly the implied dualism of mind and matter. I was thinking as I read that he could have used some instruction in behavioral nuclear physics, the empty nature of matter, entanglements of information, nonlinearity, information theory, as well as some deep studies of Buddhist Hua-Yen and Whitehead's process metaphysics, since certain phenomena can have alternative explanatory interpretations and should not be denied because of disagreement with the official religious dogma. Of course, none of these advances in knowledge and thinking is relevant to the era of Buddha and the teachings.

A passage early in this account perhaps epitomizes the Buddhist life: "The practice of meditation was no longer a matter of becoming proficient in a technique. It was about sustaining a sensibility that encompassed everything I did. After a month or so, I reached a point where the meditation became completely unremarkable, nothing special at all." Which is why Buddhists continue their meditation practice, for even the greatest musician needs to practice. Batchelor has eschewed all the metaphysics and the speculative interpretations that follow Buddha's Noble Truths and Eight-fold Path. Dogen's "just sitting" in itself, its general mindfulness, is what matters in bringing personal change and positive, compassionate ways in dealing with others and events. This book may challenge the reader's conceptions and beliefs, but it chronicles an interesting life of a malcontent and dissident. Certainly, the practical teachings and historical views of Buddhism are useful.

This is one of the liveliest and most thought-provoking books on Buddhism published in recent years. Apart from addressing the perennial perplexities of karma and rebirth for a Western audience, Stephen Batchelor provides a fascinating account of the historical Buddha, the society and politics in which he lived, and some intriguing stories of his post-enlightenment life as a teacher. It provides controversial material about the author's own encounters with different forms of Buddhism, practices and teachers.

Among my favourite lines from the book: 'Gotama did for the self what Copernicus did for the earth: he put it in its rightful place, despite its continuing to appear just as it did before. Gotama no more rejected the existence of the self than Copernicus rejected the existence of the earth. Instead, rather than regarding it as a fixed, non-contingent point around which everything else turned, he recognized that each self was a fluid, contingent process just like everything else.'

This is a book that will have Tibetan Buddhists debating for years to come. A great contribution to Western thought on the Dharma.

The title of "Confession of a Buddhist Atheist" summarizes the three perspectives of his life that Stephen Batchelor wanted to share with his readers: his religiosity--confession is a statement of religious beliefs, his adhesion to the Buddha, and his atheism in the non-theism meaning of the word.
The "confession" as such is a detailed record of his spiritual evolution, which takes him to an enlightenment of a nature quite different from "the `standard' mystical experiences of oneness with the universe". Batchelor's confession vividly describes the viability of embracing the religiosity of the Buddha's Teachings without the dogmas of Buddhism and without renouncing to the goodies and beauties of life
The "ist" of the Buddhist that Batchelor became is much closer to the "ist" in those who play an instrument (pianist, violinist) than to the "ist" in the advocates of a doctrine (socialist, communist) or the fanatics of biased views (racist, chauvinist). You do not need sectarian opinions to play piano or violin, you just play; you don't need beliefs for being Buddhist because being Buddhist is an experience, a way of living. In this book, the author, an impressive scholar, narrates his personal evolution and reconstructs the Buddha's one; both journeys are described with abundant spiritual, historic and geographical detail. It is well known that there are no dates in the Pali Canon. Still the writer proposes a very interesting sequence of different events in the Buddha's life; this is the first time I read a proposal for such sequencing. Even though the task involves much analysis and knowledge, Stephen Batchelor is humble enough to say that the source of the raw data already existed in the "Dictionary of Pali Terms" and that his role was simply "the joining up of the dots". It was indeed much more than that.
To describe his cosmological/theological views, Stephen Batchelor seems to prefer the term "atheism" (again as non-theism) to "agnosticism" (the impossibility to know the ultimate reality) and avoids (probably on purpose) the word "spirituality". I find the author's view quite close to the atheist spirituality that French philosopher André Comte-Sponville defines as "our openness and connection to the infinite, the eternal and the absolute." Either as non-theism or atheist spirituality, these renovated and renovating views, both Batchelor's and Comte-Sponsville's, are much needed in the modern, confusing world, which, though more secular every day, it does need spirituality. Such intellectual non-theisms imply the "tolerant radicalism" of Indian philosopher J. Krishnamurti (which Stephen Batchelor a kind of dislikes) and exclude the anti-theism of the "richarddawkinses" and "samharrises."
There are quite a few interesting, historical events and anecdotes related in Batchelor's book running from the Buddha's time and life (which come from his knowledge and research) all the way to the Dalai Lama's modern era (which are the fruit of his experience and direct interactions). The author's enthusiasm for the beauty of the Teachings leads him to some overstatements. He says, for instance, that he has "yet to find a fragment of the Pali Canon that doesn't further illuminate the whole." (I find this exaggerated; many parts of the Canon are not only repetitive and boring but also obscure and with observations in contradiction with other sections.) These are minor spots that in no way reduce the quality of "Confession of a Buddhist Atheist." The book is an excellent reading not only for newcomers in search of non-affiliated view in the Teachings and for already faithful, open minded religious Buddhists but also an illuminating perspective for agnostics, atheists, pragmatics, skeptics and independent inquisitive minds of all kinds.

Gustavo Estrada, Author of Hacia el Buda desde el occidente: Sus Ensenanzas sin mitos ni misterios (Spanish Edition)

'Confession' is a disturbing read, and is highly recommended for anyone involved with any aspect of meditation, spirituality or philosophy. What is the basis for claiming that we know anything? What are our sources? What are the issues that require some critical examination? What is / how valid is our personal experience? And what other agendas, what other baggage, both cultural and personal, do we bring with us?

This book does a great job of stripping away the baggage. It's easy to see why this and Stephen Batchelor's previous book, Buddhism Without Beliefs, should have raised a fundamentalist firestorm. In Christianity it would be like going back to the earliest layers in The Lost Gospel: The Book of Q and Christian Origins, and discarding later additions - such as virgin birth, crucifixion/resurrection, salvation/damnation, and armageddon. To borrow the English expression: Would you even get bums on pews?

One key to Confession of a Buddhist Atheist is on the last page of Appendix III, the translation of Buddha's first sermon, Turning the Wheel of the Dharma. Buddha says: "The freedom of my mind is unshakeable. There will be no more repetitive existence."

Batchelor acknowledges removing 'from the text all passages that assume the multi-life view of ancient India'. So the conclusion in the text reads: "The freedom of my mind is unshakeable. This is the last birth. There will be no more repetitive existence."

The two paragraphs become drastically different in meaning, sanity v. escapology. Earlier in the book, Batchelor quotes Gotama as rebuking a monk for talking about reincarnation, stating that he has not taught it. So too, Nisargadatta Maharaj 'debunks' reincarnation in Pointers from Nisargadatta Maharaj. Within Buddhism, this is closer to the Dzogchen and Mahamudra teachings, which Batchelor touches on only briefly - Sogyal Rinpoche decribed Dzogchen in The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying: The Spiritual Classic & International Bestseller; Revised and Updated Edition as 'the ultimate psychotherapy'. This approach also points to a more grounded practice, see Reginald Ray's Touching Enlightenment: Finding Realization in the Body, and a more embodied realization described by Charles Ridley in Stillness: Biodynamic Cranial Practice and the Evolution of Consciousness.

Can one be a Buddhist without believing in reincarnation or karma? Are these concepts just cultural add-ons that give a metaphysical explanation of how we got here and where we're headed? Are they useful and valid ways of working with reality, in the same way as gravity? Or do you, personally, have clear experience that would confirm or refute reincarnation and karma? If not, wouldn't it be more liberating as well as honest to admit to agnosticism? When (especially) Tibetan books describe the traditional view of death and rebirth, is the author repeating orthodoxy or talking from his own experience and authority?

Or, is there a central core experience to which Buddha taught a practical access, that is present in all human beings, and available in all spiritual traditions - including Buddhism? What the Buddha seems to have taught is that whatever arises, as thought, emotion or sensation, we can be mindful of it, and let it be there without wanting to judge it, change it, fix it, cure it, including all of our own negative reactions. If we're hoping for nirvana, or trying to get out of samsara - just more of the same. Hoping for a higher rebirth, or wanting to avoid a lower rebirth - just more of the same. Hoping for more good meditation buzz, or trying to deal with the distraced reactiveness inside my head - just more of the same. What Stephen Batchelor shows is how the cultural add-ons effectively counter Buddha's original teachings. His book points back to that central core, and he has done Buddhism a huge favor in the process.