After Buddhism
Rethinking the Dharma for a Secular Age
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Narrated by:
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Stephen Batchelor
About this listen
Some 25 centuries after the Buddha started teaching, his message continues to inspire people across the globe, including those living in predominantly secular societies. What does it mean to adapt religious practices to secular contexts? Stephen Batchelor, an internationally known author and teacher, is committed to a secularized version of the Buddha's teachings. The time has come, he feels, to articulate a coherent, ethical, contemplative, and philosophical vision of Buddhism for our age.
After Buddhism, the culmination of four decades of study and practice in the Tibetan, Zen, and Theravada traditions, is his attempt to set the record straight about who the Buddha was and what he was trying to teach. Combining critical readings of the earliest canonical texts with narrative accounts of five members of the Buddha's inner circle, Batchelor depicts the Buddha as a pragmatic ethicist rather than a dogmatic metaphysician. He envisions Buddhism as a constantly evolving culture of awakening whose perpetual survival is due to its capacity to reinvent itself and interact creatively with each society it encounters. This original and provocative book presents a new framework for understanding the remarkable spread of Buddhism in today's globalized world. It also reminds us of what was so startling about the Buddha's vision of human flourishing.
©2015 Stephen Batchelor (P)2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Alan Watts examines the problem of humans in a seemingly hostile universe in ways that question the social norms and illusions that bind and constrict modern humans. Marking a groundbreaking synthesis, Watts asserts that the powerful insights of Freud and Jung, which had, indeed, brought psychiatry close to the edge of liberation, could, if melded with the hitherto secret wisdom of the Eastern traditions, free people from their battles with the self.
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Not what I have come to expect from Alan Watts works
- By Shiva Latchmipersad on 03-22-19
By: Alan Watts
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50 Spiritual Classics
- By: Tom Butler-Bowdon
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Discover the books that have already changed the lives of millions. This unabridged guide to the literature of the spirit surveys 50 of the all-time classics, giving you their key ideas, insights, and applications - everything you need to know to start benefiting from these legendary works.
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useful as review or starting point
- By connie on 01-03-09
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Buddhism Plain and Simple
- By: Steve Hagen
- Narrated by: William Hope
- Length: 4 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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The observations and insights of the Buddha are practical and eminently down to earth, dealing exclusively with awareness in the here and now. Buddhism Plain and Simple offers listeners these fundamental teachings, stripped of cultural trappings that have accumulated around Buddhism over the past 25 centuries.
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Thrilled this Is Finally an Audiobook
- By Asha Ember on 01-28-17
By: Steve Hagen
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Great Disciples of the Buddha
- Their Lives, Their Works, Their Legacies
- By: Hellmuth Hecker, Nyanaponika Thera, Bikkhu Bodhi
- Narrated by: William Hope, Nicolette McKenzie, Ratnadhya
- Length: 18 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Twenty-four of the Buddha's most distinguished disciples are brought to life in ten chapters of rich narration. They include monks who were very close to him throughout his life, including Sariputta and Mahamoggallana; his cousin and companion Ananda; his principal women disciples, including the nun Isidasi and his lay disciple, the courtesan Ambapali; and the serial killer Angulimala, whose character was transformed after meeting the Buddha.
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Beautiful stories of Buddhism's earliest heroes
- By Blake Rampy on 01-05-17
By: Hellmuth Hecker, and others
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Buddha is as Buddha Does
- The 10 Original Practices for Enlightened Living
- By: Lama Surya Das
- Length: 5 hrs and 8 mins
- Original Recording
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Of all the Buddha's teachings, perhaps his greatest gift can be found in "the Bodhisattva ideal", a template for living in the world as an "Awakener", a servant of the highest good for all. With his previous best-sellers including Awakening the Buddha Within, American-born Tibetan Buddhist teacher Lama Surya Das has made the helpful, healing insights of the Buddha accessible to millions.
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Puts the heart into mindfulness meditation
- By Steven on 01-18-18
By: Lama Surya Das
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Thoughts Without a Thinker
- Psychotherapy from a Buddhist Perspective
- By: Mark Epstein M.D., His Holiness the Dalai Lama - foreword
- Narrated by: Mark Epstein M.D.
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Upon its first publication, this path breaking book launched an explosion of interest in how Eastern spirituality can enhance Western psychology. Since then, the worlds of Buddhism and psychotherapy have been forged into a revolutionary new understanding of what constitutes a healthy emotional life. In his insightful introduction, Mark Epstein reflects on this revolution and considers how it is likely to evolve in the future.
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Content limited by presentation
- By Kindle Customer on 02-28-15
By: Mark Epstein M.D., and others
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The Soul of the World
- By: Roger Scruton
- Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Soul of the World, renowned philosopher Roger Scruton defends the experience of the sacred against today’s fashionable forms of atheism. He argues that our personal relationships, moral intuitions, and aesthetic judgments hint at a transcendent dimension that cannot be understood through the lens of science alone. To be fully alive - and to understand what we are - is to acknowledge the reality of sacred things.
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"Against Reductionism"
- By Edmund Schilvold on 10-08-15
By: Roger Scruton
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A Concise History of Buddhism
- From 500 BCE-1900 CE
- By: Andrew Skilton
- Narrated by: Jinananda
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Andrew Skilton - Senior Research Fellow in Buddhist Studies, Kings College, London - explains the development of the basic concepts of Buddhism and its spread across the continents during its 2,500 years of history. He begins with a close look at Buddhism in India, where it flourished until the 12th/13th century CE, charting the growth of different schools and practices. By the time it disappeared from its homeland midway through the millennium, it had become established in Central Asia and the Far East in a variety of forms.
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Difficult for the indoctrinated
- By Heavypen on 04-18-18
By: Andrew Skilton
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The Road Home
- A Contemporary Exploration of the Buddhist Path
- By: Ethan Nichtern
- Narrated by: Ethan Nichtern
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Do you feel at home right now? Or do you sense a hovering anxiety or uncertainty, an underlying unease that makes you feel just a bit uncomfortable, a bit distracted and disconnected from those around you? In The Road Home, Ethan Nichtern, a senior teacher in the Shambhala Buddhist tradition, investigates the journey each of us takes to find where we belong.
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How can you pass this up?
- By Amy Minutillo on 04-08-16
By: Ethan Nichtern
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Buddhism Without Beliefs
- A Contemporary Guide to Awakening
- By: Stephen Batchelor
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Before it was a religion, a culture, or even a system of meditation, what was Buddhism? On Buddhism Without Beliefs, celebrated teacher, translator, and former Buddhist monk Stephen Batchelor takes us back to the first years after the Buddha's awakening to reveal the root insights of Buddhism hidden beneath centuries of history and interpretation.
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Disingenuous.
- By Zoltan on 04-15-16
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Secular Buddhism
- Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World
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- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
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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?
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Good, but repetition of old material
- By Ludwig on 02-25-18
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The Art of Solitude
- By: Stephen Batchelor
- Narrated by: Stephen Batchelor
- Length: 5 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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When world renowned Buddhist writer Stephen Batchelor turned 60, he took a sabbatical from his teaching and turned his attention to solitude, a practice integral to the meditative traditions he has long studied and taught. He aimed to venture more deeply into solitude, discovering its full extent and depth. This beautiful literary collage documents his multifaceted explorations. In a hyperconnected world that is at the same time plagued by social isolation, this book shows how to enjoy the inescapable solitude that is at the heart of human life.
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Great idea, mediocre execution.
- By Darwin8u on 05-31-20
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Confession of a Buddhist Atheist
- By: Stephen Batchelor
- Narrated by: Stephen Batchelor
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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In his classic Buddhism Without Beliefs, Stephen Batchelor offered a profound, secular approach to the teachings of the Buddha that struck an emotional chord with Western audiences. Now, with the same brilliance and boldness of thought, he paints a groundbreaking portrait of the historical Buddha—told from the author's unique perspective as a former Buddhist monk and modern seeker.
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I got the audio book, I listened to it on my 900mi
- By fred on 07-29-23
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Living with the Devil
- A Meditation on Good and Evil
- By: Stephen Batchelor
- Narrated by: Stephen Batchelor
- Length: 6 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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In the national best seller Living with the Devil, Batchelor traces the trajectory from the words of the Buddha and Christ, through the writings of Shantideva, Milton, and Pascal, to the poetry of Baudelaire, the fiction of Kafka, and the findings of modern physics and evolutionary biology to examine who we really are and to rest in the uncertainty that we may never know. Like his previous best seller, Living with the Devil is an introduction to Buddhism that encourages listeners to nourish their "buddha nature" and make peace with the devils that haunt human life.
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Good ..but really dense
- By Brian on 01-17-21
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Verses from the Center
- By: Stephen Batchelor
- Narrated by: Stephen Batchelor
- Length: 3 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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The understanding of the nature of reality is the insight upon which the Buddha was able to achieve his own enlightenment. This vision of the sublime is the source of all that is enigmatic and paradoxical about Buddhism. In Verses from the Center, Stephen Batchelor explores the history of this concept and provides listeners with translations of the most important poems ever written on the subject, the poems of 2nd century philosopher Nagarjuna.
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Sublime
- By Krush on 06-19-22
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Buddhism Without Beliefs
- A Contemporary Guide to Awakening
- By: Stephen Batchelor
- Narrated by: Stephen Batchelor
- Length: 4 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Before it was a religion, a culture, or even a system of meditation, what was Buddhism? On Buddhism Without Beliefs, celebrated teacher, translator, and former Buddhist monk Stephen Batchelor takes us back to the first years after the Buddha's awakening to reveal the root insights of Buddhism hidden beneath centuries of history and interpretation.
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Disingenuous.
- By Zoltan on 04-15-16
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Secular Buddhism
- Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World
- By: Stephen Batchelor
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
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Overall
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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?
-
-
Good, but repetition of old material
- By Ludwig on 02-25-18
-
The Art of Solitude
- By: Stephen Batchelor
- Narrated by: Stephen Batchelor
- Length: 5 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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When world renowned Buddhist writer Stephen Batchelor turned 60, he took a sabbatical from his teaching and turned his attention to solitude, a practice integral to the meditative traditions he has long studied and taught. He aimed to venture more deeply into solitude, discovering its full extent and depth. This beautiful literary collage documents his multifaceted explorations. In a hyperconnected world that is at the same time plagued by social isolation, this book shows how to enjoy the inescapable solitude that is at the heart of human life.
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Great idea, mediocre execution.
- By Darwin8u on 05-31-20
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Confession of a Buddhist Atheist
- By: Stephen Batchelor
- Narrated by: Stephen Batchelor
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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In his classic Buddhism Without Beliefs, Stephen Batchelor offered a profound, secular approach to the teachings of the Buddha that struck an emotional chord with Western audiences. Now, with the same brilliance and boldness of thought, he paints a groundbreaking portrait of the historical Buddha—told from the author's unique perspective as a former Buddhist monk and modern seeker.
-
-
I got the audio book, I listened to it on my 900mi
- By fred on 07-29-23
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Living with the Devil
- A Meditation on Good and Evil
- By: Stephen Batchelor
- Narrated by: Stephen Batchelor
- Length: 6 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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In the national best seller Living with the Devil, Batchelor traces the trajectory from the words of the Buddha and Christ, through the writings of Shantideva, Milton, and Pascal, to the poetry of Baudelaire, the fiction of Kafka, and the findings of modern physics and evolutionary biology to examine who we really are and to rest in the uncertainty that we may never know. Like his previous best seller, Living with the Devil is an introduction to Buddhism that encourages listeners to nourish their "buddha nature" and make peace with the devils that haunt human life.
-
-
Good ..but really dense
- By Brian on 01-17-21
-
Verses from the Center
- By: Stephen Batchelor
- Narrated by: Stephen Batchelor
- Length: 3 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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The understanding of the nature of reality is the insight upon which the Buddha was able to achieve his own enlightenment. This vision of the sublime is the source of all that is enigmatic and paradoxical about Buddhism. In Verses from the Center, Stephen Batchelor explores the history of this concept and provides listeners with translations of the most important poems ever written on the subject, the poems of 2nd century philosopher Nagarjuna.
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Sublime
- By Krush on 06-19-22
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Secular Buddhism
- By: Noah Rasheta
- Narrated by: Noah Rasheta
- Length: 1 hr and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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In this simple yet important book, Noah Rasheta takes profound Buddhist concepts and makes them easy to understand for anyone trying to become a better whatever-they-already-are.
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Dont buy this book!
- By J. Moore on 01-11-20
By: Noah Rasheta
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The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way
- Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamakakarika
- By: Nāgārjuna, Jay L. Garfield - translator
- Narrated by: Zehra Jane Naqvi
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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The Buddhist saint Nāgārjuna, who lived in South India in approximately the second century CE, is undoubtedly the most important, influential, and widely studied Mahāyāna Buddhist philosopher. His greatest philosophical work, the Mūlamadhyamikakārikā - read and studied by philosophers in all major Buddhist schools of Tibet, China, Japan, and Korea - is one of the most influential works in the history of Indian philosophy. Now, in The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way, Jay L. Garfield provides a clear translation of Nāgārjuna's seminal work.
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Wish i could get a refund.
- By CKW on 04-02-22
By: Nāgārjuna, and others
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The Noble Eightfold Path
- Way to the End of Suffering
- By: Bhikkhu Bodhi
- Narrated by: Neha Shroff
- Length: 5 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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This audiobook offers a clear, concise account of the Eightfold Path prescribed to uproot and eliminate the deep underlying cause of suffering—ignorance. Each step of the path is believed to cultivate wisdom through mental training, and includes an enlightened and peaceful middle path that avoids extremes. The theoretical as well as practical angles of each of the paths—right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration—are illustrated through examples from contemporary life.
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Simplified Version of Do's and Don'ts for Path
- By St. Paul on 12-23-22
By: Bhikkhu Bodhi
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What the Buddha Taught
- By: Walpola Sri Rahula
- Narrated by: Taradasa
- Length: 6 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Long regarded as one of the best introductions to Buddhism, What the Buddha Taught draws on the actual words spoken by the Buddha to give a lucid and accurate account of the fundamental principles of Buddhist doctrine. Richly supported by extracts from the ancient texts, Walpola Rahula gives clear and direct explanations of Buddhism's essential teachings.
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I thought I understood the Buddha’s teaching until I read this book!
- By victoria breeden on 05-28-19
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Being Nobody Going Nowhere
- Meditations on the Buddhist Path
- By: Ayya Khema
- Narrated by: Claire Slemmer, Fajer Al-Kaisi
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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In this lucid classic, beloved teacher Ayya Khema introduces the listener to the essence of the Buddhist path. She addresses the how and why of meditation, providing a clear framework for understanding the nature of karma and rebirth and the entirety of the eightfold path. With specific, practical advice, Ayya Khema illuminates the practices of compassion and sympathetic joy, and offers forthright guidance in working with the hindrances that we all encounter in meditation.
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The only book you will ever need.
- By Andrew on 01-10-17
By: Ayya Khema
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Teachings of the Buddha
- Revised and Expanded
- By: Gil Fronsdal - editor, Jack Kornfield - editor
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini, Jack Kornfield
- Length: 3 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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This treasury of essential Buddhist writings draws from the most popular Indian, Tibetan, Chinese, and Japanese sources. Among the selections are some of the earliest recorded sayings of the Buddha on the practice of freedom, passages from later Indian scriptures on the perfection of wisdom, verses from Tibetan masters on the enlightened mind, and songs in praise of meditation by Zen teachers.
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A book that necess focus
- By Ricardo on 04-15-16
By: Gil Fronsdal - editor, and others
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In the Buddha's Words
- An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon
- By: Bhikkhu Bodhi - editor and translator
- Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi
- Length: 18 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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This landmark collection is the definitive introduction to the Buddha's teachings - in his own words. The American scholar-monk Bhikkhu Bodhi, whose voluminous translations have won widespread acclaim, here presents selected discourses of the Buddha from the Pali Canon, the earliest record of what the Buddha taught. Divided into 10 thematic chapters, In the Buddha's Words reveals the full scope of the Buddha's discourses, from family life and marriage to renunciation and the path of insight.
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Poor pronunciation
- By Amazon Customer on 08-27-17
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The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha
- A Translation of the Majjhima Nikāya
- By: Bhikkhu Ñānamoli, Bhikkhu Bodhi
- Narrated by: Taradasa
- Length: 47 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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This book offers a complete translation of the Majjhima Nikāya, or Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, one of the major collections of texts in the Pāli Canon, the authorised scriptures of Theravada Buddhism. This collection - among the oldest records of the historical Buddha's original teachings - consists of 152 suttas or discourses of middle length, distinguished as such from the longer and shorter suttas of the other collections.
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I can't believe it's FINALLY an audible book!
- By Yetanotherguy on 12-08-19
By: Bhikkhu Ñānamoli, and others
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Don't Believe Everything You Think
- Living with Wisdom and Compassion
- By: Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron
- Narrated by: Graeme Malcolm
- Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Thubten Chodron’s illuminating explication of Togmay Zangpo’s revered text, The Thirty-Seven Practices of Bodhisattvas, doesn’t just explain its profound meaning; in dozens of passages she lets her students and colleagues share first-person stories of the ways that its teachings have changed their lives. Some bear witness to dramatic transformations.
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Not what I expected...
- By customer on 06-09-15
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Grace and Grit
- A Love Story
- By: Ken Wilber
- Narrated by: Steve Rimpici, Hillary Huber
- Length: 18 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Here is a deeply moving account of a couple's struggle with cancer and their journey to spiritual healing. Grace and Grit is the compelling story of the five-year journey of Ken Wilber and his wife, Treya Killam Wilber, through Treya's illness, treatment, and, finally, death.
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Amazing grace and amazing grit
- By Anonymous User on 06-23-23
By: Ken Wilber
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The Buddha Is Still Teaching
- Contemporary Buddhist Wisdom
- By: Jack Kornfield - editor, Noelle Oxenhandler - editor
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 4 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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When the Buddha set in motion the wheel of Dharma, he knew that the teaching he gave was inexhaustible - that every future generation would find its own skillful ways to convey it to the hearts and minds of those ready to hear. The Buddha Is Still Teaching is testimony to the fulfillment of that promise today. The selections it contains, from today's most highly regarded contemporary Buddhist teachers, bring the Dharma eloquently to life for us in our own time, place, and culture.
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Many pearls, but no string
- By Steve on 04-15-15
By: Jack Kornfield - editor, and others
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The Lankavatara Sutra
- By: D.T. Suzuki
- Narrated by: Ratnadhya
- Length: 13 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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The Lankavatara Sutra, dating from the early years of the Common Era, sometime before 443, is one of the most important Mahayana Buddhist texts, not least because of its influence on later Tibetan, Chinese and Japanese Buddhism. One of its possible early translators in the 8th century was Gunabhadra, who is sometimes regarded as the first father of Zen in China. The Sutra takes the form of a dialogue between the Buddha in his cosmic form (as opposed to the historical figure of the Pali Canon) and the Bodhisattva or ‘Great Being', Mahamati.
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Excellent!
- By Skeet Fortner on 11-09-23
By: D.T. Suzuki
What listeners say about After Buddhism
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Joseph
- 02-13-16
must listen for all traditions
Excellent review of the historical Buddha. In addition, this book is invaluable for a deeper, or new, understanding of layordination and/or the western practice of Buddhism in general.
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8 people found this helpful
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- Bodhi
- 05-22-17
informative... but, slow and complicated...
although it is difficult to fully grasp in one listen, this book is very informative.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 07-06-20
Fascinating dive into Buddhism and it's history
The author did a very thorough study of what is in the original Buddhist writings and how it may have come about. The intertwining of teaching and political strife of the day was a heavy doze of realism that I feel we badly lack when it comes to talking and thinking about anything religious.
He also explains very well what Buddhist practice is from a rational and secular perspective. As a practitioner I found a lot of the book helpful to my own spirituality. Listening to it added good fuel to how I approach it.
At the same time I believe that some of the book was based on not much more than speculation. Bachelor is obviously trying to build a foundation for his world view, which is liberal, secular and purely rational, devoid of any mystery or the Divine. He constructs multiple arguments for why the passages in the ancient texts that do not fit that worldview are to be neglected or interpreted differently than they appear. In that sense the book functions as apologetics.
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- Abu Nasim
- 01-12-23
Great synopsis
This is a great summary of early Buddhism during the time of the Buddha. Very insightful
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- Grave
- 08-06-18
Spirituality sans the dogma
Great representation of the Buddha's teachings without leaning to heavily on the dogmatic/religious side of Buddhism. Provides a path to spiritual understanding that leaves out the ritual.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Taylor
- 07-26-20
great history lesson and insightful
loved the historical analysis. a lot of detail and logical in it's presentation. Nirvana inspiring!
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- Josh
- 01-03-16
A practical approach to history's prime pragmatist
Thank you for breathing life into the teaching, Mr Batchelor. I truly appreciate your work and it's contribution to my practice. May you be troubled only by the anxieties inherent in having a body and being in the world and be free of all other anxieties. I will return to this work again in the future.
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10 people found this helpful
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- Michael Carroll
- 01-28-23
Such a deep and thorough explanation
This is the kind of book that clarifies the subject. You learn things You didn’t know you didn’t know. There were questions about Buddhism I never thought to ask.
This book answered those questions. Questions about the early disciples and information about the evolution of the practice. Stephen batchelor covers all of it.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 05-06-21
You won't think of Buddhism the same afterward
Secular "Buddhism" is the future. The culmination of painstaking research, critical analysis, and compelling reorientation of a contemporary culture rooted in an ancient past, here Batchelor refines and elucidates the principles taught by the historical Buddha, separating them from the religious hierarchy that ensued and pointing out where Indian Brahmin culture crept in - forging the largely erroneous modern understanding of Buddhism as received in the West during the 19th and 20th centuries. The author crystallizes some of the ideas in his previous work, Buddhism Without Belief, and ensures the listener understands that the real-life historical Buddha was a human being with no special claim to some hidden realm of 'truth,' but rather a man who saw himself as a healer, akin to a medical doctor. That man in ancient India chose to share a way of seeing life that could ease suffering and build the foundation for individual happiness, yes, but also a vibrant society or community, right here and now - not in some afterlife or reincarnation. By examining the lives of the Buddha's immediate acquaintances and contemporaries, replete with political ambitions, ethical challenges, and social pressures, Batchelor reveals a man who lived into his eighties in a particular geographic and social context, but whose teachings today challenge the now-ossified religious orthodoxies which have developed through the centuries and have become conflated with those teachings. The author manages to be respectful of these traditions while pointing out where they diverge from what is known in the ancient available texts and translations. The result is a new opportunity for modern Western civilizations to embrace a non-religious and truly secular path to improvement which Batchelor convincingly contends was,and is, the genuine set of insights offered by the historical Buddha.
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- Patrick
- 02-08-17
this is NOT an intro to Buddhism!
if you're looking to get an intro to Buddhism look elsewhere! I'd suggest the dalai lama's How to Practice, and maybe Jack Kornfield's Buddhism for Beginners. but if you find yourself rolling your eyes at some of that, and here your inner Buddha calling B.S. on some of it, this book will not disappoint.
This book is a very rational reading of the Buddha's encounters and message, how it could have been bastardized by the organized religion, and how it can be reclaimed.
it is told through his encounters with many different individuals, which can be interesting, but very dense. this book is pretty academic, so if you're looking for prose and neat little stories, again, look elsewhere.
if you have heard the Buddha call you to seek your own path of truth and not bow to authority, or accepted knowledge, this is a book with many ideas worth considering.
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