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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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.
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Good, but repetition of old material
- By Ludwig on 02-25-18
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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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The Art of Solitude
- By: Stephen Batchelor
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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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Living with the Devil
- A Meditation on Good and Evil
- By: Stephen Batchelor
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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
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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
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Disingenuous.
- By Zoltan on 04-15-16
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Secular Buddhism
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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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Confession of a Buddhist Atheist
- By: Stephen Batchelor
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- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
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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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Great idea, mediocre execution.
- By Darwin8u on 05-31-20
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Living with the Devil
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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
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- Length: 3 hrs and 22 mins
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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
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- Length: 1 hr and 44 mins
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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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In the Buddha's Words
- An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon
- By: Bhikkhu Bodhi - editor and translator
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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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What the Buddha Taught
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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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The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha
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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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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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Overall
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Story
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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Why Buddhism Is True
- The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment
- By: Robert Wright
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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From one of America's greatest minds, a journey through psychology, philosophy, and lots of meditation to show how Buddhism holds the key to moral clarity and enduring happiness. In Why Buddhism Is True, Wright leads listeners on a journey through psychology, philosophy, and a great many silent retreats to show how and why meditation can serve as the foundation for a spiritual life in a secular age.
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Clear Explanation of How the Mind Works
- By George on 08-10-17
By: Robert Wright
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The Connected Discourses of the Buddha
- A Translation of the Saṃyutta Nikaya
- By: Bhikkhu Bodhi
- Narrated by: Taradasa
- Length: 57 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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This volume offers a complete translation of the Saṃyutta Nikāya, The Connected Discourses of the Buddha, the third of the four great collections in the Sutta Pitaka of the Pāli Canon. The Saṃyutta Nikāya consists of 56 chapters, each governed by a unifying theme that binds together the Buddha's suttas or discourses.
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Easy to understand...
- By Munair on 04-09-21
By: Bhikkhu Bodhi
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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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The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching
- Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation
- By: Thích Nhất Hạnh
- Narrated by: René Ruiz
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In The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching, now revised with added material and new insights, Nhat Hanh introduces us to the core teachings of Buddhism and shows us that the Buddha’s teachings are accessible and applicable to our daily lives.
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Great overview of Buddhism
- By Nick on 06-24-16
By: Thích Nhất Hạnh
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Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
- Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice
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In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few. So begins this most beloved of all American Zen works....
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terrific book. Horrible recording.
- By Matthew Wash on 06-29-18
By: Shunryu Suzuki
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Turning Confusion into Clarity
- A Guide to the Foundation Practices of Tibetan Buddhism
- By: Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, Helen Tworkov
- Narrated by: Homer Todiwala
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- Unabridged
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By offering detailed instruction and friendly, inspiring advice for those embarking on the Tibetan Buddhist foundation practices, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche provides gentle yet thorough commentary, companionship, and inspiration for committing to the Vajrayana path.
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Essential teaching for new Vajrayana practitioners, and anyone who wants to deepen their understanding of Ngondro
- By Erik A. Reponen on 02-15-24
By: Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, and others
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Buddhism Is Not What You Think
- Finding Freedom Beyond Beliefs
- By: Steve Hagen
- Narrated by: Paul Heitsch
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Best-selling author and renowned Zen teacher Steve Hagen penetrates the most essential and enduring questions at the heart of the Buddha's teachings: How can we see the world in each moment, rather than merely as what we think, hope, or fear it is? How can we base our actions on reality, rather than on the longing and loathing of our hearts and minds? How can we live lives that are wise, compassionate, and in tune with reality? And how can we separate the wisdom of Buddhism from the cultural trappings and misconceptions that have come to be associated with it?
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great message, annoying narrator
- By Pamela Radtke on 11-28-19
By: Steve Hagen
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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- 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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- 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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- 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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16 people found this helpful