Secular Buddhism
Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World
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Narrated by:
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Ralph Lister
About this listen
An essential collection of Stephen Batchelor's most probing and important work on secular Buddhism
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? Is there an ethical framework that can underpin and contextualize these practices in a rapidly changing world?
In this collected volume of Stephen Batchelor's writings on these themes, he explores the complex implications of Buddhism's secularization. Ranging widely - from reincarnation, religious belief, and agnosticism to the role of the arts in Buddhist practice - he offers a detailed description of contemporary Buddhism and its attempt to find a voice in the modern world.
©2017 Stephen Batchelor (P)2017 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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What if imagination and art are not, as many of us might think, the frosting on life but the fountainhead of human experience? What if our logic and science derive from art forms rather than the other way around? In this trenchant volume, Rollo May helps all of us find those creative impulses that, once liberated, offer new possibilities for achievement. A renowned therapist and inspiring guide, Dr. May draws on his experience to show how we can break out of old patterns in our lives.
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May takes on the Creative Act
- By Lowball on 01-16-19
By: Rollo May
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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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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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On Augustine
- By: Rowan Williams
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Since his retirement as Archbishop of Canterbury and his return to academic life (Master of Magdalene College Cambridge), Rowan Williams has demonstrated a massive new surge of intellectual energy. In this new audiobook, he turns his attention to St Augustine. St Augustine not only shaped the development of Western theology, he also made a major contribution to political theory ( The City of God) and, through his Confessions, to the understanding of human psychology.
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thoughtful take.
- By Michael McGuire on 04-17-22
By: Rowan Williams
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What Is Zen?
- Plain Talk for a Beginner's Mind
- By: Norman Fischer, Susan Moon
- Narrated by: Norman Fischer, Susan Moon
- Length: 6 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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The question-and-answer format makes this introduction to Zen especially easy to understand - and also to use as a reference, as you can easily look up just the question you had in mind. The esteemed Zen teacher Norman Fischer and his old friend and teaching colleague Susan Moon (both of them in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki, author of Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind) give this collaborative effort a playful tone: Susan asks a question on our behalf, Norman answers it, and then Sue challenges him.
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Zen; An Introduction
- By Michael on 08-15-16
By: Norman Fischer, 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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If I Had Lunch with C. S. Lewis
- Exploring the Ideas of C. S. Lewis on the Meaning of Life
- By: Alister McGrath
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 4 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Have you ever wondered…whether God exists? whether life has meaning? Whether pain and suffering have a purpose? This audiobook is my invitation to sit down with C. S. Lewis and me to think about some of the persistent questions and dilemmas every person faces in life. We’ll explore Lewis’s thoughts on everything from friendships to heaven, from the reasons for faith to the power of stories.
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A great overview
- By Kevin on 12-31-14
By: Alister McGrath
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The Givenness of Things
- Essays
- By: Marilynne Robinson
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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The spirit of our times can appear to be one of joyless urgency. As a culture we have become less interested in the exploration of the glorious mind, and more interested in creating and mastering technologies that will yield material well-being. But while cultural pessimism is always fashionable, there is still much to give us hope.
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Mostly thoughts on religious things
- By Adam Shields on 01-26-16
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After Buddhism
- Rethinking the Dharma for a Secular Age
- By: Stephen Batchelor
- Narrated by: Stephen Batchelor
- Length: 17 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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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.
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Eye opening
- By Christopher F. Wilson on 12-20-15
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Buddhism Without Beliefs
- A Contemporary Guide to Awakening
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- Narrated 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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Confession of a Buddhist Atheist
- By: Stephen Batchelor
- Narrated by: Stephen Batchelor
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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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
- 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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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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Performance
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Story
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Sublime
- By Krush on 06-19-22
-
After Buddhism
- Rethinking the Dharma for a Secular Age
- By: Stephen Batchelor
- Narrated by: Stephen Batchelor
- Length: 17 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Eye opening
- By Christopher F. Wilson on 12-20-15
-
Buddhism Without Beliefs
- A Contemporary Guide to Awakening
- By: Stephen Batchelor
- Narrated by: Stephen Batchelor
- Length: 4 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Disingenuous.
- By Zoltan on 04-15-16
-
Confession of a Buddhist Atheist
- By: Stephen Batchelor
- Narrated by: Stephen Batchelor
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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
-
The Art of Solitude
- By: Stephen Batchelor
- Narrated by: Stephen Batchelor
- Length: 5 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Great idea, mediocre execution.
- By Darwin8u on 05-31-20
-
Living with the Devil
- A Meditation on Good and Evil
- By: Stephen Batchelor
- Narrated by: Stephen Batchelor
- Length: 6 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Sublime
- By Krush on 06-19-22
What listeners say about Secular Buddhism
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Allen Frazier
- 03-18-18
Frontier of Western Buddhism
this book, taken as a nother panel in the collage of his writing, brings added texture to the direction of Western Buddhism. lead on.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Ludwig
- 02-25-18
Good, but repetition of old material
If you read the contents beforehand, you will of course be aware that this is a collection of older material. So, if you have read Batchelor's other books you will have heard half of the material here already. But it is all interesting nonetheless.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Abhilash Nambiar
- 11-29-18
Poetry in prose form
Poetry in prose form. Read, hear, enjoy and live the Dharma through it. I know I did.
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1 person found this helpful
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- HarloweRayne2014
- 08-28-24
aryan nation...buddhism
What does aryan nation hatred have to do with buddhism?! Deleted and requested replacement of my wasted credit of this trash.
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- LuvUrZZZs
- 04-30-24
The narrator / narration was a TERRIBLE fit
The narrator / narration was a TERRIBLE fit.
Even in a semi biography, on a topic that even remotely touches on spiritualism and belief (or lack thereof), there needs to be some pause. The listener is trying to absorb the text.
The narrator is fast and clipped and has the exact same cadence over and over and over.
I will try to find another audio version or go old school and read Stephen's work. I am coming to this after listening to Stephen narrate Buddhism Without Belief and loved that one. Listening to Stephen and his calm, introspective, deliberate, thoughtful voice was a wonderful overlay to his text.
This was jarring and hurried and anxiety inducing.
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