The Awakening of the West: The Encounter of Buddhism and Western Culture

From Greek kings to nineteenth-century adventurers, from missionaries to monks, the encounter of Buddhism and the West is filled with intriguing personalities in Awaking of the West.

Religion & Spirituality

Stephen Batchelor

Buddhism

Parallax Press

Book by Maurice Ash, John Crook, Stephen Batchelor

Sharpham Miscellany: Essays in Spirituality and Ecology

John Crook

Maurice Ash

Associated Publishers Group

"I yearn to be free of pain," wrote the eighth-century Indian Buddhist Shantideva, "but rush straight into it; I long for happiness, but foolishly crash it like an enemy." A thousand years later, Pascal noted how "we desire truth and find in ourselves nothing but uncertainty. We seek happiness and find only misery and death." Such a contradictoriness is more than an occasional moral lapse that could be corrected by the fear of punishment or a timely boost of rightcourness. It appears to be knit into the very fabric of existences itself. ---from Living with the Devil

Living with the Devil: A Meditation on Good and Evil

Politics & Social Sciences

Philosophy

Riverhead Books

[*Read by the author -Stephen Batchelor]  Stephen Batchelor synthesizes over four decades of study to offer a radical and unorthodox interpretation of foundational Buddhist texts and doctrines. Some twenty-five 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.

After Buddhism: Rethinking the Dharma for a Secular Age

Blackstone Audio,Inc.

Demystifing the tenets of Buddhism, this introduction to the Buddhist religion explains, without jargon or obscure terminology, the essential elements of its teachings, presents ways to work toward awakening, and examines Buddhism's relevance in Western culture.

Buddhism Without Beliefs

Audible Studios on Brilliance Audio

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.

Secular Buddhism

A Return to the Buddha's Root Teachings and Practices Before it was a religion, a culture, or even a system of meditation - what was Buddhism? Gautama Siddhartha, the historical Buddha, did not offer mystical revelations about the nature of the universe. He was not interested in questions about God or an afterlife. And he did not present his "awakening" as a lofty or distant goal. What he did profess was a way out of the anguish and dissatisfaction of the unexamined life - not through a religion of blind faith, but through a practice that was meant to be tested and used. 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. In eight compelling sessions of self-inquiry - including many fascinating exercises and practices - you will learn how to awaken and refine your senses, introduce the essential spirit of curiosity into the practice of awareness, and comprehend with both your heart and mind the Buddha's astonishing (and often misunderstood) revelations on emptiness, compassion, and the self. Before he died, the Buddha did not appoint a successor. He simply remarked that each of us must be responsible for our own freedom. Buddhism without Beliefs is an invitation to hear what he taught - and then, to trust yourself on your own path to liberation.

Sounds True, Incorporated

A personal meditation by the best-selling Buddhist philosopher considers the existence of evil in the world, drawing on western and Buddhist literature to profile the devil as a deceptive or distracting obstacle to true goodness and humility. 40,000 first printing.

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Alternative Medicine

The Five Mindfulness Trainings—protecting life, acting with generosity, behaving responsibly in sexual relationships, speaking and listening deeply and mindfully, and avoiding substance abuse—are the basic statement of ethics and morality in Buddhism. In For a Future to be Possible, Zen master and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh and fourteen prominent co-authors discuss these Five Mindfulness Trainings and offer insights and challenges for how they might play an important role in our personal lives and in society.

For a Future To Be Possible: Commentaries on the Five Mindfulness Trainings

JACK KORNFIELD

David Steindl-Rast

Joan Halifax

Maxine Hong Kingston

Annabel Laity

Christopher Reed

Patricia Marx Ellsberg

thich-nhat-hanh

Tibet

OLIZANE

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Stephen Batchelor. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Stephen Batchelor

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Stephen Batchelor. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Awakening of the West: The Encounter of Buddhism and Western Culture

Sharpham Miscellany: Essays in Spirituality and Ecology

Living with the Devil: A Meditation on Good and Evil

After Buddhism: Rethinking the Dharma for a Secular Age

Buddhism Without Beliefs

Secular Buddhism

Buddhism Without Beliefs

Living with the Devil: A Meditation on Good and Evil

For a Future To Be Possible: Commentaries on the Five Mindfulness Trainings

Tibet