Secular Buddhist Network

POSTS:

The Buddha on the Orient Express: cultural encounters in the development of Buddhism

The oldest Buddhist monument was discovered in 2021 in the ancient Pakistani city of Barikot in the Swat Valley. Stefano Bettera discusses how this finding is part of an ever growing body of evidence that the development of Buddhism has been profoundly shaped by its encounter with various cultures.

Lifting the curtain

The Tuwhiri Project is a publishing imprint that was initiated by secular dharma practitioners in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand in 2018. 'News from Tuwhiri' provides a brief history of what Tuwhiri has accomplished since its founding and its future plans.

On resolving the neo-early Buddhist contradiction

Bernat Font-Clos identifies an important contradiction in the 'neo-early Buddhist' perspective prominent among many contemporary meditation teachers in the Insight tradition and proposes a resolution of the contradiction which is consistent with a life-affirming rather than a renunciant approach to our experiences.

Rethinking the Dharma / Reimagining Community #28 January 2022

Welcome to our January 2022 newsletter. This month we feature new articles by Alex Carr, John Danvers, and Jonathan Golden. We also announce the opening of registrations for SBN's online course on secular Buddhism and a new program offered by Dave Smith. Finally, we provide an update on SBN's monthly discussion group.

SBN’s online discussion group: an update

SBN's monthly, online discussion group had its first meeting in January 2021 and has become an important forum and source of connection for a group of secular Buddhists in various regions of the world. The group is making some changes for the 2022 meetings and a new reading group is being formed.

Secular Buddhism as a ‘paradigm shift’

Jonathan Golden uses Kuhn's notion of a 'paradigm shift' to discuss the issue of 'truths' and 'tasks' in secular Buddhism. He argues that Kuhn's perspective is consistent with Mike Slott's view of truths and tasks; while there are no absolute truths, our beliefs (provisional truth claims) are a necessary precondition for our practice, and practitioners should not be required to make a binary choice between truths and tasks.

Digital distraction and the dharma

Alex Carr discusses how our engagement with our digital distractions (Netflix, videogames, Instagram, etc.) actually hinders our practice. In the modern world, our digital distractions can provide us with temporary relief from the symptoms of dukkha, but they also numb us and blunt our ability to engage positively in the world to address the underlying causes of dukkha in a skilful way.

Understanding and alleviating suffering (dukkha)

We suffer not only because we have the tendency to be angry, greedy, and deluded, but because social, political, and economic structures foster these tendencies and amplify their impact. John Danvers discusses the characteristics of a society which would facilitate their opposites: compassion, non-harming, cooperation, and mindfulness.

Rethinking the Dharma / Reimagining Community #27 December 2021

Welcome to our December 2021 newsletter. This month we feature a dialogue regarding 'truths' and 'tasks' in secular Buddhism with Mike Slott, Winton Higgins, and Stephen Batchelor. We also highlight dharma talks by Stephen Batchelor on a secular reinterpretation of the Eightfold Path, an interview conducted by James Shaheen with Winton Higgins on his new book on secular Buddhism, an article by David Patten on varied secular sources for an understanding of not-self, and three SBN contributors who appear in the latest issue of Tricycle magazine.

Reexamining ‘truths’ and ‘tasks’ in secular Buddhism: a dialogue

Mike Slott, Winton Higgins, Stephen Batchelor, and Jonathan Golden discuss the relationship of truths and tasks in a secular approach to the dharma.

Dharma in the shadow of Buddhism: a response to Mike Slott and Winton Higgins

Stephen Batchelor continues the dialogue on 'truths' and 'tasks' in secular Buddhism by framing the discussion from a broader, historical perspective. Stephen argues that the Buddha's radical move was to depart from the truth-based perspective of Brahmanic, Indian culture to teach a fully committed ethical life that is not underwritten by any ultimate truth.

Interview with Winton Higgins on his new book, ‘Revamp: writings on secular Buddhism’

Winton Higgins, a meditation teacher, member of the Tuwhiri Project editorial board, and contributor to the Secular Buddhist Network website, was interviewed by Tricycle magazine editor James Shaheen on 18 November 2021 about his new book, 'Revamp: writings on secular Buddhism'.

Stephen Batchelor’s dharma talks on a secular reinterpretation of the eightfold path

At Buddha-Stiftung's fifth study retreat, which was held in October 2021, Stephen Batchelor discussed a secular reinterpretation of the Eightfold Path that is appropriate and helpful for our contemporary world. As part of this reinterpretation, Stephen suggested a different order of the limbs of the Eightfold Path and offered a new interpretation of each limb.

Rejoinder to Winton Higgins on ‘Reexamining “truths” and “tasks” in secular Buddhism’

Responding to Winton Higgins' criticism of his view of the relationship of tasks and truths in secular Buddhism, Mike Slott argues that in rejecting metaphysical truths as the basis of Buddhism, we don’t need to reject entirely the notion of truth as correspondence. The beliefs of secular Buddhists are provisional and conditional truth claims about our lived experience and the universe in which we are inextricably embedded.

Response to Mike Slott’s ‘Reexamining “truths” and “tasks” in secular Buddhism’

In response to Mike Slott's article on truths and tasks in secular Buddhism Winton Higgins argues that Mike's critique of Stephen Batchelor's formulation is misconceived; the issue is not the epistemological status of truth but about how we should live and practise. Dharma practitioners do have to choose: they can’t wish-wash over the truths/tasks distinction.