Secular Buddhism Archives - Secular Buddhist Network

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Secular Buddhism

Interview with Dave Smith on teaching meditation and the Secular Dharma Foundation

Dave Smith is an internationally recognized Buddhist meditation teacher, addiction treatment specialist, and published author. We recently interviewed Dave about his approach to being a meditation teacher and his Secular Dharma Foundation.

Defining secular Buddhism: beware of certain traps

Secular Buddhism doesn’t need to be understood as a new ‘Buddhism’ but more as a different approach to practice. This approach starts from our perspective as modern people, and thanks to this lens, revises the meaning of the teachings of an ancient tradition so that they can speak to human beings today.

What next? two years of path in the Secular Dharma with Bodhi College

Stefano Bettera offers his reflections on the two year course on the Secular Dharma at Bodhi College and what the next steps are for the course participants. He asserts that it is the 'creative, adaptable, non-dogmatic and unorthodox characteristic of the secular Dharma that is an opportunity' for contributing to a culture in which awareness and compassion are predominant.

Emotion-Focused Mindfulness Therapy and Stephen Batchelor’s four tasks

Emotion-Focused Mindfulness Therapy (EFMT) is a new psychological approach to addressing internal conflicts like harsh self-criticism. The approach emerged out of a dialogue between Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) and the secular and contemporary Buddhist perspectives of Stephen Batchelor, Winton Higgins and Jason Siff.

Secular Buddhist meditation: cultivating virtues and insights to promote human flourishing

Mike Slott argues that the purpose of meditation for secular Buddhists is to cultivate certain virtues and insights which are crucial to promoting human flourishing in this world, not the attainment of nirvana.

Stephen Batchelor’s ten theses of secular dharma

In his 2015 book After Buddhism: rethinking the dharma for a secular age Stephen Batchelor offers ten theses of secular dharma, summing up his overall perspective on secular Buddhism.

Key elements of secular Buddhism – a framework

While secular Buddhism is not a ‘school’ of Buddhism with a set of orthodox beliefs and established institutions which represent this trend, secular Buddhists do share some common perspectives.

Two misconceptions about secular Buddhism

Despite the claims of some critics, secular Buddhists are not anti-religious and the goal of a secular dharma is not simply stress reduction but a radical transformation of individuals and society.

Stephen Batchelor on coming out as a secular Buddhist

When Stephen Batchelor first self-identified as a secular Buddhist in 2012 he said that ‘I see the aim of Buddhist practice to be the moment-to-moment flourishing of human life within the ethical framework of the eightfold path.'

A secular reinterpretation of the Eightfold Path

While the Eightfold Path is an essential framework and guide for traditional and secular Buddhists, the goal of the path for secular Buddhists is not nirvana but human flourishing in this life. This requires us to reinterpret the meaning and function of the eight path factors.

Three paths for secular Buddhists – crucial conversations and movements

Mike Slott identifies three trends or paths within secular Buddhism: 1) a dharmic-focused effort to reconstruct Buddhism, 2) bringing a secular form of Buddhism into the mindfulness movement, and 3) integrating secular Buddhist perspectives and insights into projects for radical, political transformation.

Three marks of existence, or three factors of human experience?

Mike Slott contends that, from secular Buddhist perspective, it is more appropriate to view impermancence, not-self, and dukkha as aspects of our experience rather than ontological characteristics of reality.

Bhikkhu Bodhi on traditional versus secular Buddhism

Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi explores the differences between traditional and secular forms of Buddhism, and expresses concern that both approaches have viewed political activism as marginal to the dharmic path.

Secular Buddhism and the western search for meaning

… Winton Higgins traces the origins of secular Buddhism in interpretations of the Pali canon developed by Harold Musson and Stephen Batchelor.

Selected Articles from the SBA Website

Over the course of 10 years, the Secular Buddhist Association (SBA) published over 300 articles. Below you'll find a chronological list (most recent to the oldest) of some of SBA's most important and influential articles.