POSTS:
Secular Buddhism
On Conventional and Ultimate Truth
By Doug Smith | March 12, 2015 Originally appeared on the SBA website at https://secularbuddhism.org/on-conventional-and-ultimate-truth/. One of the most famous Buddhist tropes is the distinction between “conventional truth” and “ultimate truth”. While these terms never appear in the Nikāyas, and so cannot be traced back to the Buddha himself, they do trace to the abhidhamma period, perhaps as a […]
Impermanence and Emptiness: a Reversal in Perspective?
By Doug Smith | January 12, 2015 Originally appeared on the SBA website at https://secularbuddhism.org/impermanence-and-emptiness-a-reversal-in-perspective/. The Buddhist notion of emptiness (suññatā/śunyatā) is famously difficult to get one’s head around. In a presentation this past Saturday Sharon Salzberg described it as a combination of impermanence (anicca) and interconnectedness. This is a good first go at understanding emptiness, although the simple concept […]
Stephen Batchelor on ‘Buddhism in a nutshell’
Stephen Batchelor offers a summary of secular Buddhism: "I’m supposed to take a risk and say in 25 words or less what Buddhism is. That of course is a very arrogant presumption on one level. But what I have concluded tentatively in recent years is to identify four points that the Buddha taught that cannot be derived from the socio-historical context of his time, in other words that are distinctively and non-controversially his own ideas."
Secular Buddhism: new vision or yet another of the myths it claims to cure?
Akincano Weber raises several concerns about secular Buddhism. In his view, advocates of secular Buddhism tend to promote, a 'flatland Buddhism' which overlooks the difference between a numinous personal experience in which one may feel connected to something beyond their self-construct and which may be truly transforming—and a metaphysical statement or supernatural belief.
An outline of secular Buddhism – a living tradition
In a 2013 talk Winton Higgins offers an outline of secular Buddhism as a recent extension of Buddhist modernism. He explains why "we need to know a lot about the Buddha’s saeculum, and about our own, to trace our living practice and tradition back to him, and make it relevant to us today".
From Both Sides: Secular Buddhism and the “McMindfulness” Question
By Mark Knickelbine | August 12, 2013 Originally appeared on the SBA website at https://secularbuddhism.org/from-both-sides-secular-buddhism-and-the-mcmindfulness-question/. The debate over the relationship between Buddhism and the mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) has heated up recently to a red hot glow. On July 1, Ron Purser and David Loy published an attack on the mindfulness movement in the Huffington Post under the title, […]
Secular Buddhism: scientistic versus interpretive
In his 2013 talk to the secular Buddhist colloquium at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies in Massachusetts, USA, Winton Higgins argues that secular Buddhism should avoid the pitfalls of anti-religious, scientistic approach.
Report on the 2013 Barre, USA, secular Buddhism colloquium
In this 2013 talk Winton Higgins discusses a colloquium held in Massachusetts, USA in 2013 regarding secular Buddhism. The colloquium revealed the diversity among those interested in and/or working to develop a secular dharma relevant to our age.
Secular Buddhism, Thin and Thick
By Doug Smith | April 9, 2013 Originally appeared on the SBA website at https://secularbuddhism.org/secular-buddhism-thin-and-thick/. There is an important split in the way many of us approach Secular Buddhism. Some of us want a "big tent" form of Secular Buddhism that welcomes believers from any and all faith backgrounds who are looking for a way to incorporate meditative […]
Making the most of the human condition: four talks on secular Buddhism
In four talks on secular Buddhism given at a day-long workshop in New Zealand in 2013, Winton Higgins provides an overall summary of key secular Buddhist ideas on the fourfold task, a non-formulaic approach to meditation, the flexible appropriation of tradition, and the need for a pragmatic theory of truth.
Secularity, religion and being human
In this 2012 talk Winton Higgins discusses various meanings of secularity in relation to the development of a secular dharma.
So What? On Glenn Wallis and Speculative Non-Buddhism
By Stephen Schettini | May 14, 2012 Originally appeared on the SBA website at https://secularbuddhism.org/so-what/. (provoked by Wallis’s article, On the Faith of Secular Buddhists) The hardest thing I ever did was walk away from Buddhism. It had saved my sanity and my life. After decades of self-destructive behavior, I’d found myself at home in the arms of […]
Being a Mindful, Politically Engaged Buddhist
By Dana Nourie | April 18, 2012 Originally appeared on the SBA website at https://secularbuddhism.org/being-a-mindful-politically-engaged-buddhist/. Minds are turning towards politics, especially in the US where we have a big election coming up. Arguments and opinions are flying back and forth, along with facts and misinformation. As Buddhist practitioners, we are handed challenges in many forms. I've often heard […]
A Letter to Traditional Buddhists
By Dana Nourie | July 31, 2011 Originally appeared on the SBA website at https://secularbuddhism.org/a-letter-to-traditional-buddhists/. Over the past few months The Secular Buddhist podcast site and its blogs have received increased attention. We are grateful for that and welcome the many new secular Buddhists into the community. But surprisingly, at least to me, we've also gotten a lot of heat […]
A Reply to B. Alan Wallace’s article “Distorted Visions of Buddhism: Agnostic and Atheist”
By Ted Meissner | October 11, 2010 Originally appeared on the SBA website at https://secularbuddhism.org/a-reply-to-b-alan-wallaces-article-distorted-visions-of-buddhism-agnostic-and-atheist/. The following is a reply to B. Alan Wallace's article "Distorted Visions of Buddhism: Agnostic and Atheist". Readers may wish to read the article in its uncommented form before reading this response.Stephen Batchelor has also written An Open Letter to B. Alan Wallace, which […]
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