Secular Buddhism Archives - Secular Buddhist Network

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Secular Buddhism

Tread with care: a secular Buddhist’s approach

Tom Cummings discusses how Gotama's injunction to tread the path with care, calls on us to think rigorously about how we’re living our one and only life, and especially about how we’re interacting with all those we meet along our path.

Secular Buddhism and Buddhist Modernism

Ira Rifkin discusses how the growth of secular Buddhism in recent years is part of a broader trend in society to question orthodox beliefs and to develop new forms of spirituality.

Mindfulness Based Ethical Living (MBEL): an update

Since November 2022, eighteen people from twelve countries have been developing a new online course, Mindfulness Based Ethical Living (MBEL). The course will offer an ethical and philosophical framework for a flourishing life, based on a secular interpretation of the Buddhist foundation of mindfulness.

In memory of Tom Bulley

In memory of his good friend Tom Bulley, a secular dharma practitioner who recently passed away, Keith Jackson offers a sample of Tom's witty and imaginative mind.

The dharmic tasks of an improvising musician

When he played a wrong note during an improvisational jazz concert, Pedro Bellora used his secular dharma practice to move from a moment of contracted reactivity to a place of joyful non-reactivity.

A practitioner’s journey to secular Buddhism: Tom

Tom Cummings initially practiced Vipassana meditation, but he has found that secular Buddhism's emphasis on our present human life as the one and only existence we have aligns well with the agnostic humanist perspective he has embraced for many years.

Mindfulness and the Four Noble Truths

At an online program sponsored by New York Insight Meditation Center, Dave Smith presented the Four Noble Truths as four tasks for engaging in an ethical, flourishing life.

The 12 steps and the 12 traditions of secular Buddhism

Kirk Mason argues that secular Buddhism allows us to integrate the principles of mindfulness and compassion in a more flexible way, and has been essential in his own recovery program.

A practitioner’s journey to secular Buddhism: Jim

Jim Bronson connected with the Theravāda tradition and Insight meditation over 20 years ago, after the death of his first wife. As a scientist, he was attracted to the secular aspects of Theravāda and began to learn more about secular Buddhism. He finds inspiration in Stephen Batchelor's view that ‘a secular Buddhist is one who is committed to the practice of the dharma for the sake of this world alone.’

An interview with Stephen Batchelor on Mindfulness Based Ethical Living

On 22 February 2023, Stephen Batchelor was interviewed by Ayda Duroux, Saskia Graf, and Jochen Weber from Buddha-Stiftung, and Mike Slott from the Secular Buddhist Network. Stephen discussed the key aspects of a new practical and ethical philosophy, Mindfulness Based Ethical Living (MBEL).

A practitioner’s journey to secular Buddhism: Kathy

Kathy Lang particularly appreciates the secular Buddhist emphasis on bringing the practice to everyday life and the the view of nirvana as a process of reducing reactivity, rather than as the metaphysical goal of a state beyond our present reality.

Secular monks?

Dennis SengTing Oliver, a secular monk in the Centre for Pragmatic Buddhism in Scotland, offers a balanced assessment of the reasons for and against having secular monks within the Buddhist community.

A practitioner’s journey to secular Buddhism: Ronn

Ronn Smith began an intensive study of Buddhism at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies (BCBS) in 2008 and then gravitated toward a secular approach through an engagement with Stephen Batchelor's writings. For Ronn, the ethical and philosophical dimensions of secular dharma are crucial; in particular, the emphasis on flourishing and care rather than on suffering.

An introduction to secular Buddhism

For those who are curious about or interested in secular Buddhism and want to learn about this relatively new trend within Buddhism, this article will provide a helpful starting point for exploring a secular approach to the dharma.

A practitioner’s journey to secular Buddhism: Steve

Steve Holdsambeck and his family were deeply involved for many years in the southern (USA) Methodist Church. However, through a very emotional and difficult transition, he began to question his Christian faith and developed an increasing interest in meditation, which eventually led to an interest in Stephen Batchelor's books and secular Buddhism.