Secular Buddhism Recommended Archives - Secular Buddhist Network

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Secular Buddhism Recommended

A dialogue on secular dharma

At an online program on Perspectives on Secular Dharma, Stephen Batchelor, Seth Zuihō Segall, Karsten Struhl, and Mike Slott engaged in a wide-ranging dialogue on key topics related to a secular approach to the dharma.

An interview with Stephen Batchelor on secular dharma

In a recent interview Stephen Batchelor discussed the historical antecedents and development of secular Buddhism, the divergent ‘core logics’ of traditional and secular Buddhism, and the need to create a new Mindfulness Based Human Flourishing program.

What is eudaimonic enlightenment?

Seth Zuihō Segall proposes a model of eudaimonic enlightenment that he believes integrates the best of the Buddhist and Aristotelian approaches. It is based on a version of Buddhism that is pragmatic and naturalistic, and that has the enhancement of individual and collective flourishing both within a single lifetime and over the course of long-term social development as its ultimate goals.

Resolving the secular versus religious dichotomy: a new approach for secular Buddhism

Stefano Bettera offers an interpretation of a secular approach to the dharma which he believes is a third way, inclusive and conciliatory, which avoids the dichotomy between the ‘religious’ and the ‘secular’. This approach is based in the primary experience of the ethical dimension of awakening, called nirvana.

Avoiding the conceit of superiority: a cautionary note for secular Buddhists

To avoid the superiority conceit pervasive in debates within Buddhism, secular Buddhists need to recognize two key points: 1) our approach to the Buddha’s teachings is only one of many legitimate approaches and 2) Buddhism, whether, in a secular or traditional form, does not provide us with all the answers to the key challenges that we face today.

An interview with Robert Wright on evolutionary psychology and a naturalistic approach to Buddhism

SBN interviewed Robert Wright, the author of why ‘Buddhism is True,’ on evolutionary psychology, his naturalistic approach to Buddhism, and his view of secular Buddhism.

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.

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.”

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”.