POSTS:

Buddhist modernism

Buddhist modernism and secular Buddhism
Winton Higgins discusses the differences between Buddhist modernism, which established itself in the west in the 1960s, and a fully secular approach to the dharma.
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.
What kind of Buddhist are you?
Mike Slott offers a 'map' of contemporary Buddhism to represent the multiplicity of approaches available to practitioners. The map can used by practitioners to understand how their own interests, values, and attitudes connect with the dharma.
The New Buddhist Fellowship in Meiji Japan: an early experiment in socially active secular Buddhism
James Mark Shields discusses the New Buddhist Fellowship (NBF), a group of roughly a dozen young scholars and activists in Japan who developed a more modern and secular version of Buddhism. In several important respects, the New Buddhists of early twentieth-century Japan lay the foundations for later movements such as socially engaged and secular Buddhism.
A review of Evan Thompson’s ‘Why I am not a Buddhist’
In his recently published book, the philosopher Evan Thompson critiques Buddhist modernism and the notion that Buddhism is superior to other spiritual traditions because it provides us with a scientific understanding of the mind and our world. Is Thompson's criticism of Buddhist modernism valid? Do his criticisms apply to secular Buddhism?