Bibliograph

Confession of a Buddhist atheist, Stephen Batchelor

Type

Label

Confession of a Buddhist atheist, Stephen Batchelor

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references (pages 281-285) and index

resource.biographical

autobiography

Illustrations

maps

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

Confession of a Buddhist atheist

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

401141622

Responsibility statement

Stephen Batchelor

Summary

Charting his journey from hippie to monk to lay practitioner, teacher, and interpreter of Buddhist thought, Batchelor reconstructs the historical Buddha's life, locating him within the social and political context of his world. In examining the ancient texts of the Pali Canon, the earliest record of the Buddha's life and teachings, Batchelor argues that the Buddha was a man who looked at human life in a radically new way for his time, more interested in the question of how human beings should live in this world than in notions of karma and the afterlife. According to Batchelor, the outlook of the Buddha was far removed from the piety and religiosity that has come to define much of Buddhism as we know it today

Table Of Contents

Monk. A Buddhist failure (I) ; On the road ; The seminarian ; Eel wriggling ; Being-in-the-world ; Great doubt -- Layman. A Buddhist failure (II) ; Siddhattha Gotama ; The North Road ; Against the stream ; Clearing the path ; Embrace suffering ; In Jeta's Grove ; An ironic atheist ; Vidudabha's revenge ; Gods and demons ; Tread the path with care ; A secular Buddhist -- Appendixes. The Pli Canon ; Was Siddhattha Gotama at Taxil? ; Turning the Wheel of Dhamma ; The Buddha's India : map

Classification