Secular Buddhism—sometimes also referred
to as agnostic Buddhism, Buddhist agnosticism,
ignostic Buddhism, atheistic Buddhism, pragmatic
Buddhism, Buddhist atheism, or Buddhist secularism—is
a broad term for an emerging form of Buddhism
and secular spirituality that is based on
humanist, skeptical, and/or agnostic values,
as well as pragmatism and (often) naturalism,
rather than religious (or more specifically
supernatural or paranormal) beliefs.
Secular Buddhists interpret the teachings
of the Buddha and the Buddhist texts in a
rationalist and often evidentialist manner,
considering the historical and cultural contexts
of the times in which the Buddha lived and
the various suttas, sutras and tantras were
written.
Within the framework of secular Buddhism,
Buddhist doctrine may be stripped of any unspecified
combination of various traditional beliefs
that could be considered superstitious, or
that cannot be tested through empirical research,
namely: supernatural beings (such as devas,
bodhisattvas, nāgas, pretas, Buddhas, etc.),
merit and its transference, rebirth, Buddhist
cosmology (including the existence of pure
lands and hells), etc.
Traditional Buddhist ethics, such as conservative
views regarding abortion, and human sexuality,
may or may not be called into question as
well. Some schools, especially Western Buddhist
ones, take more progressive stances regarding
social issues.
== History ==
The appearance of secular Buddhism is understood
as part of the broad trend of secularization
that has been developing in the West since
the recovery of classical Greek culture in
the Renaissance, rather than merely as a consequence
of the supposed triumph of scientific rationalism
over religion in the modern period. Moreover,
many aspects of secular Buddhism have been
prompted by organizational developments that
began in a minority of lay Buddhist practice
communities (sanghas) in the West during the
last decades of the 20th century, when the
hierarchical features of Buddhist monastic
culture were abandoned in favor of democratic
principles of civic association. In particular,
the need to include women on an equal footing
produced organizational innovations, which
disrupted older patterns of patriarchal authority
and gender exclusivity.In the 21st century,
the new information and communication technologies
have provided a seedbed for secular Buddhism
by making teachings and discussion more freely
available and readily accessible, thus facilitating
the formation of virtual and actual practice
communities. Today there are websites explicitly
dedicated to secular Buddhism in Australia,
Austria, Canada, New Zealand, Spain, the UK
and the USA.
Secular Buddhism has its roots in Buddhist
modernism and secular humanism. The Insight
meditation movement in the United States was
founded on modernist secular values. Jack
Kornfield, an American teacher and former
Theravadin monk, stated that the Insight Meditation
Society wanted to present Buddhist meditation
“without the complications of rituals, robes,
chanting and the whole religious tradition.”
S. N. Goenka, a popular teacher of Buddhist
Vipassana meditation, taught that his practice
was not a sectarian doctrine, but “something
from which people of every background can
benefit: an art of living.” This essentially
treats Buddhism as an applied philosophy,
rather than a religion, or relies on Buddhist
philosophy without dogmatism.
Stephen Batchelor is a self-proclaimed Secular
Buddhist who promotes a strictly secular form
of Buddhism. Batchelor was a Buddhist monk
ordained in the more traditional forms of
Buddhism. From his experience as a monk practicing
Tibetan Buddhism and later Zen, he felt the
need for a more secular and agnostic approach.
In his books Buddhism Without Beliefs and
Confession of a Buddhist Atheist he articulates
his approach to the Buddha's teaching, describes
Siddhattha Gautama as a historic person rather
than an idealized religious icon, and scrutinizes
typical Buddhist doctrines dealing with the
concept of an afterlife.The Liberal Democrat
peer Lord Avebury was a secular Buddhist and
a humanist and a patron of the British Humanist
Association until his death. He was instrumental
in securing the abolition of blasphemy as
a crime in England and Wales.
== Key concepts and practices ==
Secular Buddhism is a newly emerging, predominantly
lay movement within Buddhism. Unlike the various
kinds of Buddhist modernism, which tend to
be modifications of traditional schools of
Buddhist thought and practice in the light
of the discourses of modernity, secular Buddhism
is founded on a reconfiguration of core elements
of the dharma itself. To this end it seeks
to recover the original teachings of Siddhattha
Gotama, the historical Buddha, yet without
claiming to disclose "what the Buddha really
meant". Rather, it interprets the early canonical
teachings in a way that draws out their meaning
in the Buddha's own historical context (the
culture of the Gangetic plains in the fifth
century BCE) while demonstrating their value
and relevance to people living in our own
time. Both aspects of this interpretation
are literally "secular" in that they evoke
the Latin root word saeculum – a particular
age or generation. The ethos of the movement
is perhaps best captured in Stephen Batchelor's
Confession of a Buddhist Atheist.Secular Buddhism
proposes that we leave behind the metaphysical
beliefs and soteriology of Indian religious
culture. This culture saw human life as an
irredeemable realm of suffering, from which
one should seek transcendence in an enduring
beyond-human condition – a stance that virtually
all Buddhist schools, as well as Hinduism
and Jainism, perpetuate. Secular Buddhism,
on the other hand, seeks to deploy the Buddha's
teaching as a guide to full human flourishing
in this life and this world. In adopting this
post-metaphysical position, it parts company
with existing religious forms of Buddhist
orthodoxy, which have evolved since the Buddha's
death. Instead, it aligns itself with today's
post-metaphysical philosophy, not least phenomenology,
so finding itself on a convergent path with
similar movements in radical Christian theology,
as exemplified by the work of thinkers such
as Don Cupitt and Gianni Vattimo.Secular Buddhism
likewise rejects the authoritarian structures
of power legitimated by the metaphysics of
orthodox Buddhist belief. It questions notions
of spiritual progress based on standardized
prescriptions for meditation practice, as
well as the widespread idea that Buddhist
practice is essentially concerned with gaining
proficiency in a set of meditative techniques
endorsed by the authority of a traditional
school or teacher. Instead, secular Buddhism
emphasizes a praxis that encourages autonomy
and encompasses equally every aspect of one's
humanity, as modeled by the noble eight-fold
path (right vision, intention, speech, action,
livelihood, effort, mindfulness and concentration).
Such an approach is open to generating a wide
range of responses to specific individual
and communal needs, rather than insisting
on there being "one true way" to "enlightenment"
valid for all times and places.
== See also ==
== Literature ==
Batchelor, Stephen. After Buddhism: Rethinking
the Dharma for a Secular Age. Yale University
Press, 2015. ISBN 030020518X.
Batchelor, Stephen. Buddhism without Beliefs.
Riverhead Books, 1998. ISBN 1-57322-656-4.
Ward, Tim. What the Buddha Never Taught. Celestial
Arts, 1995. ISBN 0-89087-687-8.
Rasheta, Noah Secular Buddhism. Blurb, 2016
== Notes and references ==
== External links ==
Secular Buddhism (Australia)
Secular Buddhism (Canada)
German language Secular Buddhist website
Secular Buddhism in Aotearoa New Zealand
Spanish language Secular Buddhist website
Secular Buddhist Association (USA)
Secular Buddhism Website (USA)
Nichiren Secular
