2020/09/12

希修 Delusion is a defilement or unskillful quality. But is it a 'bad' karma?

 希修

1du0htS clSpooeptncsguSemsmbeonr getart 0uiehlt6et:d59  · 

Good morning, everyone! I have another question.

.

Delusion is a defilement or unskillful quality. But is it a 'bad' karma? 

Given that volition/intention is the important part of karma, then it follows that delusion is not a bad karma, for no one is delusional because (s)he has the volition/intention to be delusional. Nevertheless, one's delusion may burden or even harm other people. How could it be not a bad karma then? Also, if delusion leads to unfortunate rebirths, shouldn't we say it is a bad karma? 

.

I have had this question for a long time, and I have so far read 8 books by Thanissaro Bhikkhu, but haven't yet found a clue. Does any of you know what Thanissaro Bhikkhu would say on this? 

.

Best,

Heesoo

Comments

Jonathan Shoemaker

Unskillful kamma is intention that is based on greed, aversion, and/or delusion. I remember TB talking about good intentions not being enough. They have to be skillful intentions because intentions based on delusion are unskillful and lead to unpleasant results.

 · Reply · 2 d · Edited

Joseph Pokorski

Wouldn't it be the case that the resultant actions caused by delusion would be the cause of kamma? Delusion being the result itself of unskillful behavior and a root of further unskillful actions but not action itself.

 · Reply · 2 d

Jonathan Shoemaker

https://www.dhammatalks.org/books/NobleStrategy/Section0006.html

The Road to Nirvāṇa Is Paved with Skillful Intentions | Noble Strategy

DHAMMATALKS.ORG

The Road to Nirvāṇa Is Paved with Skillful Intentions | Noble Strategy

The Road to Nirvāṇa Is Paved with Skillful Intentions | Noble Strategy

 · Reply · 2 d

Jonathan Shoemaker

"To train our intentions in this way, though, requires a deep level of self-awareness. Why is that? If you look carefully at the reasons for our disillusionment with good intentions, you’ll find that they all come down to delusion. And as the Buddha tells us, delusion is one of the three main roots for unskillful intentions, the other two being greed and aversion. These unskillful roots lie entangled with skillful roots—states of mind that are free of greed, aversion, and delusion—in the soil of the untrained heart. If we can’t isolate and dig up the unskillful roots, we can never be fully sure of our intentions. Even when a skillful intention seems foremost in the mind, the unskillful roots can quickly send up shoots that blind us as to what’s actually going on."

 · Reply · 2 d · Edited

Jonathan Shoemaker

https://tricycle.org/magazine/thanissaro-bhikkhu-karma/

Everything You Wanted to Know About Karma

TRICYCLE.ORG

Everything You Wanted to Know About Karma

Everything You Wanted to Know About Karma

 · Reply · 2 d

Jonathan Shoemaker

"For an intention to give good results, it has to be free of greed, aversion, and delusion. Now, it’s possible for an intention to be well-meaning but based on delusion, in which case it would lead to bad results: believing, for instance, that there are times when the compassionate course of action would be to kill or to tell a lie, or for a teacher to have sex with a student. To give good results, an action has to be not only good but also skillful."

 · Reply · 2 d

Write a reply...


Jonathan Shoemaker

It is not that you intend to be greedy or be averse or be delusional. It is that you intend to do X and that intention has greed or aversion or delusion as its motivating force.

 · Reply · 2 d

Jonathan Shoemaker

For example, you intend to chop down a tree to build a kuti for a bhikkhu. That is wholesome, it is motivated by non-greed, non-aversion, and non-delusion. But when the tree falls it smashes a bug that you didn't see. That is not intentional killing. It was not your intention to kill. Thus, no bad kamma. That is what it means that intention is the heart of kamma. The person here did not intend to be non-delusional or non-greedy or non-averse. He intended to chop down a tree for use in building a bhikkhu's kuti, and that intention was motivated by non-delusion or non-greed or non-aversion.

 · Reply · 2 d

希修

Author

Ok, then would the following be an accurate summary of main points?

(1) Delusion in itself is not a bad karma.

(2) But delusion is one of the main roots for bad intentions/karmas to rise from.

 · Reply · 2 d · Edited

Jonathan Shoemaker

I would put it like this: any thinking (taking up a mind object and feeding it, cultivating it), speaking, or acting motivated by delusion is unskillful kamma. I would not think about delusion in itself or greed in itself or aversion in itself apart from the three types of action.

 · Reply · 2 d

希修

Author

I also heard somewhere (I forgot where) that, if you die with a deluded mind, it will take you to a rebirth in a low realm. Am I correct?

 · Reply · 2 d

Jonathan Shoemaker

As delusion is an unwholesome root, I would think so. Based on what you've read in the Canon, wouldn't you believe that a mind filled with greed or aversion at the moment of death would lead to a lower birth? Why wouldn't this also be so of delusion?

 · Reply · 2 d

希修

Author

Right. Somehow I thought only 'karmas' in and of themselves would bring a consequence such as rebirth. Thank you so much for having cleared my confusions, Jonathan! 🙏

 · Reply · 2 d · Edited

Jonathan Shoemaker

希修 Mental kamma is a type of kamma

 · Reply · 2 d

Write a reply...


Hk Tan

To me, I tend to understand that delusion is both the result of past kamma (a current state of becoming conditioned by our past actions) as well as present kamma as well (delusion is a kind of becoming, and becoming itself is also a kind of kamma that keep us in samsara). Are my understanding correct?

 · Reply · 2 d · Edited

Jonathan Shoemaker

My understanding is that whatever delusion arises does so based on past kamma. Then what you do with that is present kamma. If you have sati and panya working you see it as delusion and abandon it right there or not long after that. Otherwise you may t… See more

 · Reply · 2 d

Hk Tan

Sadhu. Thank you for your explanation.

Brother Jonathan and 希修, please take care n stay healthy.

 · Reply · 2 d

Jonathan Shoemaker

Hk Tan Thank you too, friend! May you be healthy and well too!

 · Reply · 2 d

Write a reply...


希修

Author

One more question. If someone works at a nuclear power plant, and, just by a pure mistake, he did something wrong, which results in hundreds people dying. In this case, he had no bad intention, and yet the consequence is far from insignificant. He still won't be subject to a bad karma in this case because he did not have a bad intention?

 · Reply · 2 d · Edited

Joseph Pokorski

希修 The volition of an action is derived from intent. Although kamma will still be reaped from this action, the kamma is not the same as if he harbored ill will and intentionally did it. Suppose we look at murder vs manslaughter in terms of legality.

 · Reply · 2 d

Jonathan Shoemaker

The short answer is yes. If the action that led to the incident was not motivated or colored by greed, hatred, or delusion then it will not lead to unpleasant result for that individual. To whatever extent greed, hatred, and/or delusion was present in … See more

 · Reply · 2 d · Edited

Jonathan Shoemaker

Also it is important to consider the person's mental reaction to the result of the mistake. If the person delights in the destruction, then that is bad mental kamma that brings bad results. But if the person is not pleased with the destruction, has com… See more

 · Reply · 1 d

Jonathan Shoemaker

希修 How would you answer this question?

 · Reply · 1 d

希修

Author

Jonathan Shoemaker Your answer makes sense 100%, logically anyway. But my heart/intuition is still not quite sure. I feel that I have to keep thinking and reflecting on this. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. 🙂

 · Reply · 1 d

Jonathan Shoemaker

希修 Remember the Buddha said that kamma is so complex that one could go crazy from thinking about the details. It is enough to know that non-greed, non-hatred, and non-delusion lead to desirable results and do one's best to think, speak, and act with those as motivating factors and abandon greed, hatred, and delusion whenever possible. As for mistakes, we should be as careful as possible to avoid them, understand some will still happen anyway, be forgiving and accepting of them, and learn from them so we do not repeat them. No need to worry about anything else that might come from a mistake.

 · Reply · 1 d · Edited

希修

Author

Jonathan Shoemaker How wise! Thank you very much! 🙂

 · Reply · 1 d

希修

Author

Jonathan Shoemaker I keep reading Thanissaro Bhikkhu's books at home, but, doing chores around the house, I listen to Bhikkhu Bodhi's lectures on You Tube. In Bhikkhu Bodhi's lecture on a part of Majihima Nikaya which I listened to yesterday, he said that karma is just one layer of causality. And this point seems to clear all my confusions.

For example, if I make a serious mistake on job with no particular intention/volition (*), I will have to go through consequences such as being fired or even sued, which will take care of my 'action' (including words and mental states). But karma is a particular causality to deal only with the intention/volition. Thus, as you previously answered to my question, in the above case (*), there won't be a karma. I have to deal with whatever consequences in this life, and that's it.

Similarly, if I die with a deluded mind, this 'action' (being the mental state in this case) will lead me to an unfortunate rebirth through the natural principle of causality. Yet, since it was not my intention/volition to be deluded, we won't necessarily call this 'karma'.

In summary, all my confusions resulted from the fact that I mistakenly thought 'karma' and 'causality' were one and the same thing. However, as long as we take karma only as one kind/part of causality, then my questions disappear. Also, the theory of karma seems to show us how powerful our mind is. We have to deal with not only the consequences of our actions but also the consequences of our intentions/volitions which produced such actions.

 · Reply · 4 h · Edited

Jonathan Shoemaker

希修 Thanks for your analysis! I wonder what else Bhikkhu Bodhi attributes to causality? Could you explain. You see, in every moment there is not just one specific result of one specific kamma at play. There are multiple from various times in the past plus the present, so I tend to believe the mistake would have been conditioned by some past kamma or even kammas and allowed or supported as well by current kamma or even kammas. There is a sutta in which the Buddha says everything that comes through the sense doors is the result of past kamma and a sutta in which he says there are other natural factors. As TB has said, after 2,500 years of transmission, not every sutta in the Canon is a perfect reflection of the Buddha's actual words. We have to reflect on our own and put things into practice for ourselves until we know directly. My current (and indeed long-term firm conviction) is that everything that comes through the sense doors is conditioned at least in some way by past kamma, and that it is impossible that anything could come through the sense doors if not allowed by past kamma--think of the Dhammapada verse about poison in the hand that is not cut verses poison in the hand that has an open wound. Kamma is complex and non-linear. It is sufficient to do our best at Right Effort and the rest of the path, having a firm conviction in our capacity for action and the importance of the results of our action. That is still my firm conviction. 🙂🙏

 · Reply · 3 h

Jonathan Shoemaker

希修 Remember, you cannot look at the mistake divorced from past kamma--that of the one making the mistake and those affected by it. Nothing happens on a blank kammic slate or in a kammic vacuum... we have so much past kamma that we bring into every moment.

 · Reply · 3 h · Edited

希修

Author

That (karma being only one layer of causality) was the sole point I had not previously known among what Bhikkhu Bodhi said in that lecture. He mentioned that he himself cannot be sure if every single thing we experience in this life is a result of past karma - I guess this is because the interactions of past karmas and our present karma/choice are very complex as you pointed out. He also added that we will indeed go crazy if we think too much about this topic. But I agree with you and suspect that even a 'pure mistake' *might* be one last step for a certain past karma to be totally dissolved. Anyway, now I feel as if I now know as much as I can digest and as much as I need to know to practice. Thank you for the conversation. 🙏

 · Reply · 3 h · Edited

Write a reply...


Antony Woods

badge icon

An action (kamma) performed by an arahant bears no kammic fruit. This sutta explains why: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/AN/AN3_34.html

AN 3:34  Nidāna Sutta | Causes

DHAMMATALKS.ORG

AN 3:34  Nidāna Sutta | Causes

AN 3:34  Nidāna Sutta | Causes

 · Reply · 1 d

希修

Author

Thank you. 🙏

 · Reply · 1 d

Jonathan Shoemaker

🙏🙏🙏

 · Reply · 1 d

Write a reply...




---

Good morning, everyone! I have another question.
.
Delusion is a defilement or unskillful quality. But is it a 'bad' karma? Given that volition/intention is the important part of karma, then it follows that delusion is not a bad karma, for no one is delusional because (s)he has the volition/intention to be delusional. Nevertheless, one's delusion may burden or even harm other people. How could it be not a bad karma then? Also, if delusion leads to unfortunate rebirths, shouldn't we say it is a bad karma?
.
I have had this question for a long time, and I have so far read 8 books by Thanissaro Bhikkhu, but haven't yet found a clue. Does any of you know what Thanissaro Bhikkhu would say on this?
.
Best,
Heesoo
3
33 comments
Like
Comment
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Comments

  • Jonathan Shoemaker
    Unskillful kamma is intention that is based on greed, aversion, and/or delusion. I remember TB talking about good intentions not being enough. They have to be skillful intentions because intentions based on delusion are unskillful and lead to unpleasant results.
    1
    • Like
    • Reply
    • 2 d
    • Edited
  • Joseph Pokorski
    Wouldn't it be the case that the resultant actions caused by delusion would be the cause of kamma? Delusion being the result itself of unskillful behavior and a root of further unskillful actions but not action itself.
    1
    • Like
    • Reply
    • 2 d
  • The Road to Nirvāṇa Is Paved with Skillful Intentions | Noble Strategy
    DHAMMATALKS.ORG
    The Road to Nirvāṇa Is Paved with Skillful Intentions | Noble Strategy
    The Road to Nirvāṇa Is Paved with Skillful Intentions | Noble Strategy
    1
    • Like
    • Reply
    • 2 d
    • Jonathan Shoemaker
      "To train our intentions in this way, though, requires a deep level of self-awareness. Why is that? If you look carefully at the reasons for our disillusionment with good intentions, you’ll find that they all come down to delusion. And as the Buddha tells us, delusion is one of the three main roots for unskillful intentions, the other two being greed and aversion. These unskillful roots lie entangled with skillful roots—states of mind that are free of greed, aversion, and delusion—in the soil of the untrained heart. If we can’t isolate and dig up the unskillful roots, we can never be fully sure of our intentions. Even when a skillful intention seems foremost in the mind, the unskillful roots can quickly send up shoots that blind us as to what’s actually going on."
      1
      • Like
      • Reply
      • 2 d
      • Edited
    • Jonathan Shoemaker
      "For an intention to give good results, it has to be free of greed, aversion, and delusion. Now, it’s possible for an intention to be well-meaning but based on delusion, in which case it would lead to bad results: believing, for instance, that there are times when the compassionate course of action would be to kill or to tell a lie, or for a teacher to have sex with a student. To give good results, an action has to be not only good but also skillful."
      1
      • Like
      • Reply
      • 2 d
  • Jonathan Shoemaker
    It is not that you intend to be greedy or be averse or be delusional. It is that you intend to do X and that intention has greed or aversion or delusion as its motivating force.
    1
    • Like
    • Reply
    • 2 d
  • Jonathan Shoemaker
    For example, you intend to chop down a tree to build a kuti for a bhikkhu. That is wholesome, it is motivated by non-greed, non-aversion, and non-delusion. But when the tree falls it smashes a bug that you didn't see. That is not intentional killing. It was not your intention to kill. Thus, no bad kamma. That is what it means that intention is the heart of kamma. The person here did not intend to be non-delusional or non-greedy or non-averse. He intended to chop down a tree for use in building a bhikkhu's kuti, and that intention was motivated by non-delusion or non-greed or non-aversion.
    1
    • Like
    • Reply
    • 2 d
  • 希修
    Author
    Ok, then would the following be an accurate summary of main points?
    (1) Delusion in itself is not a bad karma.
    (2) But delusion is one of the main roots for bad intentions/karmas to rise from.
    • Like
    • Reply
    • 2 d
    • Edited
    • Jonathan Shoemaker
      I would put it like this: any thinking (taking up a mind object and feeding it, cultivating it), speaking, or acting motivated by delusion is unskillful kamma. I would not think about delusion in itself or greed in itself or aversion in itself apart from the three types of action.
      1
      • Like
      • Reply
      • 2 d
  • 希修
    Author
    I also heard somewhere (I forgot where) that, if you die with a deluded mind, it will take you to a rebirth in a low realm. Am I correct?
    • Like
    • Reply
    • 2 d
    • Jonathan Shoemaker
      As delusion is an unwholesome root, I would think so. Based on what you've read in the Canon, wouldn't you believe that a mind filled with greed or aversion at the moment of death would lead to a lower birth? Why wouldn't this also be so of delusion?
      1
      • Like
      • Reply
      • 2 d
    • 希修
      Author
      Right. Somehow I thought only 'karmas' in and of themselves would bring a consequence such as rebirth. Thank you so much for having cleared my confusions, Jonathan! 🙏
      1
      • Like
      • Reply
      • 2 d
      • Edited
    • Jonathan Shoemaker
      希修
       Mental kamma is a type of kamma
      1
      • Like
      • Reply
      • 2 d
  • Hk Tan
    To me, I tend to understand that delusion is both the result of past kamma (a current state of becoming conditioned by our past actions) as well as present kamma as well (delusion is a kind of becoming, and becoming itself is also a kind of kamma that keep us in samsara). Are my understanding correct?
    1
    • Like
    • Reply
    • 2 d
    • Edited
    • Jonathan Shoemaker
      My understanding is that whatever delusion arises does so based on past kamma. Then what you do with that is present kamma. If you have sati and panya working you see it as delusion and abandon it right there or not long after that. Otherwise you may t… 
      See more
      1
      • Like
      • Reply
      • 2 d
    • Hk Tan
      Sadhu. Thank you for your explanation.
      Brother Jonathan and 希修, please take care n stay healthy.
      2
      • Like
      • Reply
      • 2 d
    • Jonathan Shoemaker
      Hk Tan
       Thank you too, friend! May you be healthy and well too!
      • Like
      • Reply
      • 2 d
  • 希修
    Author
    One more question. If someone works at a nuclear power plant, and, just by a pure mistake, he did something wrong, which results in hundreds people dying. In this case, he had no bad intention, and yet the consequence is far from insignificant. He still won't be subject to a bad karma in this case because he did not have a bad intention?
    • Like
    • Reply
    • 2 d
    • Edited
    Hide 11 replies
    • Joseph Pokorski
      希修
       The volition of an action is derived from intent. Although kamma will still be reaped from this action, the kamma is not the same as if he harbored ill will and intentionally did it. Suppose we look at murder vs manslaughter in terms of legality.
      2
      • Like
      • Reply
      • 2 d
    • Jonathan Shoemaker
      The short answer is yes. If the action that led to the incident was not motivated or colored by greed, hatred, or delusion then it will not lead to unpleasant result for that individual. To whatever extent greed, hatred, and/or delusion was present in … 
      See more
      1
      • Like
      • Reply
      • 2 d
      • Edited
    • Jonathan Shoemaker
      Also it is important to consider the person's mental reaction to the result of the mistake. If the person delights in the destruction, then that is bad mental kamma that brings bad results. But if the person is not pleased with the destruction, has com… 
      See more
      2
      • Like
      • Reply
      • 1 d
    • Jonathan Shoemaker
      希修
       How would you answer this question?
      • Like
      • Reply
      • 1 d
    • 希修
      Author
      Jonathan Shoemaker
       Your answer makes sense 100%, logically anyway. But my heart/intuition is still not quite sure. I feel that I have to keep thinking and reflecting on this. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. 🙂
      1
      • Like
      • Reply
      • 1 d
    • Jonathan Shoemaker
      希修
       Remember the Buddha said that kamma is so complex that one could go crazy from thinking about the details. It is enough to know that non-greed, non-hatred, and non-delusion lead to desirable results and do one's best to think, speak, and act with those as motivating factors and abandon greed, hatred, and delusion whenever possible. As for mistakes, we should be as careful as possible to avoid them, understand some will still happen anyway, be forgiving and accepting of them, and learn from them so we do not repeat them. No need to worry about anything else that might come from a mistake.
      2
      • Like
      • Reply
      • 1 d
      • Edited
    • 希修
      Author
      Jonathan Shoemaker
       How wise! Thank you very much! 🙂
      1
      • Like
      • Reply
      • 1 d
    • 希修
      Author
      Jonathan Shoemaker
       I keep reading Thanissaro Bhikkhu's books at home, but, doing chores around the house, I listen to Bhikkhu Bodhi's lectures on You Tube. In Bhikkhu Bodhi's lecture on a part of Majihima Nikaya which I listened to yesterday, he said that karma is just one layer of causality. And this point seems to clear all my confusions.
      For example, if I make a serious mistake on job with no particular intention/volition (*), I will have to go through consequences such as being fired or even sued, which will take care of my 'action' (including words and mental states). But karma is a particular causality to deal only with the intention/volition. Thus, as you previously answered to my question, in the above case (*), there won't be a karma. I have to deal with whatever consequences in this life, and that's it.
      Similarly, if I die with a deluded mind, this 'action' (being the mental state in this case) will lead me to an unfortunate rebirth through the natural principle of causality. Yet, since it was not my intention/volition to be deluded, we won't necessarily call this 'karma'.
      In summary, all my confusions resulted from the fact that I mistakenly thought 'karma' and 'causality' were one and the same thing. However, as long as we take karma only as one kind/part of causality, then my questions disappear. Also, the theory of karma seems to show us how powerful our mind is. We have to deal with not only the consequences of our actions but also the consequences of our intentions/volitions which produced such actions.
      • Like
      • Reply
      • 4 h
      • Edited
    • Jonathan Shoemaker
      希修
       Thanks for your analysis! I wonder what else Bhikkhu Bodhi attributes to causality? Could you explain. You see, in every moment there is not just one specific result of one specific kamma at play. There are multiple from various times in the past plus the present, so I tend to believe the mistake would have been conditioned by some past kamma or even kammas and allowed or supported as well by current kamma or even kammas. There is a sutta in which the Buddha says everything that comes through the sense doors is the result of past kamma and a sutta in which he says there are other natural factors. As TB has said, after 2,500 years of transmission, not every sutta in the Canon is a perfect reflection of the Buddha's actual words. We have to reflect on our own and put things into practice for ourselves until we know directly. My current (and indeed long-term firm conviction) is that everything that comes through the sense doors is conditioned at least in some way by past kamma, and that it is impossible that anything could come through the sense doors if not allowed by past kamma--think of the Dhammapada verse about poison in the hand that is not cut verses poison in the hand that has an open wound. Kamma is complex and non-linear. It is sufficient to do our best at Right Effort and the rest of the path, having a firm conviction in our capacity for action and the importance of the results of our action. That is still my firm conviction. 🙂🙏
      1
      • Like
      • Reply
      • 3 h
    • Jonathan Shoemaker
      希修
       Remember, you cannot look at the mistake divorced from past kamma--that of the one making the mistake and those affected by it. Nothing happens on a blank kammic slate or in a kammic vacuum... we have so much past kamma that we bring into every moment.
      1
      • Like
      • Reply
      • 3 h
      • Edited
    • 希修
      Author
      That (karma being only one layer of causality) was the sole point I had not previously known among what Bhikkhu Bodhi said in that lecture. He mentioned that he himself cannot be sure if every single thing we experience in this life is a result of past karma - I guess this is because the interactions of past karmas and our present karma/choice are very complex as you pointed out. He also added that we will indeed go crazy if we think too much about this topic. But I agree with you and suspect that even a 'pure mistake' *might* be one last step for a certain past karma to be totally dissolved. Anyway, now I feel as if I now know as much as I can digest and as much as I need to know to practice. Thank you for the conversation. 🙏
      • Like
      • Reply
      • 3 h
      • Edited
  • Antony Woods
    badge icon
    An action (kamma) performed by an arahant bears no kammic fruit. This sutta explains why: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/AN/AN3_34.html
    AN 3:34  Nidāna Sutta | Causes
    DHAMMATALKS.ORG
    AN 3:34  Nidāna Sutta | Causes
    AN 3:34  Nidāna Sutta | Causes
    2
    • Like
    • Reply
    • 1 d
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Secular Buddhism - Wikipedia



Secular Buddhism - Wikipedia



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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 a form of Buddhism based on humanist, skeptical, and agnostic values, valuing pragmatism and (often) naturalism, eschewing beliefs in the supernatural or paranormal.

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 in which the various suttas, sutras and tantras were written.

The secular Buddhist framework strips Buddhist doctrine of various traditional beliefs that could be considered superstitious, or that cannot be tested through empirical research, such as: supernatural beings (such as devas, bodhisattvas, nāgas, pretas, Buddhas, etc.), merit and its transference, rebirth, and karma,[1] Buddhist cosmology (including the existence of pure lands and hells), etc.[2]
Traditional Buddhist ethical views regarding social issues such as abortion and human sexuality may or may not be called into question as well, with some schools, especially Western Buddhist ones, taking alternative stances.


Contents
1History
2Key concepts and practices
3See also
4Literature
5Notes and references
6External links

History[edit]

Secular Buddhism has its roots in Buddhist modernism and secular humanism,[3] and is part of the broad trend of secularization that has been ongoing in the West since the recovery of classical Greek culture in the Renaissance. Many aspects of secular Buddhism are associated with the abandonment of hierarchical features of Buddhist monastic culture among some lay Buddhist practice communities in the West during the last decades of the 20th century in favor of democratic principles of civic association and the inclusion of women, disrupting traditional structures of patriarchal authority and gender exclusivity.[3]

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.”[4] 
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.”[5] 
This essentially treats Buddhism as an applied philosophy, rather than a religion,[3] 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,[6] 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 Siddhārtha Gautama as a historic person rather than an idealized religious icon, and scrutinizes typical Buddhist doctrines dealing with the concept of an afterlife.[6][7]

Key concepts and practices[edit]

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.[8] To this end it seeks to recover the original teachings of Siddhattha Guatama, 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.[9]

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 impart the Buddha's teaching as a guide to full human flourishing in this life and this world. In adopting a post-metaphysical philosophy, 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[10] and Gianni Vattimo.[11]

Secular Buddhism rejects power structures legitimated by the metaphysics of orthodox Buddhist belief.[12] It questions notions of spiritual progress based on standardized prescriptions for meditation practice, as well as the 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.[13][14] 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 view, 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.

Literature[edit]

Notes and references[edit]

  1. ^ Vernon, Mark (10 March 2010). "The new Buddhist atheism". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 22 July 2019.
  2. ^ Fronsdal, Gil (2014). "Natural Buddhism". Insight Journal. Barre Center for Buddhist Studies.
  3. ^ Jump up to:a b c Higgins, Winton (2012), "The Coming of Secular Buddhism: A Synoptic View", Journal of Global Buddhism, 13: 110-113.
  4. ^ Fronsdal, Gil (1998), "Insight Meditation in the United States: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness", in Prebish, C.S.; Tanaka, K.K. (eds.), The Faces of Buddhism in America, University of California Press
  5. ^ Braun, Erik (October 1, 2013). "S. N. Goenka, Pioneer of Secular Meditation Movement, Dies at 90". Tricycle:The Buddhist Review. Retrieved August 12,2019.
  6. ^ Jump up to:a b "Buddhism Without Beliefs". Publishers Weekly. March 31, 1997. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  7. ^ Bodhi, Bhikkhu (1998). "Buddhism without Beliefs: Review" (PDF). Journal of Buddhist Ethics 5:14-21.
  8. ^ Batchelor, Stephen (2012), "A Secular Buddhism", Journal of Global Buddhism, 13: 87–107
  9. ^ Batchelor, Stephen (2010), Confession of a Buddhist Atheist, New York: Spiegel & Grau, ISBN 0-385-52706-3
  10. ^ Cupitt, Don (1997), After God, New York: Basic Books, ISBN 978-0465045143
  11. ^ Vattimo, Gianni (2002), After Christianity, New York: Columbia University Press, ISBN 978-0231106283
  12. ^ Contestabile, Bruno (25 February 2018). "Secular Buddhism and Justice". Contemporary Buddhism. 19 (2): 237–250. doi:10.1080/14639947.2018.1442144.
  13. ^ Magid, Barry (2008), Ending the pursuit of happiness: a Zen guide, Boston: Wisdom Publications, ISBN 978-0861715534
  14. ^ Siff, Jason (2010), Unlearning Meditation: What to Do When the Instructions Get In the Way, Shambhala Publications, ISBN 978-1590307526

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Books By Stephen Batchelor
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The Art of Solitude Feb 18, 2020
by Stephen Batchelor
( 55 )
AUD 16.04

A moving and wide-ranging meditation on being alone with others in this world

When world renowned Buddhist writer Stephen Batchelor turned sixty, he took a sabbatical from his teaching and turned his attention to solitude, a practice integral to the meditative traditions he has long studied and taught. He aimed to venture more deeply into solitude, discovering its full extent and depth.

This beautiful literary collage documents his multifaceted explorations. Spending time in remote places, appreciating and making art, practicing meditation and participating in retreats, drinking peyote and ayahuasca, and training himself to keep an open, questioning mind have all contributed to Batchelor’s ability to be simultaneously alone and at ease. Mixed in with his personal narrative are inspiring stories from solitude’s devoted practitioners, from the Buddha to Montaigne, and from Vermeer to Agnes Martin.

In a hyperconnected world that is at the same time plagued by social isolation, this book shows how to enjoy the inescapable solitude that is at the heart of human life.
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After Buddhism: Rethinking the Dharma for a Secular Age Oct 28, 2015
by Stephen Batchelor
( 132 )
AUD 18.76

Some twenty-five centuries after the Buddha started teaching, his message continues to inspire people across the globe, including those living in predominantly secular societies. What does it mean to adapt religious practices to secular contexts?

Stephen Batchelor, an internationally known author and teacher, is committed to a secularized version of the Buddha’s teachings. The time has come, he feels, to articulate a coherent ethical, contemplative, and philosophical vision of Buddhism for our age. After Buddhism, the culmination of four decades of study and practice in the Tibetan, Zen, and Theravada traditions, is his attempt to set the record straight about who the Buddha was and what he was trying to teach. Combining critical readings of the earliest canonical texts with narrative accounts of five members of the Buddha’s inner circle, Batchelor depicts the Buddha as a pragmatic ethicist rather than a dogmatic metaphysician. He envisions Buddhism as a constantly evolving culture of awakening whose long survival is due to its capacity to reinvent itself and interact creatively with each society it encounters.

This original and provocative book presents a new framework for understanding the remarkable spread of Buddhism in today’s globalized world. It also reminds us of what was so startling about the Buddha’s vision of human flourishing.
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Alone With Others: An Existential Approach to Buddhism Dec 1, 2007
by Stephen Batchelor , John Blofeld
( 34 )
AUD 13.83

The author of Buddhism Without Beliefs bridges the gap between Western and Eastern philosophy with this humanist approach to Buddhism.

This uniquely contemporary guide to understanding the timeless message of Buddhism, and in particular its relevance in actual human relations, was inspired by Shantideva’s Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way Of Life, which the author translated into English, the oral instructions of living Buddhist masters, Heidegger’s classic Being and Time, and the writings of the Christian theologians Paul Tillich and John MacQuarrie.

“The text is written with unusual clarity of style, making difficult matters readily accessible . . . It fills a serious gap in the dialogue between East and West, and does so in the most sensitive, most intelligent, and most careful way . . . Batchelor’s strategy—to use the Western disciplines in order to make Buddhism accessible to the Westerner—is, I think, highly successful. The book makes a fine introduction.” —David Michael Levin, Department of Philosophy, Northwestern University

“Magnificent-inspiring! . . . This excellent book has come to me personally as an illuminating text, despite my close on sixty years’ concern with Buddhism . . . [Batchelor’s] approach is likely to appeal to many categories of readers who have hitherto never considered Buddhism as having great relevance to themselves.” —John Blofeld, from the Foreword
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Living with the Devil: A Meditation on Good and Evil Jun 7, 2005
by Stephen Batchelor
( 41 )
AUD 13.83

Stephen Batchelor's seminal work on humanity's struggle between good and evil

In the national bestseller Living with the Devil, Batchelor traces the trajectory from the words of the Buddha and Christ, through the writings of Shantideva, Milton, and Pascal, to the poetry of Baudelaire, the fiction of Kafka, and the findings of modern physics and evolutionary biology to examine who we really are, and to rest in the uncertainty that we may never know. Like his previous bestseller, Buddhism without Beliefs, Living with the Devil is also an introduction to Buddhism that encourages readers to nourish their "buddha nature" and make peace with the devils that haunt human life. He tells a poetic and provocative tale about living with life's contradictions that will challenge you to live your life as an existence imbued with purpose, freedom, and compassion—rather than habitual self-interest and fear.
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Secular Buddhism: Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World Feb 21, 2017
by Stephen Batchelor
( 30 )
AUD 17.98

An essential collection of Stephen Batchelor’s most probing and important work on secular Buddhism

As the practice of mindfulness permeates mainstream Western culture, more and more people are engaging in a traditional form of Buddhist meditation. However, many of these people have little interest in the religious aspects of Buddhism, and the practice occurs within secular contexts such as hospitals, schools, and the workplace. Is it possible to recover from the Buddhist teachings a vision of human flourishing that is secular rather than religious without compromising the integrity of the tradition? Is there an ethical framework that can underpin and contextualize these practices in a rapidly changing world?

In this collected volume of Stephen Batchelor’s writings on these themes, he explores the complex implications of Buddhism’s secularization. Ranging widely—from reincarnation, religious belief, and agnosticism to the role of the arts in Buddhist practice—he offers a detailed picture of contemporary Buddhism and its attempt to find a voice in the modern world.
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Verses from the Center: A Buddhist Vision of the Sublime Jul 1, 2001
by Stephen Batchelor
( 30 )
AUD 17.98

The understanding of the nature of reality is the insight upon which the Buddha was able to achieve his own enlightenment. This vision of the sublime is the source of all that is enigmatic and paradoxical about Buddhism. In Verses from the Center, Stephen Batchelor explores the history of this concept and provides readers with translations of the most important poems ever written on the subject, the poems of 2nd century philosopher Nagarjuna.
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The Way of Korean Zen Feb 10, 2009
by Kusan Sunim , Stephen Batchelor , Martine Batchelor
( 17 )
AUD 22.14

The power and simplicity of the Korean Zen tradition shine in this collection of teachings by a renowned modern master, translated by Martine Batchelor. Kusan Sunim provides a wealth of practical advice for students, particularly with regard to the uniquely Korean practice of hwadu, or sitting with questioning. An extensive introduction by Stephen Batchelor, author of Buddhism without Beliefs, provides both a biography of the author and a brief history of Korean Zen.
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The Faith to Doubt: Glimpses of Buddhist Uncertainty Apr 1, 2015
by Stephen Batchelor
( 23 )
AUD 13.83

Kierkegaard said that faith without doubt is simply credulity, the will to believe too readily, especially without adequate evidence, and that “in Doubt can Faith begin.” All people involved in spiritual practice, of whatever persuasion, must confront doubt at one time or another, and find a way beyond it to belief, however temporary. But “faith is not equivalent to mere belief. Faith is the condition of ultimate confidence that we have the capacity to follow the path of doubt to its end. And courage.”

In this engaging spiritual memoir, Stephen Batchelor describes his own training, first as a Tibetan Buddhist and then as a Zen practitioner, and his own direct struggles along his path. “It is most uncanny that we are able to ask questions, for to question means to acknowledge that we do not know something. But it is more than an acknowledgement: it includes a yearning to confront an unknown and illuminate it through understanding. Questioning is a quest.”

Batchelor is a contemporary Buddhist teacher and writer, best known for his secular or agnostic approach to Buddhism. He considers Buddhism to be a constantly evolving culture of awakening rather than a religious system based on immutable dogmas and beliefs. Buddhism has survived for the past 2,500 years because of its capacity to reinvent itself in accord with the needs of the different Asian societies with which it has creatively interacted throughout its history. As Buddhism encounters modernity, it enters a vital new phase of its development. Through his writings, translations and teaching, Stephen engages in a critical exploration of Buddhism's role in the modern world, which has earned him both condemnation as a heretic and praise as a reformer.

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The Psychology Of Awakening: Buddhism, Science and Our Day-to-day Lives Mar 31, 2012
by Gay Watson , Stephen Batchelor , Guy Claxton
( 10 )
AUD 18.67

The Buddhist view of the mind - how it works, how it goes wrong, how to put it right - is increasingly being recognised as profound and highly practical by scientists, counsellors and other professionals. In The Psychology of Awakening, this powerful vision of human nature, and its implications for personal and social life, are for the first time brought to a wider audience by some of those most influential in exploring its potential for the way we live today. These include: David Brazier Jon Kabat Zinn Francisco Varela Joy Manne Geshe Thubten Jinpa Mark Epstein Gay Watson Maura Sills Guy Claxton Stephen Batchelor Deeply relevant, accessible and authoritative, The Psychology of Awakening will be of interest to all those who wish to understand the workings of their minds a little better and who are also seeking new ways of mastering the challenges - personal, professional and cultural with which modern life confronts us all.
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Die Kunst, mit sich allein zu sein (German Edition) May 27, 2020
by Stephen Batchelor , Saskia Graf
( 1 )
AUD 25.86

In seinem Buch dokumentiert Batchelor seine Erkundungen in Form einer literarischen Collage. Inspirierende Geschichten über Menschen, für die das Mit-sich-Alleinsein eine zentrale Bedeutung hatte, um ihre eigene Stimme, ihren Selbstausdruck zu finden, von Buddha bis Montaigne, von Vermeer bis Agnes Martin, mischen sich mit persönlichen Erzählungen. Er berichtet von seinen Erfahrungen an abgelegenen Orten, schildert, wie sich für ihn Mit-sich-Alleinsein in der Wahrnehmung und im Schaffen von Kunst ausdrückt. Und er beschreibt, wie ihn meditative Praxis aber auch die Einnahme psychoaktiver Substanzen zu einer tieferen Vertrautheit mit dieser Dimension unseres Menschseins geführt haben.
Als Menschen sind wir immer und unausweichlich allein und mit anderen zutiefst verbunden. Dieses Spannungsfeld ist in unserer hyperverbundenen Welt, die gleichzeitig von sozialer Isolation geplagt ist, mehr als deutlich erfahrbar.
Stephen Batchelors Buch bietet inspirierende Denkanstöße und Anregungen, wie wir in Frieden mit uns allein sein können und uns aus diesem Raum heraus kreativ und in empathischer Zugeneigtheit auf die Anderen, auf die Welt beziehen können.
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