Stephen Batchelor (Author)

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Stephen Batchelor (2006)

Stephen Batchelor (born April 7, 1953 in Dundee , Scotland ) is a British Buddhist and author, known for his secular and agnostic approach to Buddhism . One of his best-known publications is the book “Buddhism for Unbelievers”, which is now in its 10th edition. He directed Sharpham College for Buddhist Studies in England and is co-editor of Tricycle magazine .

The changing teaching: Batchelor's positions

Batchelor sees Buddhism as an evolving culture of awakening rather than a religious belief system based on unchanging dogmas. Above all, he considers the doctrine of karma and rebirth to be a characteristic of ancient Indian civilization and not what Siddharta Gautama essentially taught. Buddhism has survived the past 2500 years due to its ability to reinvent itself in harmony with the needs of the diverse Asian cultures with which it has interacted throughout its history. Now that Buddhism meets modernity, it is entering a crucial new phase of development. In his writings, translations and teachings, Stephen critically questions the role of Buddhism in today's world. This questioning has earned him both a reputation as a heretic and a reformer.

Vita

Stephen Batchelor was born on April 7, 1953 in the Scottish parish of Dundee. He grew up in Watford, northwest of London , with his mother Phyllis (born 1913) together with his brother David (born 1955) in a humanistic environment. After graduating from high school in Watford, at the age of 18 in February 1972, he began an overland journey to India .

He settled in Dharamsala , the capital of the exiled Dalai Lama , and studied with Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey at the Tibetan Library of Tibetan Works and Archives . In 1974 he was ordained as a Buddhist monk. He left India in 1975 to study Buddhist philosophy and teaching under Geshe Rabten's tutelage . First he studied in Switzerland at the monastic Tibet Institute in Rikon , then in Le Mont Pèlerin , where Geshe Rabten Tharpa Choeling (now Rabten Choeling) founded. In 1979 he moved to Hamburg, where he worked as a translator for Geshe Thubten Ngawang at the Tibetan Institute. In April 1981 he went to Songgwangsa Monastery in South Korea to undergo training in Zen Buddhism with Kusan Sunim . He stayed in Korea in the autumn of 1984 and then embarked on a pilgrimage to Japan , China and Tibet .

In February 1985, he took off his monk's robe and married Martine Fages in Hong Kong. He then returned to England and joined the Sharpham North Community in Totnes, Devon. During the fifteen years that he lived in Sharpham, he became the coordinator of the Sharpham Trust (1992) and co-founder of the Sharpham College for Buddhist Studies and Contemporary Inquiry (1996). During this time he worked as a Buddhist pastor for HMP Channings Wood . From 1990 he was a teacher at the Gaia House meditation center in Devon and has been the author and editor of Tricycle: The Buddhist Review since 1992 .

Publications

Stephen Batchelor's books have been translated into several languages. His most famous work is "Buddhism for Unbelievers" (translated into nine languages). In 1988 Stephen Batchelor received the Thomas Cook Guidebook Award and in 1994 the "Tricycle" Prize for Buddhist Scholarship. As a Tibetan translator, he made a number of important works available to a Western audience, including Shantideva. A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life.

  • Batchelor Stephen: Beyond Buddhism: A Secular Vision of Dharma . Edition Steinrich, 2017 (German edition of After Buddhism).
  • Batchelor Stephen: After Buddhism: Rethinking the Dharma for a Secular Age . Yale University Press, 2015.
  • Batchelor Stephen: Confessions of an Unbelieving Buddhist . Ludwig ( Random House Publishing Group ), 2010, ISBN 3-453-28006-7 .
  • Batchelor Stephen: Buddhism for Unbelievers . 10th edition. Fischer (Tb.), Frankfurt 2005, ISBN 3-596-14026-9 .
  • Batchelor Martine, Batchelor Stephen: Meditation . Arbor-Verlag, 2003, ISBN 3-924195-83-8 .
  • Batchelor Stephen: Living with Evil. Why we want good and keep doing bad . Theseus, 2005, ISBN 3-89620-252-9 .
  • Batchelor Stephen: Nagarjuna - verses from the middle. A Buddhist vision of life . Theseus, 2002, ISBN 3-89620-181-6 .
  • Batchelor Stephen: Alone with others. An existentialist approach to Buddhism . Theseus, 1983, ISBN 3-85936-060-4 .
  • Batchelor Stephen: The Awakening of the West: The Encounter of Buddhism and Western Culture . Parallax Press, 1999, ISBN 0-938077-69-4 .
  • Batchelor Stephen, Sucitt Ajahn: Rude Awakenings: Two Englishmen on Foot in Buddhism's Holy Land . Wisdom Publications, US, 2006, ISBN 0-86171-485-7 .
  • Sunim Kusan, Batchelor Stephen, Fages Batchelor Martine: The Way Of Korean Zen . Floating World Edithions, 2005, ISBN 1-891640-16-X .
  • Batchelor Stephen, Master Sheng-Yen, Crook John: Illuminating Silence: The Practice of Chinese Zen . Watkins Publishing, 2002, ISBN 1-84293-031-1 .
  • Gay Watson, Guy Claxton, Stephen Batchelor: The Psychology of Awakening: Buddhism, Science, and Our Day-To-Day Lives: Buddhism, Science, and Our Day-to-Day Lives . Red Wheel / Weiser, 2000, ISBN 1-57863-172-6 .
  • Batchelor Stephen (Ed.): The Jewel in the Lotus: A Guide to the Buddhist Traditions of Tibet . Wisdom Publications, US, 1987, ISBN 0-86171-048-7 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Batchelor, Stephen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British Buddhist and author
DATE OF BIRTH April 7, 1953
PLACE OF BIRTH Dundee