The Faith to Doubt

Praise for Buddhism Without Beliefs: “Batchelor…suggests that Buddhism jettison reincarnation and karma, thereby making possible what he calls an ‘existential, therapeutic and liberating agnosticism.” –Time Praise for Confession of a Buddhist Atheist: “While Batchelor may exaggerate the novelty of his Buddhism without beliefs stance, this multifaceted account of one Buddhist’s search for enlightenment is richly absorbing.” –Publishers Weekly Praise for Living With the Devil: “A moving and timely study of the problem of evil from a Buddhist perspective. [Batchelor] draws deeply on traditional Buddhist insights as well as stories from the legends surrounding the Buddha’s life to suggest that our need to divide experience into good and evil is itself the problem… Rejecting this violence and its dualities, Batchelor suggests, will leave us free for true awareness… highly illuminating.” –Library Journal

Stephen Batchelor was born in Scotland, in 1953. He grew up in a humanist environment with his mother and brother in Watford, north west of London. After completing his education at Watford Grammar School, he travelled overland to India in 1972, at the age of eighteen. He settled in Dharamsala, the capital-in-exile of the Dalai Lama, and studied at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. He was ordained as a novice Buddhist monk in 1974. In April 1981 he travelled to Songgwangsa Monastery in South Korea to train in Zen Buddhism under the guidance of Ven. Kusan Sunim. He is the author of several books including Alone With Others, The Awakening of the West, and Buddhism Without Beliefs. His latest book, Confessions of a Buddhist Atheist, was published in 2010.

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