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Quote by Stephen Batchelor

“Each time the dharma moved into a different civilization or historical period, it faced a twofold challenge: to maintain its integrity as an internally coherent tradition, and to express its vision in a way that responded to the needs of the new situation.”

Quote by Stephen Batchelor

Author

Stephen Batchelor

Stephen Batchelor is a renowned author and Buddhist thinker. Born on April 7, 1953, he is known for his contributions to the modern interpretation of Buddhism. Batchelor began studying Buddhism in the early 1970s and has received extensive Buddhist training in the United Kingdom and Sri Lanka. His work seeks to combine the core teachings of Buddhism with modern life, emphasizing personal practice and spiritual freedom. more

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“We can be consicous of how we tend to ignore or escape anguish rather than understand and accept it. We can be aware that even when we gain insight into these things, we rarely behave differently in the future. Despite our overt resolve, we are still creatures of habit.”

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Author:Stephen Batchelor

“Expectations of goals and rewards (such as Enlightenment) are recognized for what they are: last-ditch attempts by the ghostly self to subvert the process to its own ends. The more we become conscious of the mysterious unfolding of life, the clearer it becomes that its purpose is not to fulfill the expectations of our ego.”

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“Exotic names, robes, insignia of office, titles - the trappings of religion - confuse as much as they help. They endorse the assumption of the existence of an elite whose explicit commitment grants them implicit extraordinariness.”

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Book:Buddhism without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening

Source: Buddhism without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening

“A compassionate heart still feels anger, greed, jealousy, and other such emotions. But it accepts them for what they are with equanimity, and cultivates the strength of mind to let them arise and pass without identifying with or acting upon them.”

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“The greatest threat to compassion is the temptation to succumb to fantasies of moral superiority.”

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“Without a rigorous, self-critical discourse, one risks lapsing into pious platitudes and unexamined generalizations.”

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“A secular approach is not a dumbing down, it's not reductively identifying Buddhism with one or two particular techniques of meditation, but it is actually a complete world view and way of life in this world.”

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Author:Stephen Batchelor

“Consciousness is an emergent, contingent, and impermanent phenomenon. It has no magical capacity to break free from the field of events out of which it springs.”

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“While 'Buddhism' suggests another belief system, 'dharma practice' suggests a course of action. The four ennobling truths are not propositions to believe; they are challenges to act.”

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Book:Buddhism without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening

Source: Buddhism without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening

“Yet Gotama's Dhamma is more than just a series of axioms. It is to be lived rather than simply adopted and believed in. It entails that one embrace this world in all its contingency and specificity, with all its ambiguity and flaws.”

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Book:Confession of a Buddhist Atheist

Source: Confession of a Buddhist Atheist