This was one of the books I read in attempting to understand what Buddhism is about. It didn't help with that, but I can't totally blame the author since the title does suggest he's not about traditional Buddhism.

I can understand his desire to wipe away all the layers of superstitious accretions and culturally bound rituals to get at the central truth of Buddhism. But I'm not that sure it can be done. All religions spring from a cultural basis, and knowing that basis is important in understanding where the philosophy of the religion is "coming from" and translating that into your own worldview.

I think it would benefit Westerners to have a book that explains the Asian traditions of thought, philosophy, and culture and how Buddhism fits in with that. Such a book would make Buddhism much more comprehensible and accessible to the average person.

I like that Mr. Batchelor's book is a stab in the direction of helping Westerners, with our preference for direct truth, get to the meat of Buddhism. But that's only half the battle. If he were to write a sequel that puts Buddhism in its cultural context, he might give Westerners the chance to "make it make sense to them," which would be the first step in developing a truly American Buddhism. Taken as a set, these two volumes would be worth everything ever written by Asian teachers, because they would speak to Westerners in a way Westerners can understand. Then Mr. Batchelor would get the remaining 2 stars and be well on his way to Boddhisattva-hood--or its American equivalent, having a shopping center named after him. If he's reading this, I encourage him to get working on Volume 2.

Buddhism, as suggested by this book should not initially be approached as a series of faith postulates with do's and dont's and lots of heavy and tedious doctrines. It is instead - A thought exercise with a method of liberation that unbinds you from rigid paradigms of thinking that grinds you down. The author cleverly demonstrates how you mustn't attribute autonomy to mental constructs and accord them a fixed sense of permanace that they do not merit. Mr Bachelor shows that if you engage with the world with a dynamic mindset that mirrors the fleeting nature of things, then you will better be able to embrace the four enobling truths of understanding anguish (or craving), letting it go, realising the let-go and cultivating the path....leading to a healthy and balanced frame of mind that'll allow you too chill out.

This is an easy to read and engaging book with no academic jargon, obscure history and weird eastern names - i liked it a lot.

O.K maybe it's not as profound and deep as i thought it would be, but it's insightfully sensible with lot's of stuff that make immediate sense.

it clicks.

p.s

maybe a useful aid for quitting smoking.

If you look through the bad reviews you will see that most of the naysayers trumpet their vast Buddhism libraries. They also refer to the author as being incompetent despite the fact that he was an ordained monk of Tibetan Buddhism for twenty years before he left the order to go on his own path. Could it be that faced with the reality that Buddhism does not depend upon zealous adhearence to invented orthodoxy and vain accumulation of obscure texts and knowledge these naysayers are trying desperately to cling to the trappings of their false piety?

While Prof. Batchelor writes well and certainly makes a case for Buddhism with a small "b", it remains a weak one in my opinion, lacking historical breadth and context. His arguments represent more of the post-modern dissembling of "tradition" and reinterpretation along the "it's-more-a-philosophy-than-religion" way of thinking which actually answers little but serves to buttress Buddhism's narcissistic and New Agey reputation. A 3 out of 5 stars.

'Buddhism Without Beliefs' represents, some would argue, a radical existential view of Buddhism: There is no true reality--only my experience. If we accept this, Batchelor calls on us to dump rebirth and karma, since we have no experience of them, so that we are faced with an "existential, therapeutic and liberating agnosticism." But this is only playing with words. Batchelor is really marketing a radical acceptance of one's ignorance and suffering which, in effect, turns Buddhism on its head.