Stephen Batchelor

Stephen Batchelor is a teacher and writer known for his secular or agnostic approach to Buddhism. His books include Secular Buddhism: Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World and After Buddhism: Rethinking the Dharma for a Secular Age. He teaches several online courses with Tricycle, including Secular Dharma and The Four Noble Truths.

Featured Articles

Magazine Personal Reflections

The Art of Solitude

The challenges and rewards of being alone

By Stephen Batchelor

Spring 2020

16th century Tibetan painting of mahasiddhas

Magazine Personal Reflections

Why I Quit Guru Yoga

Does elevating the guru to the same status as the teachings themselves set the stage for teacher-student abuse?

By Stephen Batchelor

Winter 2017

Magazine History & Philosophy

Buddhism Without Beliefs

Stephen Batchelor’s new book proposes a profound and passionate agnosticism as an authentic approach to dharma.

By Stephen Batchelor

Spring 1997

Latest Articles

Magazine Arts & Culture

Finding the Voice, Performing the Self

In a 30th-Anniversary discussion, Stephen Batchelor and Ruth Ozeki explore the rituals and mysteries of creativity.

Interview with Stephen Batchelor and Ruth Ozeki by James Shaheen

Fall 2021

Magazine Society & Environment

Embracing Extinction

Will Buddhism change to face humanity’s impending peril?

By Stephen Batchelor

Fall 2020

Trike Daily Meditation & Practice

Waiting for Something to Happen

How a listening practice can help us let go of our preconceived notions of what’s supposed to happen to us during meditation.

By Stephen Batchelor

Mar 17, 2020

Trike Daily Teachings

When to Let Go of the Dharma, Too

A secular Buddhist teacher considers the parable of the raft and how once helpful things can become a burden instead.

By Stephen Batchelor

Sep 24, 2019

Trike Daily Meditation & Practice

What Mindfulness Is Not

As interest in mindfulness booms, four Buddhist teachers discuss the history and meaning of the term and how it can get distorted in the popular imagination.

A conversation with Stephen Batchelor, Christina Feldman, Akincano M. Weber, and John Peacock

Sep 17, 2018

Trike Daily

Dropping the Bodhisattva Gods

In this excerpt from his latest book, secular Buddhist Stephen Batchelor explains why he traded magical thinking for a more historical—and human—understanding of the dharma.

By Stephen Batchelor

Jun 13, 2018

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History & Philosophy

Journey to Buddhism’s Four Most Sacred Sites with the New Book Buddhism and Pilgrimage

While travel remains limited for much of the world, author Paolo Coluzzi transports the reader to Lumbini, Bodhgaya, Sarnath, and Kushinagar through his personal stories and historical context.

Interview with Paolo Coluzzi by Alison Spiegel

Sep 24, 2021

Magazine

The Buddhist Review

Arts & Culture

Stepping Back onto the Silk Road

An ambitious retrospective lets us view China’s ancient network of Buddhist caves at Dunhuang through the lenses of pioneering photographers James and Lucy Lo.

By Julia Hirsch

Fall 2021

Dharma Talks

Video teachings and discussions with contemporary Buddhist teachers

A New Paradigm for Science and Religion

Since the time of Galileo, science and religion have increasingly appeared to be at odds, with religion slowly but surely losing the battle, B. Alan Wallace observes. His series presents a paradigm in which science and religion join together in a spirit of radical empiricism and open-minded, experiential inquiry.

B. Alan Wallace

Sep 2021

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