| Title | : | The Faith to Doubt: Glimpses of Buddhist Uncertainty |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1619025353 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781619025356 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 139 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1990 |
In this engaging spiritual memoir, Stephen Batchelor describes his own training, first as a Tibetan Buddhist and then as a Zen practitioner, and his own direct struggles along his path. “It is most uncanny that we are able to ask questions, for to question means to acknowledge that we do not know something. But it is more than an it includes a yearning to confront an unknown and illuminate it through understanding. Questioning is a quest.”
Batchelor is a contemporary Buddhist teacher and writer, best known for his secular or agnostic approach to Buddhism. He considers Buddhism to be a constantly evolving culture of awakening rather than a religious system based on immutable dogmas and beliefs. Buddhism has survived for the past 2,500 years because of its capacity to reinvent itself in accord with the needs of the different Asian societies with which it has creatively interacted throughout its history. As Buddhism encounters modernity, it enters a vital new phase of its development. Through his writings, translations and teaching, Stephen engages in a critical exploration of Buddhism's role in the modern world, which has earned him both condemnation as a heretic and praise as a reformer.
The Faith to Doubt: Glimpses of Buddhist Uncertainty Reviews
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I was really happy to hear this book was reissued, as I'd been trying to get a copy at a reasonable price for some time. I've read some of Batchelor's other work, as well as works by other Westerners who became monks with Batchelor under Lama Yeshe and then dropped out, and I was hoping the author would provide a clear explanation of why he lost interest in Tibetan Buddhism in favor of Korean Zen Buddhism (and ultimately, his own secular Buddhism that he highlights in Buddhism Without Beliefs), but he really raced through that part, and even though I know quite a bit about Dharamsala and what he was referencing, I still didn't understand his experience. He then goes into some great details about the life of various Zen masters, but the Zen Buddhism explanation is baffling, as I suppose it's supposed to be? He recounts pretty much what I assume is his entire time in the monastery there, but I'm still not sure what he learned or how it came to impact his life later. I wish it had been clearly, but I acknowledge these were some very hard concepts to grasp.
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This book is not about doubt. It’s about how questions are framed. “What is this?” And whether the questions have certain expectations. A short, thought provoking book on how we open up to what's beyond what we think is known.
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I learned about this book through a reference by Tenzin Palmo, and I was not very familiar with Stephen Batchelor. The books has many beautiful reflections on various topics ( not always related to the subject of uncertainity, unknowing or doubt ),and interesting insights into the Korean Zen tradition, but I found it conceptually umbalanced - the chapters would better serve as standalone ( though not entirely unrelated ) articles or lectures. I enjoyed the conterporary feel.
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I did not feel that this book matched the description on the cover. I was expecting a spiritual book, but this seemed more of a personal memoir on the authors experiences. This could have been spiritual, but he was focused more on the mechanics of what happened literally instead of the internal spiritual lessons to be learned. It did not have much about faith and doubt except for a little in the middle.
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Worth engaging. I like Stephen though he tends to be a bit dry at times. What I most appreciate about him is learning about the Korean version of Zen that he represents. I resonate with its insistence on the primacy of working with the great doubt.
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In some ways a complex book to grapple with but very honest and thoughtful.
my favourite dharma gem that will stick forever?
"A meditative attitude is akin to a midwife. It neither designs nor constructs, but brings forth with care what is about to be born." -
I took a quick dip into the book - didn't finish it; it confirmed yet again that Zen is not for me - all those koans ... no thank you.
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"The Faith To Doubt" is a beautifully-written, but uneven work. Each chapter appears disconnected from all the others. Those on questioning and the death of his master were particularly moving.
