{"id":1946,"date":"2007-04-07T08:58:00","date_gmt":"2007-04-07T08:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2007\/04\/new-buddhism\/"},"modified":"2011-11-01T15:15:45","modified_gmt":"2011-11-01T19:15:45","slug":"new-buddhism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2007\/04\/new-buddhism.html","title":{"rendered":"New Buddhism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a> Okay, I\u2019m a sucker for critiques of Buddhism<\/a>, at least for those that resonate with my precious opinions. I\u2019m sure no one who reads my blog falls into this trap. Sadly, however, I do\u2026<\/p>\n

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One of the books I most love in this regard is Stephen Batchelor\u2019s Buddhism Without Beliefs<\/em>.<\/div>\n

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Now, I have to add David Brazier\u2019s The New Buddhism<\/a><\/em> to the list.<\/div>\n

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Here\u2019s a very interesting review<\/a> by Brian Victoria, who raised a bit of a ruckus with his study of Japanese Zen complicity in the Second World War. And here\u2019s another review<\/a>, one I find even more compelling, by Ken Jones, another of my favorite contemporary commentators on Buddhism, together with a rejoinder by David Braizer, himself, and a response to the rejoinder by Ken. This conversation raises what I consider the only major problem with David\u2019s thesis, what appears to me to be an inadequate appreciation of emptiness, or as I prefer for the translation of sunyata<\/em>, boundlessness. Ken nails the problem.<\/div>\n
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As an additional treat here is a critical essay (in pdf)<\/a> by Robert Aitken addressing two of Brazier\u2019s earlier books. Possibly of additional interest, it focuses on issues related to the Four Noble Truths<\/a>, as per my immediate past post.<\/div>\n
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What I have no doubt about is that David Brazier is presenting a lively and important vision of Buddhism as it is maturing in the West.<\/div>\n
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Okay, I\u2019m a sucker for critiques of Buddhism, at least for those that resonate with my precious opinions. I\u2019m sure no one who reads my blog falls into this trap. Sadly, however, I do\u2026 One of the books I most love in this regard is Stephen Batchelor\u2019s Buddhism Without Beliefs. Now, I have to add […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nNew Buddhism<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Okay, I'm a sucker for critiques of Buddhism, at least for those that resonate with my precious opinions. 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