Stephen Batchelor
Encyclopedia
Stephen Batchelor is a British author, teacher, and scholar, writing books and articles on Buddhist topics and leading meditation retreats throughout the world. He is a noted proponent of agnostic or secular Buddhism.
Batchelor was born in Dundee, Scotland in 1953. When he was three, his family relocated briefly to Toronto, Canada, where his parents separated. He returned with his mother Phyllis (b. 1913) to England, where he was raised in a humanist environment with his younger brother David
in Watford, a suburb of London. After completing his secondary education at Watford Grammar School, in February 1972, at the age of eighteen, he embarked on an overland journey which eventually led him to India. He settled in Dharamsala, the capital-in-exile of the Dalai Lama, and studied with Geshé
Ngawang Dhargyey at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives
. He was ordained as a novice monk in the Gelug
tradition in 1974. A few months after ordination, he sat a ten-day Vipassana
meditation retreat with the Indian teacher S.N. Goenka, which proved a lasting influence on his practice, and aroused his curiosity about other traditions of Buddhism.
He left India in 1975 in order to study Tibetan Buddhist philosophy and doctrine under the guidance of Geshé
Rabten, first at the Tibet Institute Rikon
then in Le Mont-Pèlerin (both in Switzerland), where he helped Geshé Rabten to establish the Tharpa Choeling (now Rabten Choeling). The next year he received full ordination as a monk. In 1979 he moved to Germany as a translator for Geshé
Thubten Ngawang at the Tibetisches Institut, Hamburg.
In April 1981 Batchelor travelled to Songgwangsa
Monastery in South Korea to train in Zen Buddhism under the guidance of Kusan Sunim. At the monastery, he met Martine Fages
, a Frenchwoman who had ordained as a nun in 1975. He remained in Korea until the autumn of 1984, when he left for a pilgrimage to Buddhist sites in Japan, China and Tibet.
Batchelor and Martine Fages disrobed in February 1985 and married in Hong Kong, then returned to England and joined the Sharpham North Community near Totnes, Devon. Over the course of the fifteen years Batchelor lived at Sharpham, he became coordinator of the Sharpham Trust (1992) and co-founder of the Sharpham College for Buddhist Studies and Contemporary Enquiry (1996). Throughout this period he worked as a Buddhist chaplain at Channings Wood Prison. From 1990 he has been a Guiding Teacher at Gaia House meditation centre in Devon and since 1992 a contributing editor of Tricycle: The Buddhist Review
. As a lay Buddhist scholar and teacher, he has increasingly turned his attention to the earliest teachings of Buddhism as recorded in the Pali canon
. In August 2000, he and Martine moved to Aquitaine
, France, where they live in a village near Bordeaux. He is also a member of the Center for Pragmatic Buddhism's Advisory Board.
Batchelor was born in Dundee, Scotland in 1953. When he was three, his family relocated briefly to Toronto, Canada, where his parents separated. He returned with his mother Phyllis (b. 1913) to England, where he was raised in a humanist environment with his younger brother David
David Batchelor (artist)
David Batchelor is a Scottish artist, writer, and a Senior Tutor in Critical Theory in the Department of Curating Contemporary Art at the Royal College of Art in London.-Life and work:...
in Watford, a suburb of London. After completing his secondary education at Watford Grammar School, in February 1972, at the age of eighteen, he embarked on an overland journey which eventually led him to India. He settled in Dharamsala, the capital-in-exile of the Dalai Lama, and studied with Geshé
Geshe
Geshe is a Tibetan Buddhist academic degree for monks...
Ngawang Dhargyey at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives
Library of Tibetan Works and Archives
The Library of Tibetan Works and Archives ' is a Tibetan library in Dharamsala, India. The library was founded by His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama on June 11, 1970 and is considered one of the most important libraries and institutions of Tibetan works in the world.The library...
. He was ordained as a novice monk in the Gelug
Gelug
The Gelug or Gelug-pa , also known as the Yellow Hat sect, is a school of Buddhism founded by Je Tsongkhapa , a philosopher and Tibetan religious leader...
tradition in 1974. A few months after ordination, he sat a ten-day Vipassana
Vipassana
Vipassanā or vipaśyanā in the Buddhist tradition means insight into the true nature of reality. A regular practitioner of Vipassana is known as a Vipassi . Vipassana is one of the world's most ancient techniques of meditation, the inception of which is attributed to Gautama Buddha...
meditation retreat with the Indian teacher S.N. Goenka, which proved a lasting influence on his practice, and aroused his curiosity about other traditions of Buddhism.
He left India in 1975 in order to study Tibetan Buddhist philosophy and doctrine under the guidance of Geshé
Geshe
Geshe is a Tibetan Buddhist academic degree for monks...
Rabten, first at the Tibet Institute Rikon
Tibet Institute Rikon
The Tibet Institute Rikon is a Tibetan monastery located in Zell-Rikon im Tösstal in the Töss Valley in Switzerland. It is a established as a non-profit foundation because Swiss laws resulting from the 19th century secularization movement do not allow for the establishment of new monasteries.-...
then in Le Mont-Pèlerin (both in Switzerland), where he helped Geshé Rabten to establish the Tharpa Choeling (now Rabten Choeling). The next year he received full ordination as a monk. In 1979 he moved to Germany as a translator for Geshé
Geshe
Geshe is a Tibetan Buddhist academic degree for monks...
Thubten Ngawang at the Tibetisches Institut, Hamburg.
In April 1981 Batchelor travelled to Songgwangsa
Songgwangsa
Songgwangsa , one of the three jewels of Korean Buddhism, is located in Jeollanam-do on the Korean Peninsula...
Monastery in South Korea to train in Zen Buddhism under the guidance of Kusan Sunim. At the monastery, he met Martine Fages
Martine Batchelor
Martine Batchelor , a former Jogye Buddhist nun, is the author of several books on Buddhism currently residing in France. She and her husband, Stephen Batchelor, work mostly in the United Kingdom and occasionally in the United States. In addition to writing books, she leads meditation groups with...
, a Frenchwoman who had ordained as a nun in 1975. He remained in Korea until the autumn of 1984, when he left for a pilgrimage to Buddhist sites in Japan, China and Tibet.
Batchelor and Martine Fages disrobed in February 1985 and married in Hong Kong, then returned to England and joined the Sharpham North Community near Totnes, Devon. Over the course of the fifteen years Batchelor lived at Sharpham, he became coordinator of the Sharpham Trust (1992) and co-founder of the Sharpham College for Buddhist Studies and Contemporary Enquiry (1996). Throughout this period he worked as a Buddhist chaplain at Channings Wood Prison. From 1990 he has been a Guiding Teacher at Gaia House meditation centre in Devon and since 1992 a contributing editor of Tricycle: The Buddhist Review
Tricycle: The Buddhist Review
Tricycle: The Buddhist Review is an independent, nonsectarian Buddhist quarterly magazine established in 1991 by Helen Tworkov. Published by The Tricycle Foundation out of New York City, most issues have interviews with Buddhist teachers, articles or essays on Buddhism and contemporary issues, book...
. As a lay Buddhist scholar and teacher, he has increasingly turned his attention to the earliest teachings of Buddhism as recorded in the Pali canon
Pāli Canon
The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the only completely surviving early Buddhist canon, and one of the first to be written down...
. In August 2000, he and Martine moved to Aquitaine
Aquitaine
Aquitaine , archaic Guyenne/Guienne , is one of the 27 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. It comprises the 5 departments of Dordogne, :Lot et Garonne, :Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes...
, France, where they live in a village near Bordeaux. He is also a member of the Center for Pragmatic Buddhism's Advisory Board.
Translations by Stephen Batchelor
- Batchelor, Stephen. Verses from the Center: A Buddhist Vision of the Sublime. Riverhead BooksRiverhead BooksRiverhead Books is a division of Penguin Group .Notable books and major bestsellers published by Riverhead include Journals by Kurt Cobain; The Art of Happiness by His Holiness the Dalai Lama; The Color of Water by James McBride; Native Speaker, A Gesture Life, and Aloft by Chang-rae Lee; Fever...
, 2001. ISBN 1573228761. This is a translation of the MūlamadhyamakakārikāMulamadhyamakakarikaThe Mūlamadhyamakakārikā , or Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way, is a key text by Nagarjuna, one of the most important Buddhist philosophers.-Competing interpretations:...
(Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way) by NagarjunaNagarjunaNāgārjuna was an important Buddhist teacher and philosopher. Along with his disciple Āryadeva, he is credited with founding the Mādhyamaka school of Mahāyāna Buddhism...
. - Rabten, Geshé. Echoes of Voidness. Translated and edited by Stephen Batchelor. Wisdom Publications, 1983. ISBN 086171010X.
- Rabten, Geshé. Song of the Profound View. Translated and annotated by Stephen Batchelor. Wisdom Publications, 1989. ISBN 086171086X.
- ShantidevaShantidevaShantideva was an 8th-century Indian Buddhist scholar at Nalanda University and an adherent of the Madhyamaka philosophy of Nagarjuna....
. A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life. Translated by Stephen Batchelor. Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, 1979. ISBN 8185102597.
Reviews of books by Stephen Batchelor
- Buddhism Without Beliefs critiqued by Bhikkhu Punnadhammo
- "The New Buddhist Atheism" review by Mark Vernon of Confession of a Buddhist Atheist in the Guardian, March 10, 2010.
- Stephen Batchelor's Confession: Review of Confession of a Buddhist Atheist by Barbara O'Brien, retrieved 2010-03-30.
- review by Guy Zimmerman of Confession of a Buddhist Atheist in the Times Quotidian, April 12, 2010.
External links
- Official website
- Official Bio
- Downloadable talks at Dharmaseed and Audiodharma
Interviews and Documentaries
- Short documentary film about Stephen Batchelor made for Netherlands TV. April 2008. English with Dutch subtitles.
- TV interview on ABC News, March 9, 2010.
- "Starting from Scratch: A talk with Stephen Batchelor"Tricycle: The Buddhist ReviewTricycle: The Buddhist ReviewTricycle: The Buddhist Review is an independent, nonsectarian Buddhist quarterly magazine established in 1991 by Helen Tworkov. Published by The Tricycle Foundation out of New York City, most issues have interviews with Buddhist teachers, articles or essays on Buddhism and contemporary issues, book...
. 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-16. - Online video of a talk based on Confession of a Buddhist Atheist. Fora.tv, March 19, 2010.
- Audio Interview Series on Buddhist Geeks