Review: Secular Buddhism

SELHUG committee member Samuel Becker provided a fascinating talk about the history and evolution of Buddhism to the present day. Starting with the early history of Buddha and his teachings, the four noble truths and the eight-fold paths of right in the fifth century BC, Buddhism spread along the silk road and various distinctive forms of Buddhism developed such as Zen Buddhism in China.  Buddhism encompassed different schools of thought and huge volumes of writing supporting the plethora of ideas.  It is a religion very rich in diversity. Notably Buddhism took different forms depending on the values and culture of the countries where it was practiced.  Buddhism encountered the west from the nineteenth century onwards where it was viewed as an exotic or nihilistic religion.  Curiosity increased and Buddhism has continued to flourish over the twentieth century and beyond.

The talk moved on to discuss secular Buddhism, its meaning and the potential overlap between it and humanism.  Secular Buddhism is not a single movement or religion and does not have any particular ‘home’. It is a set of ideas and practice across the globe which embraces the practical and ethical philosophy of Buddhism and rejects (or is at least sceptical of) supernatural entities or processes (e.g., rebirth) in traditional versions of Buddhism.  So, in Secular Buddhism, the Buddha is seen as an historical person, not a God-like figure.

Our discussion took us to the similarities with humanism.  Both humanists and secular Buddhists are concerned with taking ideas/philosophies and using them, rejecting beliefs in favour of ideas and both are focused on how to lead a good life.

Sam discussed some of the literature around Secular Buddhism for those wanting to explore the topic further and provided an extensive resource list.