Each time the teachings of the Buddha have entered a new culture outside their Indian birthplace, they have to undergo renewal and reinterpretation so as to gain traction in the new host society. Stephen Batchelor’s work represents a landmark in Buddhism’s sinking roots in the modern west, and his After Buddhism is his most systematic contribution to the process. What is being left behind by the ‘after’ in the title are conventional accounts of the teachings, not their true beating heart.
After Buddhism: a workbook is the consummate guide to this thought-provoking work. It provides a basis for periodic group and individual study of Batchelor’s text. Winton Higgins’s humorous, easy-to-read book offers a fresh and accessible commentary on After Buddhism without compromising the depth of Batchelor’s experience, scholarship and ideas. Jim Champion’s astute questions encourage readers to use Batchelor’s reissue of the Buddha’s teachings to reflect more deeply on the lives they’re leading, the individuals they’re becoming and the world we inhabit.
