[Buddha-l] Confession

[Richard Hayes]

Stephen Batchelor was in Albuquerque last night and spoke to over 100 people who had squeezed into the meetinghouse of the Albuquerque Quakers to hear him talk about his latest book, Confession of a Buddhist Atheist. Batchelor explained how he had formerly been an agnostic on the issue of karma and rebirth but eventually came to see that he had in fact been more of an eel-wriggler, that is, someone lacking the courage to state his real convictions for fear of giving offense or drawing criticism. He now has the courage to say that he finds the doctrines of karma and rebirth philosophically indefensible---a position that he came to, ironically, as a result of studying Dharmakīrti's attempts to prove those doctrines true. (You can perhaps imagine me pumping my fist into the air and saying "Right on, Brother Batchelor! Tell it like it is!")

Batchelor says he unhesitatingly and unequivocally identifies himself as a Buddhist and says he has done nothing else with his adult life that to study, practice and teach the Dharma. He will accept no other identity than that of a Buddhist. The Dharma that he proclaims is the four noble truths and dependent origination. C'est tout.

I had dinner with Stephen before his talk, and we had a chance to compare notes on where we stand on Buddhist dogmas these days. We're on adjacent pages. Unlike, Stephen, I find myself increasingly unconvinced of dependent origination. It seems to me so fraught with ambiguities and circular reasoning that I can't take it very seriously as an account of anything that matters. Of the four alleged truths, I accept two without hesitation, but I think the third and fourth are unsupportable dogmas rooted in blind faith. But like Batchelor, I unhesitatingly and unequivocally identify my self (in a conventional-truth sort of way) as a Buddhist (and a Unitarian, and a Quaker, and a Secular Humanist, and a Marxist, and a Freudian, and a Jungian, and a person who hates pointless and simplistic labels). But I digress.

As I've said before, I think Batchelor is the most insightful Buddhist teacher alive, bar none. That aside, he is also a damn good writer. He's a brilliant stylist who literally makes people gasp with admiration at his well-turned phrases, and an extraordinarily warm-hearted and kind human being. If he comes to your town, consider seeing him. If you are looking for a good read, consider reading his book. If you are not a Batchelor fan, consider reconsidering.

One of these days, if I can dig myself out of the huge pile of work I'm buried under, I'll come back to buddha-l. Until then, vaya con budo.

Richard Hayes
Department of Philosophy
MSC03 2140
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001

http://www.unm.edu/~rhayes
rhayes at unm.edu