Existence Quotes by Stephen Batchelor

“Gotama did for the self what Copernicus did for the earth: he put it in its rightful place, despite its continuing to appear just…

— Stephen Batchelor

“We perceive the world in a particular way and confidently expect it to conform to its appearance. But we fail to recognize that certain…

— Stephen Batchelor

“Anxiety, alienation, loneliness, emptiness, and meaninglessness are the fruits of living as an isolated subject admist a multitude of lifeless objects. Although our scope…

— Stephen Batchelor

“... We have to constantly confront our deepest anxieties, our emptiness, our despair, our doubts; and there is nowhere for us to escape and…

— Stephen Batchelor

“There is nothing one can have that one cannot fear to lose. Instead of living life in order to have more abundantly, live life…

— Stephen Batchelor

Buddhism, I think, is probably facing the single most difficult transition from one historical epoch to another, which is really the transition to modernity.

— Stephen Batchelor

[Mindfulness] is not concerned with anything transcendent or divine. It serves as an antidote to theism, a cure for sentimental piety, a scalpel for…

— Stephen Batchelor

The art of dharma practice requires commitment, technical accomplishment, and imagination. As with all arts, we will fail to realize its full potential if…

— Stephen Batchelor

The denial of "self" challenges only the notion of a static self independent of body and mind-not the ordinary sense of ourself as a…

— Stephen Batchelor

While 'Buddhism' suggests another belief system, 'dharma practice' suggests a course of action. The four ennobling truths are not propositions to believe; they are…

— Stephen Batchelor

“The inner aim of thought is never fully realized until it ripens into vocal utterances through which others can have access- albeit indirect- to…

— Stephen Batchelor

“Our religion, with its beliefs, rituals, and dogmas becomes another segment among all the other segments that constitute our linear and fragmented existence. It…

— Stephen Batchelor

“For others, however, the significance of anxiety in disclosing a fundamental insight into human existence is grasped. At this point their consciences will never…

— Stephen Batchelor

“Wisdom that neglects method leads to excessive introversion and an inability to effectively communicate with others. Method without wisdom can produce well-intentioned but naive…

— Stephen Batchelor

So the Buddha is presenting awakening not as a single mystical experience that may come upon us at some meditation, some private moment of…

— Stephen Batchelor