Buddhism For The Modern Skeptic

[retrofuturist]

Greetings,

I have been meaning to update this for a while, but upon noticing that the E-Sangha Beginners Buddhism Library has been shut down (and along with it, the only online version of this document), it seems like an opportune time to do so now.

The purpose of this booklet is to provide an introduction to the Dhamma for those who are naturally of a skeptical disposition. It addresses key Buddhist concepts in a way that they are verifiable for oneself through either logic or personal experience and opens the doors to further investigation of the Buddha's teachings.

Feel free to provide comment, feedback or send to loved ones as you see fit.

Metta,
Retro.

( attachment removed: latest version downloadable at http://www.justbegood.net/Downloads.htm )

[Ngawang Drolma.]

Thanks for this Retro

[Jechbi]

Very cool, thanks.

I liked this bit:

One interesting point of note is that the concept of Right View only refers to
views which have a bearing on suffering. Right View is not concerned about
mundane knowledge which is irrelevant to the elimination of suffering. If we
falsely believed that the sun was a flat disc or that spiders have ten legs, it
would neither be “right view” nor “wrong view” with respect to the Noble
Eightfold Path. As far as eliminating suffering goes, such information is
trivial and irrelevant.

One thing: Would it be worthwhile to include a section in there about how the term "right" is used in Buddhism? Lots of skeptics might immediately imagine that we're talking about "right" and "wrong," or "good" and "evil" or something like that. But obviously that's not what "samma" means. For the modern skeptic, a fuller explanation of the notion of "samma" might resonate very well.

[sukhamanveti]

Well done.

[Fede]

One thing: Would it be worthwhile to include a section in there about how the term "right" is used in Buddhism? Lots of skeptics might immediately imagine that we're talking about "right" and "wrong," or "good" and "evil" or something like that. But obviously that's not what "samma" means. For the modern skeptic, a fuller explanation of the notion of "samma" might resonate very well.

I had always understood "Right" to imply 'skilful' as opposed to 'correct'......

I'm about 20 years behind everyone else on Reading and listening..... so I hope I'm on the right track.

[clw_uk]

Right View
Right View relates to having a correct understanding of the Four Noble
Truths and understanding the relationship between craving and suffering.
Right View begins with this conceptual framework and is strengthened as we
experience the consequences of the Four Noble Truths personally in our
daily lives.
One interesting point of note is that the concept of Right View only refers to
views which have a bearing on suffering. Right View is not concerned about
mundane knowledge which is irrelevant to the elimination of suffering. If we
falsely believed that the sun was a flat disc or that spiders have ten legs, it
would neither be “right view” nor “wrong view” with respect to the Noble
Eightfold Path. As far as eliminating suffering goes, such information is
trivial and irrelevant.

I like this bit of it, very good explanation of Right View

[appicchato]

Feel free to send to loved ones...

Done...

[Zack]

Thanks Retro
I seem to recall it being a beneficial work, I'll read it again.

[David N. Snyder]

Great job, retro!

I just finished reading it the other day and see that this is now hosted on a Buddhist website!

Congratulations!

Just Be Good
http://www.justbegood.net/Downloads.htm

(Just scroll down to the E-Books section to find it)

[Individual]

Greetings,

I have been meaning to update this for a while, but upon noticing that the E-Sangha Beginners Buddhism Library has been shut down (and along with it, the only online version of this document), it seems like an opportune time to do so now.

The purpose of this booklet is to provide an introduction to the Dhamma for those who are naturally of a skeptical disposition. It addresses key Buddhist concepts in a way that they are verifiable for oneself through either logic or personal experience and opens the doors to further investigation of the Buddha's teachings.

Feel free to provide comment, feedback or send to loved ones as you see fit.

Metta,
Retro.

Another sub-forum gone? E-Sangha is like a doctor that amputates a patient's limb when they complain of pain or injury.

Somebody who is clever ought to create a webspider to download e-Sangha's entire forum and have a clone of it uploaded somewhere.

[retrofuturist]

Greetings,

Another sub-forum gone? E-Sangha is like a doctor that amputates a patient's limb when they complain of pain or injury.

To be fair, the libraries had become completely neglected with Ben's departure as an E-Sangha mod/librarian in December 2008. On the other hand, it was a genuinely good resource, and if the view counts (and download counts) were anything to go by, it was valued by members too.

If I recall correctly, I think the earlier copies of Buddhism For The Modern Skeptic that I had posted there was downloaded somewhere in the order of 1000-1500 times, if that's any indication of the earlier traffic there.

Metta,
Retro.

[David N. Snyder]

Already at one of my websites too:

http://dhammawiki.com/index.php?title=B ... rn_Skeptic

I'll also put another link at one of my other websites later.

[appicchato]

If I recall correctly, I think the earlier copies of Buddhism For The Modern Skeptic that I had posted there was downloaded somewhere in the order of 1000-1500 times, if that's any indication of the earlier traffic there.

Happy...and impressed...to see it at 'Just Be Good'...well done Paul...

[retrofuturist]

Thanks bhante.

Mr Lee said he has found "the ultra down-to-earth and practical approach" to Buddhism to be beneficial to his readers/users, and said the text was "clear and well-written and it will certainly appeal to the 'skeptics' around us".

Thanks to you, Fede and others who have had a hand in the tinkering and tweaking of the text over the past couple of years.

Metta,
Retro.

[Fede]

And thanks to you for having the confidence in me to not butcher the piece.
It was a pleasure and a privilege.

[Mawkish1983]

Hi there ,

I hope you don't mind Retro, but I've printed out a copy of your book for a friend of mine at work who was enquiring yesterday. He didn't want me to send him any links, saying he'd never get the time (and would forget) to check online... so I said I'd print him a copy out to read.

I've not actually read it yet myself, but it does look rather apt at first glance

Thank you!

[BubbaBuddhist]

This was a good resource. Are you and the other mods planning to create a resource library similar to the one we used to have at you-know-where?

J

[retrofuturist]

Greetings,

Mawkish1983.... that's fine, thanks for thinking of it!

Bubbabuddhist... Blackbird has been working on compiling a list of resources here ( viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3012 ). We could potentially host some things here but it seems more plausible to do that at DhammaWiki, or even do what Blackbird has done elsewhere and send things to What Buddha Taught (and other such minded sites) for their consideration.

Metta,
Retro.

[Kim OHara]

Hi, everyone - two quick comments:

'Buddhism for the Modern Sceptic' is a very good introduction to that way of thinking about the dhamma. The two books called 'The Naked Buddha' which prompted the thread of that name http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=3058 explore the same ideas in more depth.

I can't see much advantage in endless reduplication of online resources. Isn't it more economical of everyone's time and server space to simply host a page of annotated links here?


Kim

[BubbaBuddhist]

Very good points all.

As I recall there were some unique documents, such as Venerable Dhamananando's essays on Abhidhamma and others which were most instructive. Having these under one roof seemed like a useful thing.

J