This is the book that made a cautious western bloke with a Philosophy degree from a highly cynical university realise that Buddhism could be a rigorously argued and experience-centred practice.
Stephen Batchelor is a former monk in the Tibetan and Korean Zen traditions, turned scholar of the Pali Canon and Buddhist teacher. He is a fascinating translator, pointing out the careful use of language can bring out very striking interpretations of the suttas, and using his personal understanding of Dhamma to move away from literal translations where required (making him a heretic in some eyes).
'Buddhism Without Beliefs' was written as an introduction to Buddhism for materialist, sceptical, atheistic westerners (like I was/am), in another attempt by Batchelor - see also 'The Awakening of the West' and 'Alone With Others' - to articulate Buddhism in a way that chimes with western thought without diluting it. In the book, Batchelor uses his translations of certain suttas to point out what are, to him, the essential tenets of Dhamma and what are contingent. (The core teachings? Sound familiar to you? Nah.)
These include: the necessity of an agnostic attitude to metaphysical knowledge; the Four 'Ennobling' Truths as practices in themselves, not propositions for belief; kamma and rebirth as cultural accretions; engaged Buddhism as the seed of a new society; Buddhism as a culture of awakening, not a religion; and monasticism as potentially calcifying a dynamic tradition.
This was a useful book to me because it helped me keep my healthily critical hat on in the face of the deep enthusiasm I felt on realising that Buddhism was my cup of tea. It allowed me to get over my misgivings about exploring spirituality in general and to investigate further, rather than rely on any assumptions on stereotypes about what 'spirituality' may be. It clarified for me what Buddhism was, and was not (i.e. suffering and the end of suffering) and made me feel more confident in admitting I didn't agree everything I read, when I hadn't heard any debate amongst the few Buddhists I knew. It was a good demonstration of the benefit of reading the original suttas. it encouraged an individual approach to my practice, but let me know that all the important elements of practice I needed were within Buddhism already. Most importantly perhaps, it's the sense it brought to me that sila is not just about individual responsibilities, but also could be applied to how we collectively live our lives.
What it isn't is a meditation textbook or a description of awakening, being more a 'way into Buddhism' for people like me who had read the usual stuff on Wikipedia or more traditional books and didn't quite get the flavour of Buddhism, or a sense of where they could connect with it. For all its espousing of agnostic Buddhism, Batchelor still felt the need to attack kamma and rebirth in a Dawkins-esque style, which was interesting but unnecessary in my opinion. His selection of suttas is still a cherry-picking and doesn't explain how or why the suttas contradict themselves in some points. A housemate of mine read it and was intimidated by its intense 'practice because you might die in the next breath' style; more timid beginners might want to read a text more centred around compassion.
I include the book here because it may provide that 'way in' to pragmatic practice that I needed. For more seasoned Overgroundlings (heh heh) it may help clarify some troublesome issues or just remind the practitioner to keep their own authority. I'd recommend Batchelor's 'Confessions of a Buddhist Atheist' for a more personal and quietly scathing view on his career in Buddhism, or the superb 'Life and Death of Siddhartha Gautama' series of lectures on Dharma Seed that debunks any idea that the Buddha led a happy and charmed life from birth to death, provoking a massive sense of compassion for him...
