Buddhism · nontheistic
Secular Buddhism
The practice and the psychology kept, the cosmology set aside: no literal rebirth, no supernatural claims, no authority beyond what you can test in your own experience. A naturalist reading of the canon rather than a rejection of it.
What makes it unusual
The axes on which this tradition sits furthest from the middle of the matrix — which is to say, the positions that actually distinguish it.
- A1 Divine realitynothing beyond the naturalFurther toward "nothing beyond the natural" than most traditions in the matrix.
- C1 Survival of the selfends at deathFurther toward "ends at death" than most traditions in the matrix.
- A2 Personhoodimpersonal principle or orderFurther toward "impersonal principle or order" than most traditions in the matrix.
- E2 Origin of the cosmosbeginningless or naturalFurther toward "beginningless or natural" than most traditions in the matrix.
All seventeen positions
Each cell carries a centre, a dispersion — how much internal variation the tradition genuinely tolerates — and the source the position rests on. Disagree with one? Say so; corrections are public and recorded.
The same seventeen values as a single shape, read clockwise from A1 at the top. The outline is where the tradition sits; the wider band around it is the variation it genuinely tolerates, so a tight outline is a tight tradition.
- position
- tolerated variation
A · The divine
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Divine realitynothing beyond the natural → a divine reality certainly exists | nothing beyond the naturalBatchelor, Buddhism Without Beliefs (1997) and After Buddhism (2015) | 0.12 | 0.10 |
| A2 Personhoodimpersonal principle or order → a personal being one can address | impersonal principle or orderBatchelor, Buddhism Without Beliefs (1997) and After Buddhism (2015) | 0.05 | 0.05 |
| A3 Pluralitystrictly one → many powers and spirits | strictly oneBatchelor, Buddhism Without Beliefs (1997) and After Buddhism (2015) | 0.05 | 0.05 |
| A4 Locuswholly beyond the world → fully present within it | leaning fully present within itBatchelor, Buddhism Without Beliefs (1997) and After Buddhism (2015) | 0.70 | 0.15 |
B · Knowledge and authority
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| B1 Source of truthrevealed and fixed → reason and direct experience | reason and direct experienceBatchelor, Buddhism Without Beliefs (1997) and After Buddhism (2015) | 0.95 | 0.05 |
| B2 Reading of sacred textliteral and binding → metaphorical, or no text at all | metaphorical, or no text at allBatchelor, Buddhism Without Beliefs (1997) and After Buddhism (2015) | 0.85 | 0.10 |
| B3 Institutional authorityclergy and tradition decide → individual conscience decides | individual conscience decidesBatchelor, Buddhism Without Beliefs (1997) and After Buddhism (2015) | 0.85 | 0.10 |
C · Self and destiny
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| C1 Survival of the selfends at death → continues in some form | ends at deathBatchelor, Buddhism Without Beliefs (1997) and After Buddhism (2015) | 0.10 | 0.10 |
| C2 Shape of timeone life, then judgment → cyclical return | leaning one life, then judgmentBatchelor, Buddhism Without Beliefs (1997) and After Buddhism (2015) | 0.25 | 0.18 |
| C3 The human conditionfallen and in need of rescue → ignorant but fundamentally sound | ignorant but fundamentally soundBatchelor, Buddhism Without Beliefs (1997) and After Buddhism (2015) | 0.85 | 0.10 |
D · Practice
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| D1 Mechanism of the ultimate goodgiven as grace → achieved by effort or insight | achieved by effort or insightBatchelor, Buddhism Without Beliefs (1997) and After Buddhism (2015) | 0.95 | 0.05 |
| D2 Centrality of ritualessential and prescribed → optional or absent | leaning optional or absentBatchelor, Buddhism Without Beliefs (1997) and After Buddhism (2015) | 0.70 | 0.15 |
| D3 The bodyto be disciplined → to be celebrated | between to be disciplined and to be celebratedBatchelor, Buddhism Without Beliefs (1997) and After Buddhism (2015) | 0.38 | 0.15 |
E · World and others
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| E1 Exclusivityone true path → many valid paths | many valid pathsBatchelor, Buddhism Without Beliefs (1997) and After Buddhism (2015) | 0.88 | 0.08 |
| E2 Origin of the cosmosan intentional act → beginningless or natural | beginningless or naturalBatchelor, Buddhism Without Beliefs (1997) and After Buddhism (2015) | 0.92 | 0.06 |
| E3 Locus of belonginga people, inherited → an individual choice | an individual choiceBatchelor, Buddhism Without Beliefs (1997) and After Buddhism (2015) | 0.90 | 0.08 |
| E4 Standing of naturecreation, given for use → animate and itself sacred | between creation, given for use and animate and itself sacredBatchelor, Buddhism Without Beliefs (1997) and After Buddhism (2015) | 0.58 | 0.15 |
Further reading
- Batchelor, After Buddhism — The argument for treating the four truths as tasks rather than beliefs.
- Gombrich, What the Buddha Thought — A historian’s check on how much of this the canon will actually bear.
Compared with
The questionnaire places your own answers on these same seventeen axes and reports how close you are to this tradition and to 64 others. Take it — eight to fourteen questions, nothing transmitted.