Join us for a special evening with renowned Buddhist teacher Stephen Batchelor and hear about his journey to becoming a secular Buddhist. He will be sharing from his newest book, The Art of Solitude, which will be released on February 18, 2020.
When Stephen turned sixty, he took a sabbatical from his teaching and turned his attention to solitude, a practice integral to the meditative traditions he has long studied and taught. He aimed to venture more deeply into solitude, discovering its full extent and depth.
The Art of Solitude documents Stephen’s experiences appreciating and making art, drinking peyote and ayahuasca, practicing meditation and participating in retreats, and training himself to keep an open, questioning mind have all contributed to Batchelor’s ability to be simultaneously alone and at ease. Mixed in with his personal narrative are inspiring stories from solitude’s devoted practitioners, from the Buddha to Montaigne, and from Vermeer to Agnes Martin.
In a hyperconnected world that is at the same time plagued by social isolation, this book shows how to stay openhearted and enjoy the inescapable solitude that is at the heart of human life.
More about Stephen Batchelor:
After ten years in Asia as a Buddhist monk, Stephen Batchelor disrobed, married and returned to Europe. For the past thirty-five years he has sought to find a contemporary voice to articulate the core values of the dharma in our secular world. Author of the acclaimed Buddhism without Beliefs and After Buddhism, he lives in France with his wife Martine.