Rating: 
Summary: Read it before you decide
Review: How sad that someone here wrote, " I stopped dead in my tracks when I read that someone wrote, after reading the book, that (s)he is a 'violently angry atheist.'"
Sad, because the person in no way implied, much less stated, that the book is what led him or her to become an atheist. Sadder still because the former reviewer denies him/herself the sublime pleasure of this excellent text based on one person's irrelevant comment. Saddest of all because the book in question clearly takes an agnostic approach to the philosophy of Buddhism and essentially rejects the trappings of "religion" altogether, focusing instead on the here-and-now, anybody-can-do-this approach to enlightenment, of which the latter reviewer appears to be in desperate need. An excellent book that deserves better than its critics here have bestowed upon it.
Rating:
Summary: Life is beautiful -- even without dogma.
Review: Suppose we hade a way of life which was both agnostic and morally positive? Stephen Batchelor makes a good point that this has already happened. "Organized" religion may be morally positive, but makes no sense for those who do not believe in revelation. On the other hand, philosophies like Marxism, humanism, and post-modernism are intellectually agnostic, but have no more morality than does anarchy, and they have been demonstrably prone to an essential violence against the human spirit. Buddhist philosophy takes a fundamentally agnostic, inductive, and non-absolutist approach to life. Yet Buddhist philosophy advocates an exceptionally strong and consistent moral code, because morality is an essential first step to awareness. The moral code of Buddhism is based on skepticism, agnosticism, and an absence of political correctness or similar dogmas, but has paradoxically produced a way of life every bit as consistent and liberating as any other which humanity has ever adopted. In short -- even without political correctness, dogma, or revelation, Buddhist thought has argued that existence is meaningful and beautiful, simply by observing what is right in front of your nose. This book is a good and thoughtful introduction to a skeptical yet affirmative point of view.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, not great
Review: This book is just an essay. It's over priced for being only 115 pages long. It's hard to focus on the writting without getting bored. It's a very generalized book that doesn't get into specifics on anything at all. I agree with most of it but only because the author doesn't explain his positions or give examples, historical or otherwise. I regret getting the book from an economical standpoint as it's just not indepth enough to be a book. I've written longer book reports in grade school. The arguments are too thin and one dimensional and the attention factor is nearly non-existent. I hope the author will write another book explaining his position better because this one just doesn't cut the mustard.
Rating: 
Summary: Won't read now that I've read the reviews
Review: This book seemed interesting until I read the reviews. I stopped dead in my tracks when I read that someone wrote, after reading the book, that (s)he is a "violently angry atheist". This person is part of the problem of the world's suffering. The hostility expressed towards the peoples of religions by the reviewer after having read the book leads me to believe that the book is likely ineffective at guiding someone toward the teachings of Buddhism.
Rating:
Summary: Life changing
Review: I was (and still am ) a violently angry Atheist and I began to read this book to enrich my spirit in this book I found a peaceful way to exist as an atheist in this world of closed minded deistic tyrants and learned how not to become an atheist tyrant since then Im on the path to coming to peace with the world truly the way of the truth is the way of buddha.
Rating:
Summary: All The Stars In Heaven For This Masterpiece
Review: I am appalled by the stunning display of ignorance of Buddhism displayed in several reviews (of Buddhism Without Belief). (Or is it one disgruntled reader writing all those negative reviews under different names? I think so!) It is truly tragic that people who claim to be Buddhists understand so little about the spirit which suffuses the Buddha's words and teachings. It's one thing to have such a narrow and reductive worldview; it's quite another to claim to understand Buddhism when you don't know the first thing about it. Their vicious words do not in any way diminish Batchelor's eloquence; they merely hold themselves up as paragons of ignorance.
Rating:
Summary: 1,000+ books on Buddhism? Goal: to show off or intimidate?
Review: Regardless of what the aficianados might say, this is an absolutely excellent book! I highly recommend it to anyone trying to reconcile the conflict of religion versus common sense. I have always been Agnostic and therefore too hesitant to extensively investigate the teachings of Buddha. This book changes everything, both honestly and consisely.
Rating:
Summary: This is not a book to turn the reader into a Buddhist.
Review: In fact, the author argues that "Buddhism" as a concept is misguided. There is no reason a person of any belief system could not extract meaning from this book. The book is about a way of living in awareness and creating meaning in our lives. Even if you are a devout believer in a religion that would discourage you from even learning about Buddhism (although I would doubt any leaders who doubted their own religion that much), there is no reason not to develop an understanding of the reasons others think, believe, and act they way that they do. This book will not make any demands of you. However, you may end up making some demands of yourself.
Rating:
Summary: Batchelorism, not Buddhism. 180 Degrees contrary to Sutra.
Review: This book, amazingly enough, contradicts every major cornerstone of Buddhism itself. Transmigration, the Soul, an incorporeal aboslute as the focus of Samadhi. The proper title of this book is "Buddhism without Buddhism". I own over 4000+ books on Buddhism, i translate and read Pali (the texts of Buddhism), and am an author on Buddhism, let me say as an expert without equal, this fellow has no connection to, nor is studied in the Doctrine of Buddhism (Buddhasasana). Mr. Batchelor might want to recall his title, which uses the word Buddhism. Buddhism, to be tightfisted as it were, is "the Doctrine of A Buddha or The historical Buddha"; it is not the conjectures, views, opinions of a New-Ager who decides to write a book with "Buddhism" in the title. read "The living thoughts of Gotama Buddha" by Dr. Coomaraswamy,...that book is actually based on what the BUDDHA taught, not what Batchelor 'feels' and 'thinks'. Buddhism [Buddhasasana] are the teachings of the historical Buddha, not the commentary, views, books, opinions, speculations,
conjectures, beliefs of either the Dalai Lama, Zen master, monk, nun, guru, Rimpoche, Geshe, or any other individual claiming to speak for Buddhism while in fact reinventing and or
diluting its teachings past recognition of what would consistently be deemed Buddhism in fact. There are very few neutral scholars and experts in both the doctrine of Buddhism and
its history that are under any delusion that what is conventionally called "Buddhism" today is in fact far, far removed indeed from what Buddhism was two and a half millennia ago.
A.K. Coomaraswamy said it best: "Buddhism is most famous today for everything it originally was not."
Rating:
Summary: It's not Buddhism... which is Wonderful
Review: It seems to me that many of the criticisms of this book here (and elsewhere) come from Buddhist who are offended at Batchelor's "corruption" of their sacred teachings. However, I think this book targets people whose desire is to find out how the teachings of Buddhism could benefit their lives without necessarily being "Buddhists". That is to say that a non-Christian could, for example, find many of the teachings of Christ very enlightening and beneficial, without accepting all of the tenets of the Christian church. Batchelor provides this point of view regarding Buddhism. He provides the framework for the secular philosopher to incorporate much that is wonderful about Buddhism into their daily lives while not requiring faith or adherence to any specific religious dogma. But there is nothing in this book that would hinder the person so inclined form pursuing Buddhism from a religious standpoint. Again by analogy, I could envision a secular title promoting many of the teachings of Christ (such as turning the other cheek) while saying that it is possible to follow these teachings without buying into all the stuff about virgin birth and heaven and hell. Such a title might enrage a certain type of Christian, but would be a breath of fresh air to those of us who don't wish to "throw the baby out with the bath water" when it comes to a critical examination of Christianity. Batchelor's book does this for Buddhist teaching. I do have some critisisms of this book; Batchelor makes some points that I would have prefered he address differently. But I have strongly urged many friends and loved ones to read it. I can give a book no higher praise than that.
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