Rating: 
Summary: Quiet, Calm, and Informative
Review: In the six years of my practice this was the most helpful piece of litereature I have come across on Buddhism. S. Batchelor actually is able to go beyond the quite beautiful and intricate trappings of Buddhism to the historical and current truths. His explanations of Buddhist concepts are clear and simple as a solitary chime of a meditation gong. There are no easy answers here, and yet, he looks directly into the great questions and carefully addresses them with out resorting to language that conceals. This is an insightful book for any one Buddhist or otherwise. I praise it's clarity which is often missing in religous writing. Why this book has produced such an abundance of criticism is a mystery to me. The book is clearly in the center of Zen teachings and one of the best at that. Read it and reread it.
Rating:
Summary: A Very Insightful Book
Review: I enjoyed this book very much and often recommend it to others if they are open minded and truly seeking enlightenment. S. Bachelor is well known for his scholarly works in philosophical Buddhism. If you are reading these reviews, you can see the book is either loved or hated. I believe those who love it are interested in the philosophy or psychology of Buddhism. I suspect those who dislike it, are into Buddhism as a religion (and perhaps a rather dogmatic religion in which there is correct and incorrect belief).I felt compelled to add another review because the book is so good, if you are seeking a thought provoking and intellectual discussion. If you are seeking some confirmation of superstitious folk religious beliefs you will be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Three little words"I don't know"
Review: After reading some of the reviews here I would ask some of the reviewers this question. Is the essense of buddism a dogmatic belief in reincarnation and other metephyiscal doctrines or is it a way of inquiry into the human condition? Is it wrong to admit you don't know whether something is true or not? Dogmatic religionists pretend to give answers on everything from the existance of intelligent aliens to the specific details of life after death. Can't people stop pretending to be all knowing? Do people think that the universe is forced to conform to thier beliefs?
Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully provocative
Review: As a writer, consultant and 25+ year zen practitioner, I found this book a phenomenologically sound koan, provoking and evoking a deep respect for the space of not-knowing that underlines everyday enlightenment.
Rating:
Summary: For a wonderful life
Review: Stephen Batchelor's book can change your outlook on Buddhism, your Dharma practice, and your life. For the Buddhist who's not sure how to deal with Buddhism's beliefs associated with Karmic rebirth, this book will let you know that you are not alone, and it is OK. Stephen Batchelor outlines a Buddhism in which everyone can find natural great peace.
Rating: 
Summary: Batchelor demonstrates how each of us should question
Review: This book is a good introduction. Batchelor demonstrates that he has questioned the orthodox and shows how one can arrive at answers on your own. Even more important, he shows that answers can not be "yes or no", "this or not that". A very good disscussion on the good points of agnostic viewpoint.
Rating:
Summary: Buddhist Meditations
Review: Batchelor's book is a well-written, personal and existential approach to Buddhism. Although Batchelor admits that stripping Buddhism of its connection with reincarnation creates some difficulties, the emphasis here is mainly upon existential practice. I liked the simplicity and clarity of (most of) the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Despised book desevant of hisses from learned Buddhists
Review: This book is highly discussed among learned Buddhists as being one of the most if not the most despised books ever written in the West on the subject of Orthodox teachings of Buddhisms fundamentals. As a former Buddhist monk i can say in no other way but facts that Bathcelors book "BUDDHISM WITHOUT BELIEFS" has so many innumerable contradictory falsehoods that it is hard to know where to begin in describing its vehemently incorrect representation of the core of Buddhism. There is an urgent need to interpret and present these teachings to the modern west. This "Buddhism Without Beliefs" has sorely failed to do. The prescription of this book amounts to an abandonment of the traditional Dharma and the transformation of Buddhism into a psychotherapy, which like all psychotherapies, has no goal higher than "ordinary misery." This is a Buddhism without fruition, without a Third Noble Truth. Should such teachings prevail then they will still validate the tradition in a backhanded way; because they will fulfill the prophecies of the degeneration of the Dharma in this age of decline. This book has recieved praise ONLY DUE TO THE FACT that those without a basis for comparison of the genuine teachings of Dharma cannot distinguish gold from trash. Many in the know monasitc Buddhists have heartfelt sorrow not for the printing of such missfit books such as this one but for the throngs of peoples that truly flock to the nihilsistic dogma and fluff as what is written in this book. THERE IS ONE IREFUTABLE THING that is unquestionable about this book. The ancient masters writtings and the Buddhist cannon that NOONE dissagrees with has innumerable contentions with the falsehoods represented in this book. Akin to revisionist Buddhism this book held up to the light of the unquestioned Buddhist Cannon and writtings of the ancient masters has not a leg to stand on and is defunct in every aspect of what Stephen Batchelor presents and missguides in this book.
Rating:
Summary: Purest dharma. Hard-won insight.
Review: Mr. Batchelor's dual background - first as a Tibetan monk and translator then later as a Korean Zen monk - gives him two eyes to see Buddhism with. It gives him cross-cultural depth perception that allows him to see the essense of awakening separate from the cultures that encrust it. Perhaps that helps him write such a succinct, clear, and radiant book. It's odd that Batchelor is an unwitting lightning-rod for the Buddhist religious right. (Bet you didn't think that was even POSSIBLE, did you?! Surprise! Sadly, Buddhism isn't all that different from any other religion.) He doesn't attack their beliefs. He stays in the vast middle and says that he honestly doesn't know. When I saw him lecture, I saw a student of Thinley Norbu's stand up and beg him to believe in rebirth! It was like watching a fundamentalist Christian begging someone to accept Jesus as his personal savior, as though Buddhism was about embracing the right conceptual beliefs. It was the oddest and saddest thing! Why bother becoming a Buddhist if you're going to behave like that? He handled it with great patience and compassion, I thought. I asked him about it afterwards and apparently it happens to him all the time! Wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic.
Review: While certainly not a pure buddhist text, Batchelor simply strips off all of the dogma, hocus-pocus, and anything else that he found to be incongruent with reason. Daring? Yes. Buddhism? Maybe not. But a fabulous philosophy (yes, it is philosophy, not religion, at least here in Batchelor's book) to live and think by? Certainly. If it's not the path you want, no one is pushing you down it. But I found it immensely useful, and I imagine it can help others too.
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