One can deplore the incursion of secularism into Buddhism by the likes of Stephen Batchelor and others. But one cannot stop the advance of secularism except by really understanding Buddhism from its own side in which the Buddha is allowed to speak for himself. This is a key matter because there are books about Buddhism that are essentially products of eisegesis. In other words, these books amount to the author reading his or her own ideas into Buddhism when such is not in the Buddhist canon. Stephen Batchelor’s book, Buddhism Without Beliefs, is a perfect example of eisegesis. He interprets Buddhism as being secular, or somewhat the same as being fit for a modern secular world.
A number of modern Buddhist authors have a strong inclination to read into Buddhism what is, essentially, not there, seeing modern ideas in the Buddha’s teachings, instead. This, to be sure, is eisegesis (read into)—not proper exegesis where the meaning of what the Buddha said is drawn out hopefully making it clearer for the reader—but not fundamentally altering his teachings.
For the beginner, especially, there is a fuzzy line between eisegesis and exegesis; and given the fact that a beginner is unfamiliar with much of the canon, that is, with what the Buddha actually said, it is easy to be led astray by such books as Buddhism Without Beliefs. Indeed, such books are often the product of the author’s own views, who believes he has a right to import modern ideas into the text of Buddhism when they ain't really there. This ends up by giving the beginner a distorted an inaccurate picture of Buddhism.
Another matter to consider, which is at the heart of modern Buddhism, is how much personal interpretation is permitted? If too much it may inevitably lead down the road of eisegesis; which can also turn into a will-to-power in a desire for control over how we are to read and consequently understand Buddhism which, as we might expect, also places limits on exegesis. Perhaps the real danger is that eisegesis, which can be quite innovative, can end up reinforcing, in the case of Buddhism, secularism which works to subdue and undermine the spiritual content of Buddhism, which is surely evident in even a cursory reading.
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