Stephen Batchelor (author)


 * For the field hockey player, see Stephen Batchelor (field hockey).

Stephen Batchelor (b. 1953) is a Scottish-born writer and teacher currently residing in France. Batchelor is best known for his best-selling book about Buddhism, Buddhism Without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening, in which he advocates an agnostic or secular approach to Buddhism that rejects the supernatural and mythical elements with which Buddhism has traditionally been associated.

Following his education in England, Batchelor moved to Dharamsala, India to study Buddhism, and was ultimately ordained as a novice monk in 1974. After living for periods in Switzerland and South Korea studying under teachers from the Zen and Vajrayana traditions, he disrobed in 1985 and married Martine Batchelor (nee Fages). Batchelor went on to live at the Sharpham North Community in Totnes, Devon, becoming a co-founder of Sharpham College.

Batchelor is an author, teacher, and scholar, writing books and articles on Buddhist topics and leading meditation retreats throughout the world.