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Cell-based therapies provide a novel approach to treating chronic diseases. Recapitulating a damaged organ's function by secreting hormones or other factors is dependent upon successful engraftment of transplanted cells. Engraftment of the transplanted cells requires that cells survive the initial hypoxic environment following transplantation, connect with the host vasculature for exchange of nutrients and waste products and also deliver secreted factors into the circulation. Doing this requires creating an environment that promotes long term function of the transplanted cells. If the cell supply is limited, approaches to expand the transplant graft in vivo may also be important. We propose to address the hypothesis that micro-porous polymer scaffolds capable of delivering biologically active peptides can create a microenvironment to promote cell engraftment, survival and proliferation. A classic paradigm for cell-based therapy is islet transplantation for treatment of type 1 diabetes in which destruction of insulin-secreting beta cells in the pancreas results in hyperglycemia and its complications. Recent trials have provided proof of concept that islet transplantation can be efficacious, yet problems remain. To address these problems, we are proposing to transplant islets on microporous scaffolds capable of releasing proteins that can influence the host tissue (e.g., vascularization) or enhance the functionality of the transplanted islets. These factors will condition the microenvironment to promote islet engraftment, survival, and function. We have recently shown that microporous scaffolds can serve as a platform for islet transplantation.
The Specific Aims are as follows. (i) 1) To investigate the hypothesis that the scaffold architecture, as defined by porosity, pore size, and stability, will influence islet engraftment and function. (ii) To address the hypothesis that use of a polymer scaffold to deliver angiogenic factors will improve islet survival and function post-transplantation in a murine model of diabetes. (iii) To test the hypothesis that polymer scaffolds delivering factors that inhibit islet cell death and/or increase islet cell mass post-transplantation will enhance islet engraftment and function. (iv) To determine whether delivering a combination of growth factors that affect different processes (e.g., angiogenesis and islet cell survival and/or proliferation) is more efficacious than delivering a single factor. These studies have the potential to substantially advance cell therapies for islet transplantation.
Transplantation of islets or, ultimately, insulin-secreting cells from other sources represents a potential cure for diabetes, which results from destruction of insulin-secreting cells by the immune system. To enhance cell replacement therapy for diabetes, we are developing scaffolds for transplantation of islets or insulin-secreting cells into peritoneal fat. These scaffolds provide a support for cell growth and can deliver proteins which will be to enhance cell survival and function following islet transplantation.
|Hlavaty, K A; Gibly, R F; Zhang, X et al. (2014) Enhancing human islet transplantation by localized release of trophic factors from PLG scaffolds. Am J Transplant 14:1523-32
|Boehler, R M; Kuo, R; Shin, S et al. (2014) Lentivirus delivery of IL-10 to promote and sustain macrophage polarization towards an anti-inflammatory phenotype. Biotechnol Bioeng 111:1210-21
|Bryant, Jane; Hlavaty, Kelan A; Zhang, Xiaomin et al. (2014) Nanoparticle delivery of donor antigens for transplant tolerance in allogeneic islet transplantation. Biomaterials 35:8887-94
|Gower, R Michael; Boehler, Ryan M; Azarin, Samira M et al. (2014) Modulation of leukocyte infiltration and phenotype in microporous tissue engineering scaffolds via vector induced IL-10 expression. Biomaterials 35:2024-31
|Graham, John G; Zhang, Xiaomin; Goodman, Ashley et al. (2013) PLG scaffold delivered antigen-specific regulatory T cells induce systemic tolerance in autoimmune diabetes. Tissue Eng Part A 19:1465-75
|Yap, Woon Teck; Salvay, David M; Silliman, Michael A et al. (2013) Collagen IV-modified scaffolds improve islet survival and function and reduce time to euglycemia. Tissue Eng Part A 19:2361-72
|Boehler, R M; Shin, S; Fast, A G et al. (2013) A PLG/HAp composite scaffold for lentivirus delivery. Biomaterials 34:5431-8
|Gibly, Romie F; Zhang, Xiaomin; Lowe Jr, William L et al. (2013) Porous scaffolds support extrahepatic human islet transplantation, engraftment, and function in mice. Cell Transplant 22:811-9
|Boehler, Ryan M; Graham, John G; Shea, Lonnie D (2011) Tissue engineering tools for modulation of the immune response. Biotechniques 51:239-40, 242, 244 passim
|Gibly, R F; Graham, J G; Luo, X et al. (2011) Advancing islet transplantation: from engraftment to the immune response. Diabetologia 54:2494-505
Showing the most recent 10 out of 11 publications


text:
Top Definition
When your dog comes up to you and rubs his neck against your face to show affection
Man, you should have seen the morning love Wrigley gave me this afternoon.
by Seane222 February 25, 2010
The Urban Dictionary Mug
One side has the word, one side has the definition. Microwave and dishwasher safe. Lotsa space for your liquids.Buy the mug
The Urban Dictionary T-Shirt
Smooth, soft, slim fit American Apparel shirt. Custom printed. 100% fine jersey cotton, except for heather grey (90% cotton).Buy the t-shirt

subset: commoncrawl


text:
More Euro/EMU
By Richard Palmer, from December 7, 2016 in Analysis »
The euro is heading for a crisis. The only question is when.
By Joel Hilliker, from March 18, 2016 in Analysis »
Political economist Rodney Atkinson explains why Britain should vote to leave the European Union on June 23.
By Robert Morley, from February 26, 2016 in Analysis »
Centrifugal and centripetal forces are pulling at Europe. Which will win?
By Richard Palmer, from December 7, 2016 in Featured »
How a banking crisis in Italy could reverberate around the world
By Richard Palmer, from November 3, 2015 in News »
By Richard Palmer, from August 4, 2015 in Analysis »
One of Herbert W. Armstrong's most important predictions is being fulfilled before your eyes!
By Gerald Flurry, from July 31, 2015 in From the Editor »
America's banking crisis will powerfully impact Europe financially—and politically.
By Richard Palmer, from July 8, 2015 in Analysis »
Greece's 'no' vote directly threatens Germany. Watch how Germany responds in the latest round of the eurocrisis.
By Richard Palmer, from June 30, 2015 in Analysis »
And why the euro is incompatible with democracy
From June 22, 2015 in News »


text:
3 web pages
- Status Closed
- Budget $250 - $750 USD
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Project Description
I need 3 HTML pages, First page with one link icon that upon clicking will load a second HTML page capable of accepting text from an entry field, a graphic that the user can insert and a submit button. Upon pressing the submit button a third page will show with the entered text and graphic from the previous page.Get free quotes for a project like this
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text: Garou: Mark of the Wolves Dated For JapanBrian Ashcraft6/19/09 8:00amFiled to: Xbox LiveGarou: mark of the wolvesSnkXbox 360News25EditPromoteShare to KinjaToggle Conversation toolsGo to permalink SNK's arcade fighting Garou: Mark of the Wolves is coming to Xbox LIVE — Japan is getting it June 24 for 800 Microsoft Points. Advertisement The game was originally released in Japan back in 1999 and in the U.S. as Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves. It's the final Fatal Fury title.The LIVE version will feature online matching for that versus arcade experience. Advertisement Xbox LIVE アーケード向け『餓狼MARK OF THE WOLVES』は2009年6月24日から配信 [Famitsu]Reply25 repliesLeave a reply


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[uncountable] the waste matter from animals that is spread over or mixed with the soil to help plants and crops grow synonym dung Dig plenty of well-rotted manure into the soil. Work in plenty of well-rotted manure. the best time to spread manure on the fields See related entries: Gardening Word Origin late Middle English (as a verb in the sense 'cultivate (land)'): from Anglo-Norman French mainoverer, Old French manouvrer , from medieval Latin manuoperare from Latin manusnounjump to other results
BrE BrE//məˈnjʊə(r)//; NAmE NAmE//məˈnʊr//Gardening
Check pronunciation: manure


text:
Patriots #2 in the Latest ESPN NFL Power Rankings
By: Ian Logue
So far all the latest acquisitions haven't done enough to convince the "experts" that the Patriots should be ranked #1, at least not according to the latest NFL power rankings.
ESPN.com currently ranks New England #2 behind the Green Bay Packers, who jumped from #9 last week to the top spot.
Right behind New England are the Eagles, followed by the Saints and Steelers. The Jets are at #7, up one spot from last week.
As for how the other half are living, they're not too happy out in Cincinnati. Chad Ochocinco's old team is reeling a bit, dropping from #31 last week to dead last.
Not that it matters since we haven't seen a live game just yet, which makes it a bit early to get too excited. We'll finally get to see some actual football Thursday night when the Patriots finally hit the field against the Jaguars at Gillette Stadium.
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A snowy sky shows off cheery Christmas decorations. This surgical scrub hat would look great with Hunter Scrubs.
If you are a fan of the bouffant but want to add a little color to your scrubs, the operating room Poppy scrub cap is for you. This surgical hat can also be worn as a pony-tail cap.


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Greg M. Cooper/US Presswire
Second-year OT Sebastian Vollmer was downgraded to out for Monday's game.FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The Patriots have downgraded starting right tackle Sebastian Vollmer to out for Monday's season opener against the Dolphins. Vollmer has missed the last two weeks with a back injury, and this almost certainly thrusts first-round draft choice Nate Solder into the starting lineup at right tackle. The Patriots don't have any other pure tackles on the roster.
In addition to Vollmer, backup right defensive end Jermaine Cunningham (groin), reserve receiver Taylor Price (hamstring), backup center/guard Ryan Wendell (calf) and backup linebacker Jeff Tarpinian (knee) have also been downgraded to out.
With Vollmer and Wendell out, the Patriots currently only have six offensive linemen available. One of them, Dan Connolly, is returning from a foot injury, while veteran Brian Waters just joined the team last Sunday. The Patriots have Thomas Welch, Matt Kopa and Nick McDonald on the practice squad.
Cunningham has been working behind veteran Andre Carter, while Price added depth behind top receivers Chad Ochocinco, Wes Welker and Deion Branch.
Albert Haynesworth, who missed Saturday's practice with an illness, has made the trip with the team.
The Patriots will have to downgrade two more players 90 minutes before Monday's kickoff.


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Caring Means Sharing
2,552pages onAdd New Page
this wiki
this wiki
|Barney & Friends Episode
|Caring Means Sharing
|Season 1, Episode 9
|Air date
|April 16, 1992
|Written by
|Stephen White
|Directed by
|Jim Rowley
|Episode Guide
| previous
Going Places!
| next
Down on Barney's Farm
Caring Means Sharing is the ninth episode from Season 1 of Barney & Friends.
Min and Kathy fight over whose turn it is to play with Barney. So, through various songs and activities, Barney teaches them that sharing makes everything a lot more fun!
Stories: The Little Red Hen
Song List
- Barney Theme Song
- Teddy Bear
- The More We Share Together
- Roll Over
- London Bridge
- Taking Turns
- Michael Finnegan
- Who Took The Cookies?
- Mr. Knickerbocker
- I Love You
- On the front VHS cover for the Time Life Video, the picture is from "The Treasure of Rainbow Beard", but not this episode.
- This is the first time Baby Bop appeared without her blankey.


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The Horse Forum (http://www.horseforum.com/forumindex.php)
- Jumping (http://www.horseforum.com/jumping/)
- - Where I could continue to ride and jump in London (http://www.horseforum.com/jumping/where-i-could-continue-ride-jump-137233/)
Where I could continue to ride and jump in London
Hello, everybody. I live in West Ham, East London and I'd like to find an equestrian club where I could continue my riding because I lived in Bulgaria nad I am in England 1 week. So my question is "Can you tell my a place in East London where I can ride and jump; And can I work (groom horses, feed them, etc. ) and in return this to ride? "
Thank you :-)
That is awfully specific. You may be better off posting on a more local board.
It's probably worth ringing around all the riding places and asking yourself. Many places won't let a new person just do work in exchange for riding, but after you've taken lessons for a while that might be an option.
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Image 6-450-6131 | Photo ©David Sanger | France, Paris, Souvenir postscards, Left Bank
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Eight-Hour Energy
Just beyond a decommissioned Russian submarine, Red Bull Studio Amsterdam occupies three bays of a former shipbuilding structure. The workplace was designed to reflect the energy drink's high-octane image. Employees who chug too much of the merchandise, from seven Red Bull-stocked fridges, can burn off excess energy in "The Beast," the half of the office dedicated to play. It includes an Xbox 360 connected to a giant screen made up of four LG Flatron TVs. Soccer "is by far the most popular game here," says Mariska Rijnders, whose business card reads "Defensive Line" but who is in fact assistant to the general manager. "The girls, sometimes they play their dancing games."
The work half of the space, which houses sales and marketing teams, is nicknamed "The Arena." Six offices are closed off by glass walls, including that of General Manager Jan Smilde, whose desk is built from the wing of a Red Bull–emblazoned airplane. Starting at 5:30 on Fridays, employees stop answering their phones, and take turns DJ-ing as beer and wine are served. More formal occasions call for a house favorite, Red Bull and Prosecco.


text:
Compass Group - Spartanburg, SC (22 miles from Greenville, South Carolina)
We have an opening for a full-time Chef-HRLY position. * Location: Milliken & Company, 920 Milliken Road, Spartanburg, SC 29303. Note: online applications accepted only. * Schedule: Monday through Friday...
1 day ago
Bon Appetit Management Company - Spartanburg, SC (22 miles from Greenville, South Carolina)
CHEF - HRLY (FULL-TIME)-2 Openings!! Job -Date:Feb 17, 2017 Location:SPARTANBURG, SC, US, 29303 Company:Compass Group -We have an opening for a full-timeChef-HRLYposition. -Location: Milliken & Compa...
3 days ago
Grimaldi's - Greenville, SC
Grimaldi's Pizzeria is hiring for Kitchen Prep/Salad Cooks. We recruit, hire and train exceptional, self-disciplined people who are committed to both the 'family' environment and our company. If...
30+ days ago
Top hiring companies in your area for Chef positions
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If you are interested in becoming a chef and are looking for basic information on how to make that dream a reality, read our companion article "How to Become a Chef." However, if you have already given the idea much thought and simply need a few facts regarding prices, prestige, and programs offered by some of the top culinary schools in the US, you have come to the right place.
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text:
Peanut Crunch Ice cream Topping
Total Time
Prep 2 mins
Cook 12 mins
simple fast topping
Ingredients Nutrition
- 1⁄2 cup butter
- 2 cups packed brown sugar
- 1⁄3 cup half-and-half cream
- 3⁄4 cup peanut butter
- 1⁄3 cup chopped peanuts
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Melt butter in a medium saucepot.
- Stir in the brown sugar and half and half and peanut butter.
- Stir over low heat until smooth and beginning to come to a boil.
- Stir in the peanuts and vanilla.
- Serve warm.
- Makes 2 1/2 cups topping.
Most Helpful
My DH loves peanut butter, so it was no surprise that this was his favorite of the 4 different ice cream toppings I made for a family get together. I did do one thing different: I used crunchy peanut butter instead of smooth peanut butter and then adding peanuts. It is delicious! Thank you for posting!
Oh, my!!!!! how delicious, andypandy!! Goofed and served over Chocolate ice cream for taste, YUM!!!!, not for photo-worthiness--booo hiss. Was a wonderful topping for ice cream...and will enjoy the left-overs tomorrow-again-over Chocolate ice cream...no photo this time. YUM X 2!


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Sauteed Calves' Liver With Sherry And Sage
|Dry sherry
|2 Tablespoon
|Worcestershire sauce
|2 Tablespoon
|Sage/Dried sage - 1/2 teaspoon
|1 Teaspoon, chopped
|Calves liver
|8 Ounce, cut into thin strips (Two 8 Ounce Pieces)
|Olive oil
|2 Tablespoon
|Spanish onion
|1 , thinly sliced
|Plain flour
|2 Teaspoon
|Dry white wine
|3 Fluid Ounce (75 Milliliter)
|To Taste
|To Taste
|Sage leaves
|1 (For Garnish)
1) In a shallow dish, combine sherry, Worcestershire sauce and sage to whisk.
2) Place the strips of calves' liver inside the bowl. Coat well.
3) Leave to marinate for about 20 minutes, by turning occasionally.
4) In a wok, add oil to heat up over moderate heat until hot but not smoking.
5) Stir-fry onion slices for 5 minutes until tender.
6) With a slotted spoon, remove the onion slices to place aside.
7) Place the strips of calves' liver in the wok. Stir-fry over medium heat for 1-2 minutes until browned on all sides.
8) With a slotted spoon, transfer the liver into a plate. Place aside.
9) In the wok, sprinkle flour to stir-fry until golden brown.
10) Slowly stir in wine and any marinade from the liver.
11) Increase heat to high and bring the liquid to boil.
12) Return the liver and simmer the sauce for 2-3 minutes by reducing heat until tender.
13) Place the onions inside the wok.
14) Season with salt and pepper according to taste.
15) Toss all ingredients together, by increasing the heat to high.
16) Sprinkle with fresh sage leaves and immediately serve.
Recipe Summary
Rate It
Nutrition Rank
Nutrition Facts
Serving size
Calories 217 Calories from Fat 112
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 13 g19.4%
Saturated Fat 1.1 g5.3%
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 0 mg
Sodium 225.3 mg9.4%
Total Carbohydrates 8 g2.7%
Dietary Fiber 0.66 g2.6%
Sugars 2.4 g
Protein 13 g25.9%
Vitamin A 1.2% Vitamin C 6.4%
Calcium 1.9% Iron 3.3%
*Based on a 2000 Calorie diet


text:
Each time the news comes on I hear Labour's Megan Woods talking about how one in four young people is unemployed. The "crisis". The "tragedy".
Yes. Officially they are 'unemployed'. But when you look a little closer two thirds of them are 'in education'. Only 9 percent of all 15-19 year-olds are not in employment, education or training.
That's a picture a little less bleak.
(This tends to also give weight to my earlier suggestion that more young
people are being supported by a student allowance instead of the dole
hence the low numbers on unemployment benefit.)
Part of my problem with Woods' remonstrations is that young people (and others) begin to believe there are no jobs for them. That they have an excuse not to look. Even I found myself saying to job-seeking son, "It's tough out there right now", trying to be realistic and ward off a sense of personal failure if he couldn't find work. At the same time I was telling him that prospective employers would appreciate him asking for a job, being proactive and they did.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Two thirds of youth 'unemployed' are 'in education'
Posted by Lindsay Mitchell at 1:52 PM
2 comments:
Those bleak stats also makes us look like the UK in terms of youth unemployment. Glad you've corrected the misinformation.
Congratulations to your son.
- Lindsay Mitchell said...
Thank you S. Beast. Just a bit worried that it happened too quickly for him!
I'd like my children to be empathetic to the experience of others.
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Distorted Visions of Buddhism: Agnostic and Atheist
By B. Alan Wallace
As Buddhism has encountered modernity, it runs against widespread prejudices, both religious and anti-religious, and it is common for all those with such biases to misrepresent Buddhism, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reputable scholars of Buddhism, both traditional and modern, all agree that the historical Buddha taught a view of karma and rebirth that was quite different from the previous takes on these ideas. Moreover, his teachings on the nature and origins of suffering as well as liberation are couched entirely within the framework of rebirth. Liberation is precisely freedom from the round of birth and death that is samsara. But for many contemporary people drawn to Buddhism, the teachings on karma and rebirth don't sit well, so they are faced with a dilemma. A legitimate option simply is adopt those theories and practices from various Buddhist traditions that one finds compelling and beneficial and set the others aside. An illegitimate option is to reinvent the Buddha and his teachings based on one's own prejudices. This, unfortunately, is the route followed by Stephen Batchelor and other like-minded people who are intent on reshaping the Buddha in their own images.
The back cover of Batchelor's most recent book, entitled Confession of a Buddhist Atheist, describes his work as "a stunning and groundbreaking recovery of the historical Buddha and his message." One way for this to be true, would be that his book is based on a recent discovery of ancient Buddhist manuscripts, comparable to the Dead Sea Scrolls or the Nag Hammadi library for Christianity. But it is not. Another way is for his claims to be based on unprecedented historical research by a highly accomplished scholar of ancient Indian languages and history. But no such professional research or scholarship is in evidence in this book. Instead, his claims about the historical Buddha and his teachings are almost entirely speculative, as he takes another stab at recreating Buddhism to conform to his current views.
To get a clear picture of Batchelor's agnostic-turned-atheist approach to Buddhism, there is no need to look further than his earlier work, Buddhism without Beliefs. Claiming to embrace Thomas Huxley's definition of agnosticism as the method of following reason as far as it will take one, he admonishes his readers, "Do not pretend that conclusions are certain which are not demonstrated or demonstrable."1 He then proceeds to explain who the Buddha really was and what he really taught, often in direct opposition to the teachings attributed to the Buddha by all schools of Buddhism. If in this he is following Huxley's dictum, this would imply that Batchelor has achieved at least the ability to see directly into the past, if not complete omniscience itself.
Some may believe that the liberties Batchelor takes in redefining the Buddha's teachings are justified since no one knows what he really taught, so one person's opinion is as good as another's. This view ignores the fact that generations of traditional Buddhists, beginning with the first Buddhist council shortly following the Buddha's death, have reverently taken the utmost care to accurately preserve his teachings. Moreover, modern secular Buddhist scholarship also has applied its formidable literary, historical, and archeological skills to trying to determine the teachings of the Buddha. Despite the many important differences among Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana schools of Buddhism, traditional Buddhists of all schools recognize the Pali suttas as being the most uncontested records of the Buddha's teachings.
In the face of such consensus by professional scholars and contemplatives throughout history, it is simply an expression of arrogance to override their conclusions simply due to one's own preferences or "intuition" (which is often thinly disguised prejudice). To ignore the most compelling evidence of what the Buddha taught and to replace that by assertions that run counter to such evidence is indefensible. And when those secular, atheistic assertions just happen to correspond to the materialistic assumptions of modernity, it is simply ridiculous to attribute them to the historical Buddha.
For example, contrary to all the historical evidence, Batchelor writes that the Buddha "did not claim to have had experience that granted him privileged, esoteric knowledge of how the universe ticks." To cite just two of innumerable statements in the Pali canon pertaining to the scope of the Buddha's knowledge: "Whatever in this world – with its devas, maras, and brahmas, its generations complete with contemplatives and priests, princes and men – is seen, heard, sensed, cognized, attained, sought after, pondered by the intellect, that has been fully awakened to by the Tathagata. Thus he is called the Tathagata."2 In a similar vein, we read, "the world and its arising are fully known by a Tathagata and he is released from both; he also knows the ending of it and the way thereto. He speaks as he does; he is unconquered in the world."3
Batchelor brings to his understanding of Buddhism a strong antipathy toward religion and religious institutions, and this bias pervades all his recent writings. Rather than simply rejecting elements of the Buddha's teachings that strike him as religious – which would be perfectly legitimate – Batchelor takes the illegitimate step of denying that the Buddha ever taught anything that would be deemed religious by contemporary western standards, claiming, that "There is nothing particularly religious or spiritual about this path." Rather, the Buddha's teachings were a form of "existential, therapeutic, and liberating agnosticism" that was "refracted through the symbols, metaphors, and imagery of his world."4 Being an agnostic himself, Batchelor overrides the massive amount of textual evidence that the Buddha was anything but an agnostic, and recreates the Buddha in his own image, promoting exactly what Batchelor himself believes in, namely, a form of existential, therapeutic, and liberating agnosticism.
Since Batchelor dismisses all talk of rebirth as a waste of time, he projects this view onto his image of the Buddha, declaring that he regarded "speculation about future and past lives to be just another distraction." This claim flies in the face of the countless times the Buddha spoke of the immense importance of rebirth and karma, which lie at the core of his teachings as they are recorded in Pali suttas. Batchelor is one of many Zen teachers nowadays who regard future and past lives as a mere distraction. But in adopting this attitude, they go against the teachings of Dogen Zenji, founder of the Soto school of Zen, who addressed the importance of the teachings on rebirth and karma in his principal anthology, Treasury of the Eye of the True Dharma (Shobogenzo). In his book Deep Faith in Cause and Effect (Jinshin inga), he criticizes Zen masters who deny karma, and in Karma of the Three Times (Sanji go), he goes into more detail on this matter.5
As to the source of Buddhist teachings on rebirth, Batchelor speculates, "In accepting the idea of rebirth, the Buddha reflected the worldview of his time." In the Kalama Sutta, the Buddha counsels others not to accept beliefs simply because many people adhere to them, or because they accord with a tradition, rumor, scripture, or speculation. So Batchelor, in effect, accuses the Buddha of not following his own advice! In reality, the Buddha's detailed accounts of rebirth and karma differed significantly from other Indian thinkers' views on these subjects; and given the wide range of philosophical views during his era, there was no uniformly accepted "worldview of his time."
Rather than adopting this idea from mere hearsay, the Buddhadeclared that in the first watch of the night of his enlightenment, after purifying his mind with the achievement of samadhi, he gained "direct knowledge" of the specific details of many thousands of his own past lifetimes throughout the course of many eons of cosmic contraction and expansion. In the second watch of the night, he observed the multiple rebirths of countless other sentient beings, observing the consequences of their wholesome and unwholesome deeds from one life to the next. During the third watch of the night he gained direct knowledge of the Four Noble Truths, revealing the causes of gaining liberation from this cycle of rebirth.6 While there is ample evidence that the Buddha claimed to have direct knowledge of rebirth, there is no textual or historical evidence that he simply adopted some pre-existing view, which would have been antithetical to his entire approach of not accepting theories simply because they are commonly accepted. There would be nothing wrong if Batchelor simply rejected the authenticity of the Buddha's enlightenment and the core of his teachings, but instead he rejects the most reliable accounts of the Buddha's vision and replaces it with his own, while then projecting it on the Buddha that exists only in his imagination.
Perhaps the most important issue secularists ignore regarding the teachings attributed to the Buddha is that there are contemplative methods – practiced by many generations of ardent seekers of truth – for putting many, if not all, these teachings to the test of experience. Specifically, Buddhist assertions concerning the continuity of individual consciousness after death and rebirth can be explored through the practice of samadhi, probing beyond the coarse dimension of consciousness that is contingent upon the brain to a subtler continuum of awareness that allegedly carries on from one lifetime to the next.7 Such samadhi training does not require prior belief in reincarnation, but it does call for great determination and zeal in refining one's attention skills. Such full-time, rigorous training may require months or even years of disciplined effort, and this is where the Buddhist science of the mind really gets launched. If one is content with one's own dogmatic, materialist assertions – content to accept the uncorroborated assumption that all states of consciousness are produced by the brain – then one is bound to remain ignorant about the origins and nature of consciousness. But if one is determined to progress from a state of agnosticism – not knowing what happens at death – to direct knowledge of the deeper dimensions of consciousness, then Buddhism provides multiple avenues of experiential discovery. Many may welcome this as a refreshing alternative to the blind acceptance of materialist assumptions about consciousness that do not lend themselves to either confirmation or repudiation through experience.
Batchelor concludes that since different Buddhist schools vary in their interpretations of the Buddha's teachings in response to the questions of the nature of that which is reborn and how this process occurs, all their views are based on nothing more than speculation.8 Scientists in all fields of inquiry commonly differ in their interpretations of empirical findings, so if this fact invalidates Buddhist teachings, it should equally invalidate scientific findings as well. While in his view Buddhism started out as agnostic, it "has tended to lose its agnostic dimension through becoming institutionalized as a religion (i.e., a revealed belief system valid for all time, controlled by an elite body of priests)."9 Since there is no evidence that Buddhism was ever agnostic, any assertions about how it lost this status are nothing but groundless speculations, driven by the philosophical bias that he brings to Buddhism.
As an agnostic Buddhist, Batchelor does not regard the Buddha's teachings as a source of answers to questions of where we came from, where we are going, or what happens after death, regardless of the extensive teachings attributed to the Buddha regarding each of these issues. Rather, he advises Buddhists to seek such knowledge in what he deems the appropriate domains: astrophysics, evolutionary biology, neuroscience, and so on. With this advice, he reveals that he is a devout member of the congregation of Thomas Huxley's Church Scientific, taking refuge in science as the one true way to answer all the deepest questions concerning human nature and the universe at large. Ironically, a rapidly growing number of open-minded cognitive scientists are seeking to collaborate with Buddhist contemplatives in the multi-disciplinary, cross-cultural study of the mind. Buddhist and scientific methods of inquiry have their strengths and limitations, and many who are eager to find answers to questions of where we came from, where we are going, or what happens after death recognize that Buddhism has much to offer in this regard. Batchelor's stance, on the contrary, fails to note the limitations of modern science and the strengths of Buddhism regarding such questions, so the current of history is bound to leave him behind.
Having identified himself as an agnostic follower of Huxley, Batchelor then proceeds to make one declaration after another about the limits of human consciousness and the ultimate nature of human existence and the universe at large, as if he were the most accomplished of gnostics. A central feature of Buddhist meditation is the cultivation of samadhi, by which the attentional imbalances of restlessness and lethargy are gradually overcome through rigorous, sustained training. But in reference to the vacillation of the mind from restlessness to lethargy, Batchelor responds, "No amount of meditative expertise from the mystical East will solve this problem, because such restlessness and lethargy are not mere mental or physical lapses but reflexes of an existential condition."10 Contemplative adepts from multiple traditions, including Hinduism and Buddhism have been disproving this claim for thousands of years, and it is now being refuted by modern scientific research.11 But Batchelor is so convinced of his own preconceptions regarding the limitations of the human mind and of meditation that he ignores all evidence to the contrary.
While there are countless references in the discourses of the Buddha referring to the realization of emptiness, Batchelor claims, "Emptiness…is not something we 'realize' in a moment of mystical insight that 'breaks through' to a transcendent reality concealed behind yet mysteriously underpinning the empirical world." He adds, "we can no more step out of language and imagination than we can step out of our bodies."12 Buddhist contemplatives throughout history have reportedly experienced states of consciousness that transcend language and concepts as a result of their practice of insight meditation. But Batchelor describes such practice as entailing instead a state of perplexity in which one is overcome by "awe, wonder, incomprehension, shock," during which not "just the mind but the entire organism feels perplexed."13
Batchelor's account of meditation describes the experiences of those who have failed to calm the restlessness and lethargy of their own minds through the practice of samadhi, and failed to realize emptiness or transcend language and concepts through the practice of vipashyana. Instead of acknowledging these as failures, he heralds them as triumphs and, without a shred of supportive evidence, attributes them to a Buddhism that exists nowhere but in his imagination.
Although Batchelor declared himself to be an agnostic, such proclamations about the true teachings of the Buddha and about the nature of the human mind, the universe, and ultimate reality all suggest that he has assumed for himself the role of a gnostic of the highest order. Rather than presenting Buddhism without beliefs, his version is saturated with his own beliefs, many of them based upon nothing more than his own imagination. Batchelor's so-called agnosticism is utterly paradoxical. On the one hand, he rejects a multitude of Buddhist beliefs based upon the most reliable textual sources, while at the same time confidently making one claim after another without ever supporting them with demonstrable evidence.
In Batchelor's most recent book,14 he refers to himself as an atheist, more so than as an agnostic, and when I asked him whether he still holds the above views expressed in his book published thirteen years ago, he replied that he no longer regards the Buddha's teachings as agnostic, but as pragmatic.15 It should come as no surprise that as he shifted his own self-image from that of an agnostic to an atheist, the image he projects of the Buddha shifts accordingly. In short, his views on the nature of the Buddha and his teachings are far more a reflection of himself and his own views than they are of any of the most reliable historical accounts of the life and teachings of the Buddha.
In his move from agnosticism to atheism, Batchelor moves closer to the position of Sam Harris, who is devoted to the ideal of science destroying religion. In his book Letter to a Christian Nation, Harris proclaims that the problem with religion is the problem of dogma, in contrast to atheism, which he says "is not a philosophy; it is not even a view of the world; it is simply an admission of the obvious."16 This, of course, is the attitude of all dogmatists: they are so certain of their beliefs that they regard anyone who disagrees with them as being so stupid or ignorant that they can't recognize the obvious.17
In his article "Killing the Buddha" Harris shares his advice with the Buddhist community, like Batchelor asserting, "The wisdom of the Buddha is currently trapped within the religion of Buddhism," and he goes further in declaring that "merely being a self-described "Buddhist" is to be complicit in the world's violence and ignorance to an unacceptable degree." By the same logic, Harris, as a self-avowed atheist, must be complicit in the monstrous violence of communist regimes throughout Asia who, based on atheistic dogma, sought to destroy all religions and murder their followers. While Harris has recently distanced himself from the label "atheist," he still insists that religious faith may be the most destructive force in the world. It is far more reasonable, however, to assert that greed, hatred, and delusion are the most destructive forces in human nature; and theists, atheists, and agnostics are all equally prone to these mental afflictions.
Harris not only claims to have what is tantamount to a kind of gnostic insight into the true teachings of the Buddha, he also claims to know what most Buddhists do and do not realize: "If the methodology of Buddhism (ethical precepts and meditation) uncovers genuine truths about the mind and the phenomenal world – truths like emptiness, selflessness, and impermanence – these truths are not in the least 'Buddhist.' No doubt, most serious practitioners of meditation realize this, but most Buddhists do not."18 In the wake of the unspeakable tragedy of communist regimes' attempts to annihilate Buddhism from the face of the earth, it comes as an unexpected blow when individuals who have been instructed by Buddhist teachers and profess sympathy for Buddhism seem intent on completing what the communists have left undone.
The current domination of science, education, and the secular media by scientific materialism has cast doubt on many of the theories and practices of the world's religions. This situation is not without historical precedent. In the time of the Weimar Republic, Hitler offered what appeared to be a vital secular faith in place of the discredited creeds of religion, Lenin and Stalin did the same in the Soviet Union, and Mao Zedong followed suit in China. Hugh Heclo, former professor of government at Harvard University, writes of this trend, "If traditional religion is absent from the public arena, secular religions are unlikely to satisfy man's quest for meaning. … It was an atheistic faith in man as creator of his own grandeur that lay at the heart of Communism, fascism and all the horrors they unleashed for the twentieth century. And it was adherents of traditional religions – Martin Niemöller, C.S. Lewis, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Reinhold Niebuhr, Martin Buber – who often warned most clearly of the tragedy to come from attempting to build man's own version of the New Jerusalem on Earth."19
While Batchelor focuses on replacing the historical teachings of the Buddha with his own secularized vision and Harris rails at the suffering inflicted upon humanity by religious dogmatists, both tend to overlook the fact that Hitler, Stalin, and Mao Zedong caused more bloodshed, justified by their secular ideologies, than all the religious wars that preceded them throughout human history.
I am not suggesting that Batchelor or Harris, who are both decent, well-intentioned men, are in any way similar to Hitler, Stalin, or Mao Zedong. But I am suggesting that Batchelor's misrepresentation of Buddhism parallels that of Chinese communist anti-Buddhist propaganda; and the Buddhist holocaust inflicted by multiple communist regimes throughout Asia during the twentieth century were based upon and justified by propaganda virtually identical to Harris's vitriolic, anti-religious polemics.
The Theravada Buddhist commentator Buddhaghosa refers to "far enemies" and "near enemies" of certain virtues, namely, loving-kindness, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity. The far enemies of each of these virtues are vices that are diametrically opposed to their corresponding virtues, and the near enemies are false facsimiles. The far enemy of loving-kindness, for instance, is malice, and that of compassion is cruelty. The near enemy of loving-kindness is self-centered attachment, and that of compassion is grief, or despair.20 To draw a parallel, communist regimes that are bent on destroying Buddhism from the face of the earth may be called the far enemies of Buddhism, for they are diametrically opposed to all that Buddhism stands for. Batchelor and Harris, on the other hand, present themselves as being sympathetic to Buddhism, but their visions of the nature of the Buddha's teachings are false facsimiles of all those that have been handed down reverently from one generation to the next since the time of the Buddha. However benign their intentions, their writings may be regarded as "near enemies" of Buddhism.
The popularity of the writings of Batchelor, Harris, and other atheists such as Richard Dawkins – both within the scientific community and the public at large – shows they are far from alone in terms of their utter disillusionment with traditional religions. Modern science, as conceived by Galileo, originated out of a love for God the Father and a wish to know the mind of their benevolent, omnipotent Creator by way of knowing His creation. As long as science and Christianity seemed compatible, religious followers of science could retain what psychologists call a sense of "secure attachment" regarding both science and religion. But particularly with Darwin's discovery of evolution by natural selection and the militant rise of the Church Scientific, for many, the secure attachment toward religion has mutated into a kind of dismissive avoidance.
Children with avoidant attachment styles tend to avoid parents and caregivers – no longer seeking comfort or contact with them – and this becomes especially pronounced after a period of absence. People today who embrace science, together with the metaphysical beliefs of scientific materialism turn away from traditional religious beliefs and institutions, no longer seeking comfort or contact with them; and those who embrace religion and refuse to be indoctrinated by materialistic biases commonly lose interest in science. This trend is viewed with great perplexity and dismay by the scientific community, many of whom are convinced that they are uniquely objective, unbiased, and free of beliefs that are unsupported by empirical evidence.
Thomas Huxley's ideal of the beliefs and institution of the Church Scientific achieving "domination over the whole realm of the intellect" is being promoted by agnostics and atheists like Batchelor and Harris. But if we are ever to encounter the Buddhist vision of reality, we must first set aside all our philosophical biases, whether they are theistic, agnostic, atheist, or otherwise. Then, through critical, disciplined study of the most reliable sources of the Buddha's teachings, guided by qualified spiritual friends and teachers, followed by rigorous, sustained practice, we may encounter the Buddhist vision of reality. And with this encounter with our own true nature, we may realize freedom through our own experience. That is the end of agnosticism, for we come to know reality as it is, and the truth will set us free.
B. Alan Wallace is an American author, translator, teacher, researcher, interpreter, and Buddhist practitioner interested in the intersections of consciousness studies and scientific disciplines such as psychology, cognitive neuroscience and physics.
To read Nancy Patton's review of Confession of a Buddhist Atheist, please visit this issue's Editor's Choice.
Read Stephen Batchelor's response to Wallace in "An Open Letter To B. Alan Wallace."
Stephen Schettini offers his perspective on the exchange between Wallace and Batechelor in "An Old Story of Faith and Doubt: Reminiscences of Alan Wallace and Stephen Batchelor."
1. Stephen Batchelor, Buddhism without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening. (New York: Riverhead Books, 1997), 17-18.
4. Stephen Batchelor, Buddhism without Beliefs, 10, 15.
5. Yuho Yokoi, Zen Master Dogen: An Introduction with Selected Writings (New York: Weatherhill, 1976).
6. Majjhima Nikāya 36: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/buddha.html
7. Buddhaghosa, The Path of Purification, trans. Ñāṇamoli Bhikkhu (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1979), XIII 13-120; B. Alan Wallace, Mind in the Balance: Meditation in Science, Buddhism, and Christianity (New York: Columbia University Press, 2009), 115 – 118.
8. Stephen Batchelor, Buddhism without Beliefs, 35-36.
11. Progress in this regard can be read by following the series of scientific papers on the "Shamatha Project" on the website of the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies: http://sbinstitute.com/. Other studies have been cited elsewhere in this volume.
12. Stephen Batchelor, Buddhism without Beliefs, 39.
14. Stephen Batchelor, Confession of a Buddhist Atheist (New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2010).
15. Personal correspondence, July 6, 2010.
16. Sam Harris, Letter to a Christian Nation (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006), 51.
17. Cf. B. Alan Wallace, "Religion and Reason: A Review of Sam Harris's Letter to a Christian Nation." In Shambhala Sun, October/November 2006: 99-104.
18. Sam Harris, "Killing the Buddha" In Shambhala Sun, March 2006, 73-75.
19. Hugh Heclo, "Religion and Public Policy," Journal of Policy History, Vol. 13, No.1, 2001, 14.
20. Buddhaghosa, The Path of Purification, trans. Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1979) IX: B. Alan Wallace, The Four Immeasurables: Cultivating a Boundless Heart (Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2004).
- Tagged: b. alan wallace, mandala, stephen batchelor
- 18
There are 18 comments so far
Thank you for your detailed and knowledgeable critique of Stephen Batchelor's views.
Great article. Thank you very much!
Belief in non-existence of past lives is just that – a belief.
Past Lives – Science & Documentation – Videos
Text by His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Buddhist science
While I don't agree with Stephen Batchelor's views, they are, after all, just views. For Mr. Wallace to criticize those views would have been fine but Mr. Wallace continues spends more of his time criticizing atheists, drumming-up Hitler and Mao, and suddenly it is the necks of both Buddhists and atheists that are on the cutting blade.
Mr. Wallace is unfair in his characterization of Harris and several other scholar atheists, and Mao and Hitler are not representative of the atheist mind-set, and it is an insult to myself and other atheists to be compared to any of those villains.
I question Mr. Wallace's need to drag atheists into this discussion, however, it soon becomes apparent that he has a special place reserved at his table for atheists, especially Sam Harris, whom he sees as a man "devoted to the ideal of science destroying religion ". Having read Letter to a Christian Nation and The End of Faith, I can assure readers that Harris is in no way devoted to any such endeavor. The man is simply brilliant and brings levity in a world that continues to suffer as a result of religion.
Though Mr. Wallace tries to make a point about the errors of Hitler and Mao, and the collective suffering they have caused, I wonder if Mr. Wallace knows that Hitler was not an atheist but a Roman Catholic, and that Mao was a Communist? It would be troubling if a man of Mr. Wallace's education still saw atheists as Maoists.
Hitler's came to power after centuries of a generalized hatred of the Jews. That hatred, unfortunately, culminated in Germany, decades prior Hitler's rise to power. The real story is not one many of us want to examine; it was the Vatican that was at the head of the vilification of Jews in Germany, and Catholic priests were encouraged to distribute anti-Jewish tracts in the churches, aimed at vilifying members of the Jewish community.
The Catholic Church and the Germany people were responsible for the atrocities that followed. Hitler himself could not have maintained the camps and fought the battles without the help of the German people. Atheists, for the most part, speak to the madness of religions, and this is one situation where madness trumped sanity.
And for those of you who believe that such atrocities are the fabric of the past, look again. In the US, powerful right-wing Evangelical groups, all closely identified with Republican Christian groups in the US, frustrated at not being able to thwart same-sex marriage laws in the US, moved across the oceans into countries like Rwanda.
In Rwanda, Christian evangelicals and Muslim groups bonded to draft laws that would give the government the right to execute gay men and women. In 2009, the evangelical President of South Korea vowed to wipe Buddhism off the face of South Korea. These are but a few examples.
I wonder if Mr. Wallace believes that we should remain silent about these incidents? Another example involves atrocities committed by the Israeli government against the Palestinians and other minorities in Israel. Fueled by their religious beliefs, the state of Israel is guilty of murdering innocent men, women, and children, simply because of the belief that their "God" set a piece of land aside for them, centuries ago—on a sort of a layaway plan, I suppose. Now, I don't know about you, but this is a ridiculous belief! Who, if not atheists, or Buddhists, is going to speak out against these atrocities? The Catholics? The Muslims? The Church of Scientology? The Mormons? I think not.
This attack of atheists is unwarranted. Most atheists I know don't believe in a God and as far as I know the Buddha did not believe in a God. If he did, I probably would not be a Buddhist. As such, someone who doesn't believe in God is an atheist. Likewise, I admit that I do not believe in the Virgin Birth of either the Virgin Mary, or Achi Drolma, the Tibetan Buddhist deity. I do however, believe in parallel universes, simply because there is some evidence of that!
If Mr. Wallace is upset that Mr. Batchelor doesn't believe in karma, then what would he think of the Japanese Soka Gakkai, a school of over 10 million, worldwide, who not only don't refute karma, but don't meditate, don't take Buddhist vows of non-violence, regularly have abortions, and eat clams, mussels, and lobster?
Fortunately, I know that there is a philosophical Buddhist teaching that expounds why there cannot be a God. That is comforting. But I rely on more than "comforting", the explanation is plausible, and it makes sense, and that is why I am a Buddhist. Strangely enough, all around the world, billions of human beings believe in a God but they deny flying saucers, even though we have thousands of sightings of the latter, and government officials from at least ten major countries have reported interaction with them!
Whatever our beliefs, whether we are Buddhists who believe in God, or flying saucers, or not, to say atheists and agnostics are individuals who are not concerned with awakening or "reality" as Mr. Wallace implies is an egregious error.
Some interesting reading. I think that aspects of both sides are correct. For example I agree with B. Allan Wallace that the Buddha did teach about Kamma and the cycle of brith and death, Samsaara, and that we must investigate the texts and develop an understanding that accounts for them, but I also agree with Batchelor that the Buddha did NOT teach RE-birth.
Due to the teaching "all conditioned things are impermanent" it is not possible for a thing to be born twice, therefore there cannot be RE-birth [brith of something again]. Punajaati [the literal translation of rebirth], was never spoken of by the Buddha. He spoke of punabbhava, which I think would best be translated as "re-becoming".
Becoming is a process, just like making a cake. The process can be repeated many times and may be the same process, but the outcome is different each time. You may make a banana cake each time, but it is not the same cake as before. Thus there we undergo rebecoming many times, but we come out different each time, each birth is different, but may have some similarities with other births.
In the first of the three knowledges the Buddha realised in his enlightenment, he spoke of many past births, but he did not speak of many past lives. The latter is an interpretation.
rajsakya5 years ago · Log in to Reply
Anekajati Samsaram
Sandhaissam anibibisam
Gahakarakam gavensanto
Dukkha jati punappunam!
You forgot this verse of Dhammapada bhante!
Just one detail:
While Communism was atheist, Fascism was not. Hitler imagined himself to work according to God's will; Mussolini started out as an atheist, during his Socialist period, but after turning Fascist he had excellent relations to the Catholic church (it was he who, together with the pope at the time, created the Vatican State). Franco, Salazar and Pinochet lived and died as Catholics.
While I agree with a lot of the analysis on Batchelor, Mr Wallace lost me around the area where he criticises Sam Harris. The quoted text:
"If the methodology of Buddhism (ethical precepts and meditation) uncovers genuine truths about the mind and the phenomenal world – truths like emptiness, selflessness, and impermanence – these truths are not in the least 'Buddhist.' No doubt, most serious practitioners of meditation realize this, but most Buddhists do not."
Rings very true to me. Quite honestly to state that Harris is attempting to destroy Buddhism here sounds a little hysterical. At least Harris has the intellectual honesty, that I miss in Batchelor's work, to not present his views as an improved approach to Buddhism. Rather he is taking what he finds useful and leaving what he doesn't.
rangdrol, I feel you might be misrepresenting Wallace's views here. He is in no way comparing all atheists to Hitler and Mao. Wallace is only pointing out that secular philosophies also have a poor track record of human rights, not just religion. I consider myself agnostic, but there is an alarming growth of militant atheism that seems to want to rid the planet of religion. I am against this as I feel there is more than one path to the top of the hill, and I know many individuals of religious faith who are lovingly-kind, compassionate, and truly remarkable human beings.
You say:
"I question Mr. Wallace's need to drag atheists into this discussion, however, it soon becomes apparent that he has a special place reserved at his table for atheists, especially Sam Harris, whom he sees as a man "devoted to the ideal of science destroying religion ". Having read Letter to a Christian Nation and The End of Faith, I can assure readers that Harris is in no way devoted to any such endeavor. The man is simply brilliant and brings levity in a world that continues to suffer as a result of religion."
By saying the "world continues to suffer as a result of religion," it very much sounds like you (and Harris) believe the solution is to get rid of religion. I think this is an oversimplification of the problem of suffering.
The world suffers because people are imperfect and misguided. It can happen to religious folks or atheists. Neither are infallible nor omniscient. Some can find meaning in their religion and be motivated to do wonderful things. Others don't need God or organized religion. Both paths can be noble.
At the same time, as I defend Wallace, I think some of Wallace's language here is a bit alienating and not-so-skillful. I agree with his concerns regarding scientific materialism, but I don't think going back to the original Buddhist texts are necessarily the best refutation. Buddha too was human and imperfect. We have learned a lot since his time and we need to modify the Dharma into a new, 21st century world view.
In Wallace's opening line "s Buddhism has encountered modernity, it runs against widespread prejudices, both religious and anti-religious, " he makes it clear that he sees atheists as the enemy; these are his own words. He later continues to deride atheists, and, furthermore, does draw the conclusion that they are synonymous with regimes that have been responsible for some of the world's most horrific atrocities.
Atheists, like myself or Steven Harris, are not trying to banish religion, that is ridiculous, but I do not agree that all religions are the same, and if you look carefully, around the world, both past and present, you will find the remnants of religious belief, and action. I simply say that Mr. Wallace is insulting to the millions of men and women out there who consider themselves humanists, humanitarians, and atheists because he would say the things he does in his articles. I would also assume that writers, of Mr. Wallace's stature, take considerable time to write and polish their essays, and in this one, he is totally off key. Again, while Rwanda and other countries consider legislation that would kill gay men and women, and the South African President wants to "wipe Buddhism off the face of the earth," I don't see religious people coming to the aid of those people. Instead, the people who are questioning these modern day atrocities are humanists and atheists.
I, for one, an atheist who does not believe in God, but who upholds and believes in the tenets of Buddhism, hope that more people will step up to the plate. It is ovious that Mr. Wallace has much disdain for "atheists" and yet, as I mentioned before, Buddhists are atheists, in as the Buddha denied the "Supreme Being" idea.
I just hope that Mr. Wallace doesn't believe—or anyone else for that matter—that Harris and others who have summed up the role of religion in the world—honestly believe that we are out to wipe out the world's religions! Instead of worrying about dogma, or the lack of it, I prefer to try to alleviate the suffering in the world, which is all around us day and night.
Some of this is interesting, but Wallace seems to have a rather jaundiced view of scientists – not all of us are dogamtic as Richard Dawkins!
In his criticism of science Wallace writes: "This trend is viewed with great perplexity and dismay by the scientific community, many of whom are convinced that they are uniquely objective, unbiased, and free… of beliefs that are unsupported by empirical evidence."
ie "many of whom" not "all of whom". I know there is a common perception that many scientists think they alone are objective, but it is not my experience. Perhaps such views are less common than earlier in science, given the rise of systems thinking, "post normal" science and post modernism. I am science adviser to the International Association of Buddhist Universities so have a strong interest in science and Buddhism. In my experience people like Dawkins (or Stephen Hawking) who completely deny God are not only very rare but so certain of their own opinion that it is very off putting.
On the whole I liked this s article – I have heard of Batchelor (and Wallace) for many years, but I have never read Batchelor. I have heard generally favourable reports about his books though. But there was one other part I wondered about: Wallace's criticism of Harris:
"Harris not only claims to have what is tantamount to a kind of gnostic insight into the true teachings of the Buddha, he also claims to know what most Buddhists do and do not realize: "If the methodology of Buddhism (ethical precepts and meditation) uncovers genuine truths about the mind and the phenomenal world – truths like emptiness, selflessness, and impermanence – these truths are not in the least 'Buddhist.' No doubt, most serious practitioners of meditation realize this, but most Buddhists do not."
Well, here I agree with Harris except that I do not know if the last few words are true ("most Buddhists do not"). I was also taught – and it is my own experience too – that the deep realisations arrived at through Buddhist practice are about reality. Worship the moon, not the finger pointing at it. Cross the ocean of samsara on the raft of Buddhism but to leave the ocean one has to leave the boat. Ramakrishna also taught that different faiths led to the same realisation.
Also, great evil can be done by atheists, but also in name of religion. Wallace seems to suggest that such evil by atheists has something to do with "scientific materialism". However Catholic Spain conquered the New World, causing millions of human deaths – this had nothing to do with science somehow undermining compassion. I think the problem is the "near and far enemies" that Wallace refers to. Science is a tool that can be used for good or ill.
I was thinking it might be helpful in this discussion to refer also to the case studies which exist, where people could remember their former live and where e.g. Prof Stevenson, a Medical Doctor, (University of Virginia) and some others carefully investigated, researched and documented such cases.
To help to bridge the doubts or struggles many Westerners seem to have with that issue, I asked the Buddhist Publication Society to grant permission for an online publication of such a case study.
Should you be interested to read such a case study or in more material of such case studies, you can read the following online article and follow the recommendations of papers or books at the end of the article:
Enjoy 😉
Who says Buddha was right about everything? Maybe he was wrong about Karma, reincarnation. If so, why would that negate the rest of the teachings, or his core insights? Neither Karma nor reincarnation (or gods) are currently provable. Why waste time debating them, or discrediting those who discount their existence. There are merits enough in the teachings that can be verified by personal experience, or as the result of scientific inquiry if you like to keep anyone busy for a dozen lifetimes (irony intended.)
Batchelor seeks the emergence of a new Buddhism, one not so reliant on unprovable legends and preposterous contentions regarding the nature of the universe.So what's wrong with that? You aren't likely to follow him down his path anyway. If he wanders into a dead end, so be it.
It is difficult enough that we all have to fumble about in the murky, subjective nature of our personal experience. I am therefore skeptical of anything that seems to require "blind faith", and question their necessity. I seek those things that are useful, helpful, verifiable. I am inclined to follow the Buddha not because of what he believed, but because what he reports he found seems worthwhile.
Stephen Batchelor has replied to this in "An Open Letter To B. Alan Wallace".
I have also written a response:
I thought that was an illuminating and interesting response to Batchelor's views. I have not read his new book, but did read his previous one, though some years ago. At the time, as someone interested in Buddhism but sceptical about all seemingly unprovable supernatural claims, it appealed to me, however I don't remember to what extent he claimed to be teaching "true" Buddhism as much as just a possible Buddhism (though it sounds like that's changed) – as I remember he stressed the emphasis on practice rather than belief in Buddhism, how the Buddha said not to just take things on faith but to test the teachings and how he refused to answer questions on certain things as being too speculative. However having somewhat more knowledge now, I agree with Mr Wallace that the Buddha did teach rebirth and said he had direct insights into his own past lives etc, also that liberation from samsara has always been the ultimate goal of Buddhism. Just because Mr Batchelor might like this not to be so doesn't give him the right to claim this is not real Buddhism.
I was however a bit disappointed that the usual suspects of Mao, Stalin and Hitler etc were brought into it; which is a staple of religious arguments against atheists. Also, as has already been mentioned, Hitler was far from being atheist and said he thought he was doing the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Also in the part where you say that while atheists often completely reject religion, religious people also often lose interest in science, you don't say if you think that's a bad thing, which surely it is? One can seek insights in religion without losing interest in what science finds out, surely? And a good scientist is not dogmatic, but accepts that current scientific views are those for which there is currently the most empirical evidence and the best-reasoned, arguments, most widely-accepted by experts in the fields, but that it is possible for them to be proved wrong in the future. They also admit there are gaps in current knowledge, plenty we don't yet know. Science couldn't work though if it operated purely on belief as some religious thought does (though I would say this is less true of Buddhism than most religions).
I agree with that it is unfortunate Sam Harris talks about wanting to get rid of Buddhism, but at the same time I agree with him that if certain aspects of Buddhism are factual truths about how the universe and human life works, then they are more than "just" Buddhist but applicable to everyone, like the different branches of science are. It is beneficial to everyone to have clear insights into reality on all its levels and practices that increase happiness and peace. I suppose ultimately what he is getting at is that all and any traditions that have the most accurate and effective teachings towards what makes a person clear-seeing and happy, then they should be adopted by humanity, without anyone necessarily having to label themselves or adopt all the cultural and traditional aspects of a certain religion.
I would like to say also that maybe contrasting Buddhism with "agnosticism" or "atheism" gets a bit confusing, as these words refer to belief in a god, which is not central to Buddhism. However I suppose in this context they are being used to refer to belief in any matters not currently accepted by mainstream science, such as rebirth.
Also, re. Stalin etc. these people didn't commit atrocities in the name of atheism, scepticism or science, but in the name of their own ideologies.
Reflecting again on Harris's views on Buddhism – in his book he says Muslims invented algebra, Christians invented physics and we don't say Muslim algebra or Christian physics etc so if eg. Buddhist meditation is found to be very useful and effective (regardless of beliefs) it should just be called mediation — on the other hand, if you think about it, we DO still say Euclidian geometry, Einstein's theory of relativity, Darwinian evolution, Newtonian physics etc. So maybe we simply need an alternative term, such as Buddhic meditation, that ascribes origin but does not necessarily imply the person employing it has to see themselves as a follower of a person and body of traditions.
I think we're all aware of the quasi-theistic or panentheistic aspects of Buddhism — if we're to pare the scope of the discussion down to the Core Pali Canon – the Tipitakka – we are still confronted with halos, levitation, and reincarnations (never mind the syncretism in S. Asia & the incursion by the Kitchen God & the Jade Emperor in Mahayana, the 5KY Buddha (Meitreya) & the Pure Land…).
What I feel Wallace is overlooking is the rich tradition of syncretic variants of Buddhism within the Big Tent. Why not wax philippic against the Nichiren Buddhists? Zen thinking has ranged far and wide beyond the Tipitaka, borrowing from Nagarjuna & Lao Tze with almost breathtaking abandon.
All this makes Batchelor's crimes against canon seem almost trivial, really. But Wallace beats on Batchelor like SB is a truant sophomore (ignoring the fact that Batchelor dwelled monastically in both the Vajrayana & Son (Zen) Sangha for extensive periods).
Taking sides: I might take issue with some of the license of an errant cleric, but I'll take that any day over a didactic & unregenerate pedagogue!
Batchelor has since written yet more on his view of the Sangha & a reformed Dharma, and there's a great deal of nuance. I get no sense of nuance from Wallace's screed from the onset, and the tone is just plain disparaging. And although I feel Wallace has grasped low-hanging fruit in his assault on Batchelor, I also do feel that Batchelor's approach could use more nuance as well.
I personally feel more comfortable with an agnostic interpretation of the Tipitaka, keeping all the colorful mythic elements intact. The effort has worked in Christian agnosticism: Lay bare the internal inconsistencies, explain the intent of a secularized Dharma as well as Dharmic protestantism and reform (Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand).
In my own variation from Batchelor's approach, I argue the brief for *rehabilitating* Karma & Nirvana, not dispensing with them. Other than those two things (which are not trifling points, but are unnecessary sideshows) I'm largely in alignment with Batchelor, as I am with the broader Non-dual & Mindfulness movement.
Whatever B. Alan Wallace's motivation was in writing his little philippic, I read this rant as boiling down to this: Literalists continue to get free rein over interpretation of a religious tradition, and the new wave can just go bugger off.
I'm not sure what kind of Humanist tradition Wallace is endorsing here if humanism can't inform the continued adoption & interpretation of religious traditions.
Are we supposed to lock Buddhism away behind a glass cabinet as it had been in Sri Lanka for centuries? Any chance for reinterpretation in any tradition, or is it the literalists who get to dictate the ultimate taboos in defense of static & unchanging traditions?
The whole feud is just weird, and whatever the hell Mandala Mag thought they were doing letting Wallace air grievances so inarticulately, with such desultory & personal vehemence, goes beyond my ability to imagine editorial discretion.
If we're going to publicly articulate a dialectic, can't we do it without rancor? Or is that beyond the ability of Buddhist scholars, to evince nuance & equanimity? Really, Wallace needs to have his head examined, and so does the editorial staff at Mandala.
joybringer3 years ago · Log in to Reply
I for one found this an interesting and insightful article in the main.
As a dharma teacher, I find it amazing that the guise of Western religious imperialism once again attempts to rear its nefarious head, this time, in the heart of Buddhism itself.
I feel that Batchelor and his ardent followers would obtain a more open and honest dialogue if they would just come out and state their unspoken subtext or semiotic message, which is, "we wise and knowing westerners are going to show these ignorant primitive folks the real truth about their religion."
No one it appears wants to discuss Buddhism, class and race but it is clear even to the most casual of observers that for Batchelor and his followers this is a real issue or the true subtext to their argument. This is fine; just don't obscure this reality behind a host of pseudo-scientific obfuscations and suspect methodologies. In my opinion dualist, materialistic and even subtle racialist thinking undergirds Batchelor and much of his entire critique. Why they claim that even the Buddha was "trapped" by the primitive vagrancies of his time!
Not content to be practitioners, Batchelor and his followers have magically located the "Holy Grail" of truth by which luck or coincidence leaves "them" (not the other) on "top" as the true guardians of the Buddha's insights. Batchelor thereby reserves for himself as being the final source as to what the Buddha means or meant. Why Batchelor and his followers may even have more insight than the Buddha himself as one commentator and defender of Batchelor implicitly implied.
As you can see from my comment above I have some real concerns with Batchelor's approach. However at the end of the day as a Buddhist practitioner, for me, this is a wonderful opportunity to see my oneness with Batchelor. This is a chance at practice, to look deeply into my own heart and mind; and to find ways to bring real compassion and healing to Batchelor as well as to myself. Race and ethnic bias isn't a disease but an opportunity for us each to examine the greed, anger and ignorance that resides in our own hearts.
I truly hope that I get the chance to practice and learn from Batchelor in person an obviously great Dharma Teacher.
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There is no samsaric pleasure that is new, so let go of the clinging that creates samsara.
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text:
Toxoplasma gondii, a member of the Apicomplexa, is a ubiquitous parasite of mammals. The predilection of this protozoan for the central nervous system causing necrotizing encephalitis constitutes its major presentation in patients with HIV infection. Because it can be transmitted by food or water T. gondii is classified as a category B NIH priority pathogen. During initial infection the rapidly proliferating tachyzoite stage of T. gondii differentiates into the slowly replicating bradyzoite stage that remain latent within tissue cysts for the life of the host;however reactivation of this latent infection can result in disease such chorioretintiis or encephalitis. Several lines of evidence suggest that bradyzoite differentiation is stress mediated and that the cyst wall (a modified parasitophorous vacuole membrane) contains many stage specific proteins and glycoproteins. In the present proposal, studies will be focused on the characterization of the components of the cyst wall. The components of the cyst wall will be characterized using a combination of proteomic, immunologic and genetic approaches taking advantage of techniques we have developed for purification of the T. gondii cyst wall. We have already identified several cyst wall specific proteins that have mucin type domains. Other investigators have previously noted that o-glycosylation occurs in T. gondii and is probably involved in differentiation. We will, therefore, also examine the role of o-glycosylation and mucin type linkages in the development of the cyst wall using biochemical and genetic approaches. Overall these studies will both elucidate the composition of the cyst wall and the glycoproteome of T. gondii providing reagents and insights that should prove useful in understanding the biology and organization of this critical structure. Understanding this structure is important for the development of new strategies to eliminate latent infection and prevent reactivation toxoplasmosis.
Toxoplasma gondii is a food and water borne pathogenic organism, an opportunistic infection in AIDS patients and a cause of congenital infection. The cyst wall is a key structure in the pathogenesis of this infection permitting transmission and reactivation. Investigations on the formation of this structure should help define new approaches to control of this pathogenic protozoan. Toxoplasma gondii is a parasite of humans that causes infections resulting in damage to the nervous system. This is due to its ability to form tissue cysts within host cells. The tissue cyst wall is critical for the survival of this organism and its ability to cause latent infection. Many studies, including those from our laboratory group, have suggested that glycoproteins are involved in this process and in the formation of the cyst wall. This proposal will characterize the composition of the cyst wall and its associated glycoproteins. .
|Croken, Matthew McKnight; Ma, Yanfen; Markillie, Lye Meng et al. (2014) Distinct strains of Toxoplasma gondii feature divergent transcriptomes regardless of developmental stage. PLoS One 9:e111297
|Fleitz, Antoine; Nieves, Edward; Madrid-Aliste, Carlos et al. (2013) Enhanced detection of multiply phosphorylated peptides and identification of their sites of modification. Anal Chem 85:8566-76
|Weiss, Louis M; Cushion, Melanie T; Didier, Elizabeth et al. (2013) The 12th International Workshops on Opportunistic Protists (IWOP-12). J Eukaryot Microbiol 60:298-308
|Saffra, Norman A; Seidman, Carly J; Weiss, Louis M (2013) Ocular Toxoplasmosis: Controversies in Primary and Secondary Prevention. J Neuroinfect Dis 4:
|Radke, Joshua B; Lucas, Olivier; De Silva, Erandi K et al. (2013) ApiAP2 transcription factor restricts development of the Toxoplasma tissue cyst. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 110:6871-6
|Halonen, Sandra K; Weiss, Louis M (2013) Toxoplasmosis. Handb Clin Neurol 114:125-45
|Bhadra, Rajarshi; Cobb, Dustin A; Weiss, Louis M et al. (2013) Psychiatric disorders in toxoplasma seropositive patients--the CD8 connection. Schizophr Bull 39:485-9
|Suvorova, Elena S; Croken, Matthew; Kratzer, Stella et al. (2013) Discovery of a splicing regulator required for cell cycle progression. PLoS Genet 9:e1003305
|Nardelli, Sheila C; Che, Fa-Yun; Silmon de Monerri, Natalie C et al. (2013) The histone code of Toxoplasma gondii comprises conserved and unique posttranslational modifications. MBio 4:e00922-13


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Has anyone had a good growth rate from a TC of H. 'Praying Hands' or from
the O.S. of the same plant?
"Twas brillig, and the slithy toves did gyre and wimble in the wabe; and
mimsy were the borogoves." C.L. Dodgson
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Zuzanna Szwed
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Zuzanna Szwed (born July 19 1977 in Warsaw, Poland) is a Polish retired figure skater. She competed in the 1992 Winter Olympics and is a multiple Polish national champion.
After turning pro, she began coaching at the Detroit Skating Club in Detroit, Michigan. She married Aaron Parchem in July, 2004. In addition to coaching, she also works as a Choreographer.


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Busty Ela is stripping and spreading on a bean bag chair in these pics which made me realise I never had sex on a bean bag before. It seems like it would be a fun thing. Especially if the sex involved Ela and her big tits.
Pictures from: Virtua Girl
Download and play with Ela at Virtua Girl – FREE desktop strippers!
1 Comment to "Ela's Bean Bag Strip!"
March 4th, 2014 at 7:21 am
This must be some woman they picked up of the street.Because they left that scar above her tit exposed,not that I really care just saying


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Lent begins soon! Celebrate the Easter season with our free Lent & Easter devotions.
7:4 in seven days. A hundred and twenty years were needed to build the ark (6:3 and note) and one week to fill it. A Babylonian flood account imagines seven days to build a ship much bigger than Noah's and a flood lasting seven days (6:15 note).
forty. Forty is a conventional number for a long time and signals the introduction of a new age: by Noah, Moses (Ex. 24:18); Elijah (1 Kin. 19:8); Christ (Acts 1:3). The forty days are part of the 150 total days (8:4).
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