Reddit reviews Buddhism Without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening
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Great product!
It's actually a pretty good system if you strip out all the supernatural stuff like karma and reincarnation.
Stephen Batchelor wrote a book on that subject called Buddhism Without Beliefs
"life is suffering" is a pretty poor translation. The four noble truths are mentioned in several suttas - the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta probably being the most famous.
The first noble truth more literally translates as "there is dukkha" - "dukkha" in this case being the term for a chariot wheel that was out of alignment causing an uncomfortable, bumpy, unsatisfactory ride. What the Buddha was essentially trying to say is that worldly existence is predicated upon dissatisfaction and suffering. The goal was to find release (escape if you will) from the cycle of birth and death (samsara) that the prevailing Vedic spiritualties of the time taught. The second, third and fourth noble truths tell us that there is a way to do this. The eightfold path is the Buddha's prescription for doing this.
If you are interested in Buddhism from a more secular or atheistic viewpoint, Stephen Bachelor's Buddhism without Beliefs may appeal to you. Be aware though that it does skip some of the central tenets of Buddhism and verges on not really being Buddhism at all.
The other way to approach the path while avoiding the metaphysics is to focus on the mindfulness and compassion practices. With that in mind, John Kabbat Zinn's Wherever you go there you are is a worthwhile read.
You might also try the books of Pema Chodron. She has a no bullshit way of bringing Buddhism to bear on real life.
Stephen Batcher, a former Buddhist Monk who is now an atheist, has written several books about Buddhism as a non supernatural system. He May be able to help you on your journey. I enjoyed Buddhism Without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening.
"Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it." ~ The Buddha
Buddha never wrote down anything he taught, nor did he ever appoint a "successor". This was done for the explicit purpose of allowing for changes and interpretations amongst different cultures and generations. Tibet just so happen to create its own variety that is more of a political tool and religion. Buddhism at its core is completely agnostic and devoid of any supernatural or metaphysical ideas. Its merely a way to train your mind to be at peace with your present reality.
I highly recommend you do a bit of reading on the subject. Especially Stephen Bachelors book, Buddhism without Beliefs
Well, they might not be Buddhist, because Buddhism has been around long enough to develop offshoots and variants that believe stuff as wild as creationism. However, that having been said, I find the core principles of Buddhism satisfying in that they do not contradict what has been scientifically proven true about reality. Some even argue that some Buddhist notions anticipated the spooky behavior of the subatomic world.
Stephen Batchelor's Buddhism Without Beliefs may be a productive starting point for some.
You're basically trying to accrue Buddhism into something solid so that you can dismiss it. I don't agree with the Dalai Lama either, and think that most of the adherents of Buddhism tag on things that are nonsense and not worth your consideration, however...
Buddhism isn't like Christianity, you don't have to listen to every part of it, there's no danger in taking things as allegory or questioning particular parts of canon. If taken to it's dramatic extreme, misunderstanding what enlightenment actually is or getting a fact wrong because of sloppy translation or cultural assimilation would at worse mean that you're reincarnated again, assuming there's a real way to actually achieve enlightenment/prajna/satori/contentedness.
I don't believe in reincarnation, anyway. It's obviously not scientifically testable and there's a strong trend in opinion within Buddhism that thinks that metaphysical ponderances like that don't really fucking matter, and I respect that.
If you're someone who appreciates particular parts of Buddhist philosophy and enjoys the tangible potentials of things like meditation for things like stress management, you could reasonably call yourself a Buddhist. If you think that even a marginal factor of your enjoyment of life is determined by your perspective, some of these ideas are really useful.
The analogy that I'm not a Buddhist because I respect and follow some of the ideas and not others doesn't work, and the idea that you control the definition of something as fluid and widespread as modern Buddhism comes off as pretty obnoxious. It's like trying to tell a Christian that he's not a Christian because he doesn't believe that God is triune.
You could definitely hold me accountable if I believed in something like karma or reincarnation or the different realms of reality as fact and tried to scoff at the assertions of other religions, but I don't, and I know a lot of Buddhists that don't.
For more information along these lines, I recommend this
I realize that the statements in the cartoon are someone else's, but I assume your reposting of it indicates that you agree.
If you haven't read it I suggest
Buddhism Without Beliefs
Buddhism Without Beliefs by Stephen Batchelor is a good read for anyone interested in the perspective of a long-time practitioner who has become an atheist and has found Buddhism compatible with his atheism.
Buddhism Plain and Simple by Steven Hager [http://www.amazon.ca/Buddhism-Plain-Simple-Steve-Hagen/dp/0767903323].
Teachings on Love by Thich Nhat Hanh [http://www.amazon.ca/Teachings-Love-Thich-Nhat-Hanh/dp/1888375000/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420317265&sr=1-1&keywords=teachings+on+love]
Buddhism without Beliefs Paperback by Stephen Batchelor [http://www.amazon.ca/Buddhism-without-Beliefs-Stephen-Batchelor/dp/1573226564/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420317330&sr=1-1&keywords=buddhism+without+beliefs]
Here's a good book about this topic. http://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-Without-Beliefs-Contemporary-Awakening/dp/1573226564
I haven't really looked into teachers in particular, but Stephen Batchelor's books on both his path to secular Buddhism and Secular Buddhism itself are excellent reads. Here and Here
I just finished reading Buddhism Without Beliefs and overall found it to be great. He really gets into personal struggle, frustration of living, what we all internally feel but rarely (if ever) talk about, and how to find meaning and purpose in our lives, all from a Buddhist perspective and without any mention whatsoever of after life, rebirth, gods or creators. The book hit me pretty hard several times.
Another thing I loved about this book is it's very simple and draws from the teachings of the Buddha himself. It doesn't get involved in any of the later developments that Buddhism evolved into.
Be warned though, the author is a bit in love with his own words and at times the book seems to be a bit hoity toity for the sake of it. Other than that, I loved it.
The problem which Buddhism is as soon as the Buddha died, there was a power vacuum, a power struggle, and the winner declared his ideas as the new dogma.
Then a few hundred years later, people said they had knowledge the Buddha hid from most of the world because they weren't ready for it, and started their own branch which returned all the crazy metaphysics from hinduism the Buddha rejected.
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Buddhism and http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1573226564/ for more.
Religions always seems to follow similar paths, no matter who starts it, or for what reason.
Robert Wright's book "Why Buddhism is True" is a great place to start.
If you are looking for help applying the concepts to your life without the religious trappings, the ABT program is excellent.
And, if you want to dig a little deeper into Buddhism and see it from a secular point of view, Stephen Batchelor's "Buddhism Without Beliefs" is excellent.
You might find the following resources useful. Best of luck on your journey.
There is not really a single text that would be the equivalent to the bible. There are lots of different texts of Sutras (teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, the historical Buddha) and most of them do not still exist in an original translation, and can't really be traced back to him. There are lots and lots of other writings that different traditions believe, are, or are not canonical.
The most core teaching in any tradition is probably The Dharmacakra Pravartana, or the The Setting in Motion of the Wheel of Dharma Sutra.
The first sermon of the Buddha after enlightenment, containing the four noble truths.
In Mahayana, and particularly in the Chan or Zen schools, some of the most important texts are the Lotus Sutra, and the Diamond Sutra. I have no Idea if these are decent translations, just the first I found, and again, this is just my second hand knowledge from particular monks, in a particular monastery, in a particular sect of the religion.
I personalty, (as an atheist, but with some interest in the actual practice of Buddhism) would recommend Buddhism Without Beliefs. The monks did not like that book much.
I'm not a very experienced Buddhist, but I am an experienced agnostic! I started with Buddhism without Beliefs by Stephen Bachelor
http://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-Without-Beliefs-Contemporary-Awakening/dp/1573226564
I've bought it for several people too, and they've liked it.
https://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-Without-Beliefs-Contemporary-Awakening/dp/1573226564
I found this book to be very helpful and I hope that it helps you too, though it does pivot on an agnostic look at Buddhism I think it will still be useful to you. I hope this helps in some small way.
I really like Coolcrowe's explanation.
Personally I found The Myth a good starting point for approaching some of my existential problems, but it is a very slim book. The ideas raised there are dealt with in more detail and in a more practical or immediate way through Buddhism. In particular, formlessness, suffering, and peace are all central, and have been extensively studied and practiced for about two and a half thousand years...
Well worth a look at http://www.reddit.com/r/buddhism
I began my study with Stephen Batchelor's "Buddhism without Beliefs" which is an accessible and secular introduction,
http://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-Without-Beliefs-Contemporary-Awakening/dp/1573226564
As a scientist and agnostic/atheist/"pastafarian" (Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster :-) I found Buddhism useful as a down to earth, non-religious tool for philosophical and existential inquiry.
If you want a hardcore scientific examination of how it may work, the sky's the limit with Dr. James Austin's "Zen and the Brain", written by a neuroscientist and zen meditator. Be warned though, it's a massive volume (~800 pages) which includes heaps of really dry stuff on neurotransmitters and the anatomy of the brain,
http://www.amazon.com/Zen-Brain-Understanding-Meditation-Consciousness/dp/0262011646
I love studying, but you may find that cognitive understanding only takes you so far (an insight which it sounds like you've already come to by yourself) - and sometimes just causes more problems. I'd definitely recommend joining a meditation group to explore in a more immediate way what goes on inside your experience. My local Buddhist centre offers fantastic meditation drop-in classes. You may be able to find a local group on their website,
http://www.fwbo.org/contacts/addresses.html
I also recommend a couple of podcasts,
http://www.audiodharma.org/
http://www.dhammatalks.org.uk/
Have a great journey!
Stephen Batchelor, a former monk in both the Tibetan and Zen traditions, wrote Buddhism Without Beliefs, an explicit attempt to separate the baby from the cultural bathwater in Buddhism. It's been ages since I read it, but if memory serves I believe Batchelor argues that Buddhism is a matter of practice and inquiry, not belief.
The history of Buddhist art tells you a lot about cultural accretion. Found this from the Met. "In the earliest Buddhist art of India, the Buddha was not represented in human form. His presence was indicated instead by a sign, such as a pair of footprints, an empty seat, or an empty space beneath a parasol." Compare that to florid Tibetan iconography.
What's great about Buddhism is that it adapts so well to cultures it merges with, from spiritually athletic Zen to belief-based pure land to compassion-based Mahayana to insanely ritualistic Vajrayana. There are all these "skillful means" based on the varying needs of sentient beings. Why would you want to limit yourself to what the historical Buddha and his contemporaries did or believed?
Edit: You might be interested in the way Tibetan Buddhists conceptualize the various vehicles or "yanas" of Buddhism, from renunciation - the original vehicle - to great compassion to radical acceptance. There are scholarly explanations, but Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche wrote an excellent one that compares them to ways of being in a cinema. Here
Whatever you choose for her just make it simple and uncomplicated.
Some will try to sell you on whatever-high-master they find is good for themselves.
That isn't what you mom really needs right now. She truly wants something that is uncomplicated and expresses Buddhism without sectarian attachment or complexities.
BOOK SUGGESTION - BUDDHISM WITHOUT BELIEFS ...it's a simple uncomplicated paperback for about ten bucks, that simply describes what she wants to learn about, in a straight forward and uncomplicated manner. [without all the hoopla and high worded sectarian rhetoric.] Cheers.. :)
Atheist here - welcome to the club.
There are a lot of good resources on the sidebar. Take a look at /r/secularbuddhism and check out books by Stephen Batchelor. Buddhism Without Beliefs was my introduction to Buddhism and it's pretty good.
I listen to a lot of talks from audiodharma.org. They are not Secular Buddhists like Batchelor, but don't stress cosmology the way some other communities might. Their recommended talks is a good place to start.
A lot of people will be adamant about how you can't be a Buddhist if you are an atheist. Don't let them discourage you. You don't have to "be a Buddhist" and all this cosmology stuff is beside the point.
Well I am a Buddhist and I enjoy the Buddhist Philosophy and yet I don't believe in Karma or rebirth because I see no evidence showing it.
A good book if you want to read about Buddhist/Atheism (Buddhism without believing in the superstition.) http://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-Without-Beliefs-Contemporary-Awakening/dp/1573226564
BTW Believing in Rebirth or Karma is not a requirement to be a Buddhist.
This has happened to me too. Its time, in my opinion, to stop, and to focus on the hard work of walking the path towards elevating your normal mindset closer to the altitude of the one you experience when you do drugs.
You might be interested in this comment that I actually just wrote right before I wrote this one. Especially my latter response.
The thing is, drugs open your mind to see the possibilities. But then you come back. Back into the world, where mundaneness rules, where you have many personal flaws, where life hits you with problems, and where its often hard to see the light.
Drugs are like a helicopter ride to see the path and the endpoint. But in reality, you have to walk the path. And walking the path is hard. It takes daily effort against the powerful forces of habit. Look to the Buddhists. They are the only ones I know of who are actually walking this path. Meditation and a continual focus on building positive mental qualities are key here.
My blueprint is sort of based on two books. One is Buddhism without beleifs, and the other is The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, which despite the title, is actually about developing qualities in yourself such as honesty, courage, patience, and others.
I'd recommend that you read Buddhism Without Belief by Stephen Batchelor. He makes a real effort to point out how contemplative practice associated with Buddhism can have excellent benefits - even for someone without religion. That's not necessarily what your sister is doing, but it's still worth looking into.
> Then they're killing for philosophical reasons.
There is nothing in Buddhism that supports this. Unlike the condoning of holy war, killing apostates, or killing unbelievers, which appear in many other religions. There is also no way to escape consequences of your behavior either, unlike in many other religions which include Direct-To-Heaven actions such as martyrdom.
The key tenet of Christianity is believing in the Divinity of Jesus Christ. If you don't believe that Jesus is the son of God/God/The Way/etc., then you are not a Christian. You can still sin and be Christian (obviously, or else there would be no purpose to the human sacrifice of Jesus), but you can't lack belief in Christ and be a Christian.
See how that works?
Saying someone is Buddhist means a practitioner, not a believer.
If you say you are a triathlete, but don't swim, or ride a bike, or run, you are not a triathlete.
If you say you are on the Atkins diet, but you eat lots of carbs every day, you aren't on the Atkins diet.
If you are in AA, but then you start drinking again, you have fallen off the wagon. You are no longer someone who abstains.
Being a Buddhist is about practice, not belief.
Buddhism Without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening
http://www.amazon.com/books/dp/1573226564
> If you want to term it a philosophy, fine.
And this is precisely why people get confused when trying to conflate it with religion.
There are a lot of cultural Buddhists but they are only practitioners to the extent that they actually practice.
A Christian can half-ass it and believe in Jesus and get to Heaven.
A Buddhist can half-ass it and they will get inferior results. If they believe in reincarnation, then they are going to have a half-ass reincarnation. No amount of half-assing it adds up to getting out of the cycle of reincarnation.
If they don't believe in reincarnation, then Nirvana (or Nibbana) is the here-and-now, the same as Samsara. There is no difference between the two. The only difference is in your perception, and Buddhism is a How-To manual for cessation of your own suffering.
There are many forms of Buddhism, from outright superstition to Stephen Batchelor's attempts to purge Buddhism of "Beliefs".
There have been some recent posts on r/Buddhism/ regarding whether Buddhism should be regarded as a religion or not:
Is Buddhism a religion? The question that won't go away. (tricycle.com)
We can debate endlessly whether Buddhism is a religion, but As long as people are projecting their antagonism toward religion onto Buddhism, it's a problem that needs addressing. (buddhism.about.com)
Buddhism as a world religion is pretty "spiritual". I am reading the book Confession of a Buddhist Atheist by Stephen Batchelor, and he makes the case that "The Buddha", Sidhattha Gotama, was very much interested in a practical approach to promoting peace. The Four Noble Truths are from Gotama's first discourse: 1. Life is full of suffering. 2. Suffering comes from attachment/desire. 3. Suffering can be reduced by reducing desire/attachment. 4. There is a way to end desire/attachment: through cultivating appropriate views, intentions, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration. "Confession" is a memoir as much as anything, but Batchelor's book Buddhism Without Beliefs would be a great starting point.
The Buddhism that Batchelor is endorsing is a secular, practical system designed to help the practitioner live a more fulfilling life. Nothing more. I just thought it interesting that you used the word "Zen", and wondered if you were familiar at all with this type of Buddhist thought.
-Why Buddhism Is True by Robert Wright
https://www.amazon.com/Why-Buddhism-True-Philosophy-Enlightenment/dp/1439195463
-Buddhism Without Beliefs by Stephen Batchelor
https://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-Without-Beliefs-Contemporary-Awakening/dp/1573226564
There also are pretty extensive peer reviewed journals and statistics on meditation. Check out Richard Davidson and Daniel Goleman.
-Altered Traits by Richard Davidson and Daniel Goleman
https://www.amazon.com/Altered-Traits-Science-Reveals-Meditation/dp/0399184384
Hope some of that is of help.
Best of luck!
for me, prayer is trying to get in touch with something greater than myself I don't have to know what that is, and I try not to dwell on that part of it. Most days I have no clue about god. But I try to keep an open mind. Maybe prayer is just a roundabout way of talking to myself. I have given up trying to figure out what everyone else believes, and just set up my own belief system. Do what works for you. I think that the idea is to seek some sort of peace. This book has really helped me, it doesn't espouse the religion of Buddhism, but it has some awesome ideas in it. For me the second most important thing after staying clean is to find some measure of peace in my own head. Good luck and stick with it.
> We are in control of our emotions. If we weren't, cognitive behavioral therapy wouldn't work.
Actually, it's not how cognitive behavioral therapy works; "controlling thoughts and emotions" would be a misunderstanding and misrepresentation of CBT. I tell you this as someone who has been certified in it and taught it.
Your comments also display a misunderstanding of Buddhism and associated teachings. I do like your comment "The Buddha claimed it wouldn't take very long, and had thousands of arahant followers by the time he died." I highly recommend the book "Buddhism Without Beliefs" by Stephen Batchelor...it's an enlightening read, and I believe you'll get a lot from it.
Best wishes on your continued journey.
edit - added link
I picked it up on Amazon but haven't read it yet (might this weekend) but, Buddhism without Beliefs
Haven't read it but I've heard good things about it:
Buddhism without beliefs - Stephen Batchelor
Here is a really good book along those lines:
http://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-Without-Beliefs-Contemporary-Awakening/dp/1573226564
"Buddhism Without Beliefs" by Stephen Batchelor might be exactly what you're looking for. It explores core Buddhist teachings from a non-theistic point of view.
The author's own point of view springs from having spent years in theistic Buddhist practices, then becoming agnostic himself.
I read it many years ago when I was on a similar journey, enjoyed it, and have recommended it many times since. Don't let its size fool you - it's small, but packed with things to wrap your brain around.
Buddhism Without Beliefs http://www.amazon.com/books/dp/1573226564
Gil Fronsdal
http://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/books-articles/the-issue-at-hand/
Stephen Batchelor
http://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-Without-Beliefs-Contemporary-Awakening/dp/1573226564/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373046782&sr=8-1&keywords=buddhism+without+beliefs
Buddhism Without Beliefs by Stephen Batchelor
"The concepts and practices of Buddhism, says Batchelor, are not something to believe in but something to do—and as he explains clearly and compellingly, it is a practice that we can engage in, regardless of our background or beliefs, as we live every day on the path to spiritual enlightenment."
Buddhism Without Beliefs by Stephen Batchelor.
I think this book talks about it with all supernatural beliefs stripped from the discussion, and it is concise while still staying pretty clear: http://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-Without-Beliefs-Contemporary-Awakening/dp/1573226564/
I come from a similar angle, I'm surprised no one has suggested this:
"Buddhist Without Beliefs"
http://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-Without-Beliefs-Contemporary-Awakening/dp/1573226564
"Confession of a Buddhist Atheist"
http://www.amazon.com/Confession-Buddhist-Atheist-Stephen-Batchelor/dp/0385527071/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409011759&sr=8-1&keywords=confessions+of+an+atheist+buddhist
I highly recommend "Buddhist Without Beliefs", being an atheist you will find a lot of empathy points. Buddhism it self, a lot of people argue, is atheist, not based on a deity (or group of deities), but on self realization.
I was right on the fucking edge this spring. I read a book by Stephen Batchelor called Buddhism Without Beliefs. It helped me tremendously. I won't go on and on about it because I have no idea if it will help you or anyone else but it really helped me.
> Meditation and prayer can be used to develop and impose calmness.
Yes, and no. From viewonbuddism.org:
>The Tibetan word for meditation, "gom" can be translated as familiarising, habituating. In short, it means to familiarise with a positive state of mind, which actually refers to training the mind. Meditation is not just relaxing, rather it is trying to develop a highly concentrated and clear state of mind which one can use for clear analysis, and which can be blissful to be in.
So the point is to get used to your mind. If you do this, you learn that thoughts arise, exist, and pass away. Watching this over time, you learn that thoughts don't have to capture you. You don't have to believe them. You learn that desires and aversions are actually not so important, and that you can still be happy if you ignore them instead of indulging them.
As you gain the ability to distance yourself from your thoughts, and assuming a certain natural curiosity, you begin to unravel the hidden mechanisms at work. You begin to see the thoughts behind your thoughts. This is known as insight, or Vipassana. With it, you move from being a robot who is simplistically triggered by environmental stimuli, to someone with the ability not to 'bite the hook.'
A lot of what I know about meditation came from various Buddhist traditions. That's great and all, but they spend far too much time and energy on unprovable ideas like karma, reincarnation, storehouse consciousness, gods and mystical beings, etc. Some traditions are also very hierarchical and very ritualistic. There is also a lot of woo in all the traditions, which is why I don't identify with any.
For me, investigating the traditions without drinking the kool-aid is the key. I highly recommend Buddhism Without Beliefs by Stephen Batchelor and especially Coming to Our Senses by Jon Kabbatt Zinn; they teach the valuable parts of Buddhist thoughts, without the woo woo and supernatural beliefs. For mediation itself, many books on Buddhism have instructions. You can also find a lot of meditation instruction online. Unlearning Meditation: What to do when the Instructions Get In The Way by Jason Siff is also pretty good.
I view Buddhism not as a faith but as a sort of agnostic philosophy. With that in mind, I recommend a slim little book by Stephen Batchelor called Buddhism Without Beliefs. However, be warned that this book is pretty controversial amongst those looking more for Buddhism as faith. Still, it's a good enough jumping off platform to see where you might want to go next. It's written in a very straightforward accessible manner, but it is definitely more about personal philosophy than religion or history. YMMV
Yeah, do some research. We have a pretty solid reading list started over on the right hand side. (It's only two books long, but they are good books.) I don't know your level of knowledge about Buddhist thought and teachings so I would suggest you look up this one or this one.
I am sure there are some less expensive places to find them, half.com is an eBay company and I have found some really great books for like .75, soooo go has a look.
I wouldn't avoid reading Sutras first off. But I wouldn't make that the central part of my study as they are often very difficult to read and can be confusing. I mean, yeah read some Sutras, but read some other material as well.
Also, go to tricycle.com. Pretty solid website.
People are free to follow their own path, but forcing myself to believe things that seem unlikely is not part of my path.
I was going to a sangha for a while. It was very Western, so I thought I'd be comfortable. Then I heard a sermon about the after life, and I noped right out of there. I'd spent enough of my time as a Christian ignoring or tirelessly interpreting religion so I could fit it so myself, of fit myself to it. I'm not entering that pretzel logic of self negation again.
I'm reading a great book now, Buddhism Without Beliefs, that strips Buddhism down to the bare essentials, and that, happily, does not require taking anything on faith.
I'm taking some time reading, and shoring up my foundation of meditation practice; but ultimately I'd like to join a more belief-neutral Zen group.
Personally, I would suggest to take a look at Buddhist philosophy, which IMO has the most to offer if you're looking for a philosophy that actually adresses existential problems.
Since you have a STEM-background, you might perhaps find Stephen Batchelors Buddhism without beliefs interesting. Also, r/buddhism has a nice FAQ and reading suggestions.
See /r/Buddhism's suggested reading list. I can personally (and highly) recommend Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind as well as Buddhism Without Beliefs.
Yeah you might be better off with a secular distillation of Buddhism, like The Wisdom of Insecurity by Alan Watts or Buddhism Beyond Beliefs by Stephen Bachelor. The closest thing I can think of as a dogma-free take on Classical Buddhism is Thich Nhat Hanh's order of Interbeing, which you can find in The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching.
I would suggest you to listen to podcasts from Stephen Batchelor or read any of his books. He cuts through the Hindu cosmology that was prevalent at Buddha's time and has been incorporated into Buddhism and gives you a pure form of Buddhism. His book Buddhism Without Beliefs is good too.