2: David Webster - The Naked Monk

Stephen Schettini talks with David Webster on the question, “Does Buddhism Matter?”

David Webster teaches Religion, Philosophy & Ethics at the University of Gloucestershire and is the author of Dispirited: How Contemporary Spirituality Makes Us Stupid, Selfish and Unhappy. Dr Webster has studied Philosophy, Hinduism and Buddhist thought. In addition to scholarly works on Buddhism and desire, the nature of belief, and other topics in Buddhist studies and the Philosophy of Religion, David has also written about the blues, and death in religions.

David’s a deep thinker with a light touch who effortlessly avoids Buddhist terminology to make his points in plain English. His book grabbed my attention as soon as I heard of it and was one of last year’s best reads.

In this talk we discuss Buddhism Light and speculate on its long-term influence in society at large. We consider what the ancestral Western religions would look like today had Buddhism not been an ideal alternative for the counter-culture, how Tibetan Buddhism upsets people’s ideas of what Buddhism is and the stereotype of Buddhists as inherently ‘gentle’ people.