Something to look forward to
NEW BOOKS COMING IN 2025
Expect four or five new books from Tuwhiri during the year ahead. At the same time, we are also hard at work on a number of other books and hope that most of these will be published during 2026.
Tuwhiri is not like the usual publisher, though. Here’s how Winton Higgins describes the way we operate in a recent post on Tuwhiri’s blog:
For decades now trade publishers (including ones sympathetic to the dharma) have stopped publishing books for their inherent worth or contemporary relevance, and instead only put out books that meet their commercial criterion. They’re wedded to works of any quality that promise high-volume sales in aid of their ‘bottom line’. Most potential books about secular Buddhism would fail to meet that criterion.
Ramsey Margolis (L) with Winton Higgins (R)
In 2015, I discussed this problem with my friend Ramsey Margolis in Aotearoa New Zealand, and we began to explore the possibility of establishing an imprint for high quality secular Buddhist books, an imprint that sailed free of the business-model approach to selecting titles.
We imagined a publisher that drew on crowdfunding and donations to cover production costs, and on the voluntary expertise in editing and publishing that the editorial board’s members commanded.
This way, unconstrained by the usual commercial criteria, we could offer quality books to potential readers with an interest in secular Buddhism. Whatever income we received from sales over and above our production costs for one book could help fund the production of the next.
We will, of course, be seeking your help to publish these four books.
As well as supporting the crowdfunding campaigns we expect to be running, to ensure that everything runs smoothly we would very much welcome support from you in the form of paying for your subscription to Tuwhiri’s newsletter.
Every little bit will help. Thank you. ⁂
❖ Free subscribers get this newsletter once a month, and you’re most welcome
❖ For USD $5 a month – that’s a coffee a month – you’ll also get 15% off all Tuwhiri books, you can post comments to this newsletter, and you’ll know that you’re supporting the development of secular dharma
❖ For USD $55 a year you’ll get all the above AND 12% off the monthly rate
❖ For USD $300 a year you’ll get a complimentary copy of each Tuwhiri book before they’re published, in the format of your choice, as well as all of the above
FROM THE BLINDBOY PODCAST
The secular dharma talk that’s not a dharma talk
Start listening from ‘I want to tell you a story about a bicycle.’
An Irish satirist, musician, podcaster, author, and TV presenter. Blindboy Boatclub is best known as one half of the comedy hip-hop group, The Rubberbandits, who wear plastic shopping bags as masks to conceal their identities.
His recent book, a collection of short stories, Topographia Hibernica, unravels the knotted threads of humanity, nature and colonisation from a contemporary Irish perspective. Highly, highly recommended. ⁂
MINDFUL SOLIDARITY ONLINE DISCUSSION
At the crossroads of secular Buddhism and
political activism
Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Wellesley College, Craig Murphy, Zen Buddhist priest Seth Zuihō Segall, and lecturer in political philosophy and cross-cultural philosophy, Karsten Struhl, will join Mike Slott for a discussion around his book, Mindful Solidarity: A Secular Buddhist Democratic Socialist Dialogue.
This meeting will take place on Zoom on 30 January 2025 from 7.30pm to 8.30pm US Eastern Standard Time. Register for this Zoom event here.
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We hope to be able to run a further online discussion meeting at a time that is suitable for people in Europe, Africa and around the Mediterranean.
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Please let your dharma buddies, colleagues, comrades and friends know they can order Mindful Solidarity from their local bookstore or online, including Tuwhiri’s online store:
Mindful Solidarity: A Secular Buddhist Democratic Socialist Dialogue ⁂
AS IF BY MAGIC
Get 20% off ten or more books
Buy 10 or more copies of any paperback book in our online store and automagically you’ll get 20 percent off. ⁂
A CONVERSATION AROUND SECULAR DHARMA
Seth Zuihō Segall & Winton Higgins discuss the
meaning and value of secular Buddhism
When Seth Zuihō Segall posted ‘Why I am not a secular Buddhist’ on secularbuddhistnetwork.org he kicked off a lively and thought-provoking dialogue with Winton Higgins.
In his recently published book, Buddhism and Human Flourishing, Seth Segall laid out his eudaimonic approach to Buddhism. Although this shares aspects of secular Buddhism, he has objections to the ‘secular’ label.
His primary concern is that the term ‘secular’ connotes the rejection of religion as a whole, and negates the sacred dimension of our lived experience in the world.
In dialogue with Seth’s contributions, Winton Higgins explored the nature of secularity, as well as the meaning and role of secular Buddhism in our society.
A Tuwhiri editorial board member, Winton has contributed numerous articles to secularbuddhistnetwork.org in which he presents a secular approach to meditation, the role of sanghas, and the need for social and political engagement based on the values of care and compassion.
Winton is the author of After Buddhism: a workbook (Tuwhiri: 2018) – a step-by-step guide to Stephen Batchelor’s groundbreaking After Buddhism: Rethinking the dharma for a secular age (Yale University Press: 2015) – and Revamp: writings on secular Buddhism (Tuwhiri: 2021).
Download their discussion as a PDF ⁂
Please consider asking your library to put a copy of your favourite Tuwhiri book on their shelves.
STEPHEN BATCHELOR
A brief history of secular dharma
Suitable for both beginners and those who are familiar with Stephen’s work, this 33 minute talk is part of a 12-part Bodhi College self-study course titled After Buddhism and Beyond. ⁂
ONLINE BOOK READING GROUPS
Appreciating the dharma in the company of others
The next Revamp online reading group will run on Sundays from 9 March 2025 through 8 June 2025. On the Sunday that follows, the group will have a Q+A session with author Winton Higgins.
With no more than nine participants, group meetings will start at:
8am · Hawaii
11am · US/Canada west coast
1pm · US/Canada central
2pm · US/Canada east coast
6pm · London
7pm · Europe
To register your interest send us an email letting us know which reading group(s) you’re interested in. We’ll then send you a code to get 10% off the price of the book(s) – paper or digital – through Tuwhiri’s online store.
➡︎ Download an excerpt from Revamp ⁂
The next What is this? online reading group will run on Sundays from 16 February 2025 through 18 May 2025. On Saturday 24 May, the group will have a Q+A session with co-author Martine Batchelor.
With no more than nine participants, group meetings will start at:
7am · Western Australia (& Bali)
8am · Japan (& Korea)
9.30am · South Australia
10am · New South Wales & Queensland
12 noon · Aotearoa New Zealand
1pm · Hawaii
3pm · US/Canada west coast
5pm · US/Canada central
6pm · US/Canada east coast
➡︎ Download an excerpt from What is this? ⁂
SOCIAL MEDIA
Connect with Tuwhiri on BlueSky
If you’ve started using Bluesky or are considering doing so, please connect with Tuwhiri. We’re newbies with social media so please get in touch if you’ve any tips to share. ⁂
We’re so, so grateful to you
When you read this newsletter, buy a book, let others know about Tuwhiri, or decide you’re going to pay for your newsletter, know that you’re part of the community which helps us to publish innovative secular dharma books. ⁂
Ngā manaakitanga
Tuwhiri’s editorial board