I read this book over the past few days, and it was certainly thought-provoking. In this book, Batchelor presents a brief memoir of his life with the dharma, and tells the story of the Buddha, as it is seen from the texts of the Pali canon. Batchelor went to Tibet in the early 70s, before many people did, became a monk, learned Tibetan, and studied in Dharamsala for several years. He then went to Switzerland to help run a center with Geshe Rabten. He left the Tibetan tradition, and went to Korea for several years, after which he gave up his robes, but continued exploring Buddhism, but mostly from the Theravada angle.

Batchelor's books are all very interesting. He's a skeptic regarding many doctrinal issues, and this is one subject he examines in the book. It made me think a lot about whether or need we _need_ to believe in unprovable things to follow the dharma, but it also pointed out how rigid and dogmatic people in different Buddhist traditions can be. He remains, as he says, a "Buddhist atheist," teaching the dharma with no link to any specific tradition, but informed by the various flavors that he's studied.

An interesting book to read for anyone who has similar questions.