Stephen Batchelor, born in Scotland in 1953, is a prominent Buddhist author and teacher recognized for his advocacy of an agnostic or secular approach to Buddhism. His early life involved a move to England where he was raised in a humanist environment. Batchelor's spiritual journey began at age eighteen with travel to India, leading to studies in Tibetan Buddhism in Dharamsala and ordination as a novice monk. Further studies and ordinations followed in Switzerland and Germany, including translation work for Tibetan lamas. He also trained in Zen Buddhism in South Korea before he and his wife, Martine Fages, laicised and married. They later settled in England, where Batchelor was involved in Buddhist educational institutions and prison chaplaincy. He has since become a Guiding Teacher at Gaia House and a contributing editor for Tricycle: The Buddhist Review. Batchelor is a core faculty member of Bodhi College and on the Advisory Board of the Center for Pragmatic Buddhism. He champions a naturalistic Buddhism, drawing heavily from early Buddhist texts like the Pali Canon and showing interest in Hellenistic philosophies such as Pyrrhonism.

Born in Dundee, Scotland, in 1953, Stephen Batchelor's early years included a brief period in Toronto, Canada, followed by his upbringing in Watford, England, within a humanist household. His spiritual path began at eighteen with an overland journey to India, where he settled in Dharamsala. There, he studied under Geshé Ngawang Dhargyey and was ordained as a novice monk in the Gelug tradition in 1974. A Vipassana retreat with S.N. Goenka proved influential, sparking further exploration of Buddhist traditions. Batchelor continued his studies in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy in Switzerland under Geshe Rabten, assisting in the establishment of a Buddhist center. He received full monastic ordination and later worked as a translator in Hamburg, Germany. His engagement with Buddhism expanded to Zen traditions in South Korea under Kusan Sunim.

Following his time in Korea, Batchelor and his wife, Martine Fages, laicised and married, eventually settling in England. For fifteen years, he was based at Sharpham, where he held administrative roles and co-founded a college for Buddhist studies. He also served as a prison chaplain and has been a Guiding Teacher at Gaia House and a contributing editor for Tricycle magazine. Batchelor is a key figure in secular Buddhism, advocating for a naturalistic interpretation of the Dharma, free from supernatural elements. His work often focuses on the earliest Buddhist teachings found in the Pali Canon, and he has also explored connections with Hellenistic philosophies, particularly Pyrrhonism and the skeptical approach of Montaigne. He is involved with Bodhi College and the Center for Pragmatic Buddhism, furthering this contemporary engagement with Buddhist thought.