"Wright’s is a Buddhism almost completely cleansed of supernaturalism. His Buddha is conceived as a wise man and self-help psychologist..."

"... not as a divine being—no miraculous birth, no thirty-two distinguishing marks of the godhead (one being a penis sheath), no reincarnation. This is a pragmatic Buddhism, and Wright’s pragmatism, as in his previous books, can touch the edge of philistinism. Nearly all popular books about Buddhism are rich in poetic quotation and arresting aphorisms, those ironic koans that are part of the (Zen) Buddhist décor—tales of monks deciding that it isn’t the wind or the flag that’s waving in the breeze but only their minds. Wright’s book has no poetry or paradox anywhere in it. Since the poetic-comic side of Buddhism is one of its most appealing features, this leaves the book a little short on charm. Yet, if you never feel that Wright is telling you something profound or beautiful, you also never feel that he is telling you something untrue. Direct and unambiguous, tracing his own history in meditation practice—which eventually led him to a series of weeklong retreats and to the intense study of Buddhist doctrine—he makes Buddhist ideas and their history clear. Perhaps he makes the ideas too clear. Buddhist thinkers tend to bridge contradictions with a smile and a paradox and a wave of the hand. 'Things exist but they are not real' is a typical dictum from the guru Mu Soeng, in his book on the Heart Sutra. 'You don’t have to believe it, but it’s true' is another famous guru’s smiling advice about the reincarnation doctrine. This nimble-footed doubleness may indeed hold profound existential truths; it also provides an all-purpose evasion of analysis...."

From "What Meditation Can Do for Us, and What It Can’t/Examining the science and supernaturalism of Buddhism," by Adam Gopnick in The New Yorker. He's reviewing "Why Buddhism Is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment," by Robert Wright (AKA Bob Wright of Bloggingheads).

Here's Bob talking to Mickey Kaus (about 10 days ago) about "mindful resistance," and Mickey says he doesn't even know what mindfulness but people tell him "it's Buddhism stripped of its religious aspects so it can be sold to the masses":