Waking Up - A Guide To Spirituality Without Religion - Sam Harris

[Yrth]

 

Chapter one is available for free on his blog.

 

I listened to the audible version last weekend. I remember enjoying it. It was refreshing to hear someone analyze all the stuff that's going on with meditation from a scientific, materialist perspective. 

 

Some of the highlights:

* Learning that Sam-the-new-atheist-Harris spent a significant portion of his life meditating

* Hearing Harris compare and contrast meditation states of mind to hallucinogenics. Having never tried hallucinogens myself, this grabbed my attention, heh

* Hearing about split-brain patients and how they're related to the classic idea of "no-self". Really reminded me of that one House episode...

* Hearing, again, that "your mind is all you have"

* Hearing about the physical differences in people who practice meditation

* Hearing Harris discuss how Christianity is almost diametrically opposed to the idea that the self is an illusion

* Hearing about how different religions have intersected with "self-transcendence"

 

The basic idea of the book is in the first chapter, published for free on Harris's website. In a nutshell, Harris views "spirituality" as experiencing self-transcendent states of mind, states where "you" have no sense of being a self. He argues that the idea of the self as an illusory construct is actually more in line with our understanding of the brain. He also argues that these "spiritual" experiences have an ethical dimension because, iirc, they alleviate suffering and/or amplify better states of mind (love, compassion, etc.). Of course, Harris is still Harris -- nothing he writes about comes close to being things that need to be believed on faith. He spends some time ripping into religions too, which is always fun.

 

All I can really say is that it's a really, really interesting read. I should admit that I'm biased -- I meditate (consistently for...2 months now? I use Insight Timer -- great app. But I've been reading / thinking about meditation for years now) and I'm an atheist. This is exactly the book I've wanted to buy. Nevertheless, it's a good introduction to the subject, particularly for atheists who could never sift the worthy from the woo.