Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion
by Harris, Sam
Published: January 1, 2014
Read: May 15, 2020
Review
I really wanted this book to be better :(. I agree wholeheartedly with the premise: spirituality and meaning are and should be independent of religion and institutions. But, perhaps I didn't read it carefully enough on a sped-up audiobook because I am not sure I am closer to actually attaining that ideal. As a fan of Harris, I really didn't learn anything very new either. The book seemed more about proving spirituality and meaning can be independent than being a guide. I'm glad he has started the conversation at least. But, this is more a series of essays tangentially related to spirituality going into science, religion, criticizing specific thinkers, or drugs. I'm really not sure who the intended audience of this book is. Is it for people actually seeking spirituality without religion or a lure offering another path for religious people? It is both too abstract and argumentative to accomplish either goal. Sam Harris offers many ideas about spirituality that are probably invaluable once understood and internalized, but I didn't really grasp it. One day, I plan to give this another reading and another chance later.
Notes
OkItCommon mistakes of talking about spirituality are good cientifici starting with an impoverished view of spirituality. Or a over emphasize on alternate states of mind then connection to psuedo science. No I, sense of self not essential. What will replace religion? Nothing will replace fictions, but spirituality is the real core of stuff like love, moral goodness, and self transdence. This is Sam Harris's conceptualization. Many people will have self transdence experience only describeqblr with religious or spiritual. Sure the conclusion drawn are often wrong, but the experiences aren't people going crazy. If there is happiness absent of external pleasures then it can exist being alone in a cave. I.e nomad, monks. Wisdom is the ability to follow ones own advice. Spritital experiences often associated and create grester faith in religion. But can be seperate. Religions are carrying degrees of true and hurtful, but pointing it out seen as bigoted.
Religion share many common themes because they go deeper into human cognition. But, not some unifying theme. Throughout human time, very hard to tell truth from fiction. East kinda over glamorized in the west, yogai often try to change their body like cut the base tongue and eat their own mucus using this length. East go to West. Buddhism does have human perspective unlike anything else and can be taken entitely rationally. Koran and Bible are worse than useless and can get ideas much better in other places.
It is always now. Will be happier for knowing and acting with this knowledge. We want and then get bored with what we wanted. Mindfulness is clear attention to mind and can be completely secular. Mindfulness is not thinking more clearly, but experiencing more clearly. Enemy is being distracted, thinking without knowing we are thinking. Mindfulness will feel very different. Like waking up in a movie theater and breaking a trance. We crave lasting happiness in a world in flux. Can be at peace with moment, but strive to change the world. Benefits arrive long before mastery.
Truth of Suffering
Worse can happen at every time. We are not surprised when richz young, and beautiful are addicted to drugs. We are all prisoners of our thoughts. Death, two stats, fear and ignore striving for pleasure and success or deny it with religion. Other path is only one who is intellectually honest and the topic of this book.
Enlightenment.
Budda being omniscient is nonsense beating all mathematicians and joerady contestant. Can give them knowledge of the mind. Goal to arrive at sense of wellbeing that can't be pertusted or only briefly. You already have such a mind capable. Conventual sources of happiness are hard. Difficult to acquire wealth, contribute, perfect skills, or happy family, keep machinery possible. These forms not good enoughz stress continues. Enlightened will no longer feel identical to their thoughts. Serenty only possiblefor the rest of us briefly. He knows it's possible to have it briefly. Can glimpse something about consciousness, seeing mental state. Truths about mind we are better off knowing rather than pious illusions. No one denies better and worse people physically or intellectually. People don't imagine there are also levels of spiritual and moral skill. Can be taught as early as 6 years old. Mind rather than circumstance determines the quality of your life. Enlightenment is just stress reduction. Don't have to believe everything mystic to acknowledge you can drastically alter your mind. Capacity to be free in this moment regardless of what's around you.
Chapter 2 Mystery of Consciousness.
Thomas Nigel in one of most important papers about consciousness. Asks us to consider being a bat, is consciousness iff "there is something it is like to be that organism something it is like for the organism". If you switched places, you have Some spectrum of sight and feeling rather than annihilation. Are lights on? You don't live aware isn't brain cells but sensation of experience. How would sun appear if conscious? Our intuitions here might be no good. Consciousness seems to emerge. Must be result of organization. If you think it links to speech, look at anaesthia paralysis. Don't debate it's existence, to say it only seems like it from the inside you are acknowledging it exists. The fact it seems that way means there is an experience. Even if we are a brain in a vatz the epexierence is the only thing we can know is real. New age often takes misinterpretation of Cophehagen quantam mechanicsz but not reflection of experience. Not about human experience. Can't tell consciousness exist from looking at brain, only proof available only to you is your experience. Emergent seems practically stand in for miracle. Believes conscious will never be explained by no conscious, not obvious from anything. "Saying it results from brain cells doesn't give us inkling of how it emerges even in principle". This is the hard problem of consciousness. Some argue nonphysical reduction is incoherent. Some argue it can known to be product of physical but can't be reduced to it. Sure we know fluid liquid is a property of millions of small nonfluid molecules. But conscious is different because it must be intelligible. Any attempt to reduce is just correlating brain state to experience, no closer to understanding consciousness. What about harder problem of what is alive? Alive is however based on external events, no consciousness though. Contents of consciousness can be explained, but why they can be experienced returns to hard problem. Only consciousness can know itself Therefore spirituality, in widest sense of the word, is necessary to understand the nature of the mind.
25% of Americans of evolution, 68% believe in literal existence of Satan. Split brain patients with left and right split usually for eplispy. The right can't speak, but point with left hand. Each hemisphere seems to have it's open memory, intention, and perhaps consciousness. Left hand and eye will see and act to hit right brain, and left language brain will not be able to say what they grabbed and if asked why they will come up with an random answer. Easier to show right is probably conscious then a toddler with language ability.
Structure and Function
Left side has complex movements and language. Right ear has words, temporal info, digits, Morse code, difficult rhythm. Left ear has musical cord, melodies, and time of voice. Left hand better for spatial while right better for order of stimuli. Right better for reading faces, geometric shapes, displaying and viewing emotion. Better at displaying emotion on left side of face, so we generally observe with left eye(out best side for seeing emotion), the others right side of the face(least expressive side). Huge problem for single indivisble self. Conscious goes beyond a single self.
Most surprising thing about dreams is that we don't find them astonishing the lack of continuity probably because of reduced activity in frontal lobe. Brain might already be split with split eye processing. How can you not have separate centers of consciousness now? Maybe your right center from an early age just gave up having control, because why doesn't it speak out in split brain patients watching someone confabulate a reason. Maybe their are used to it.
Conscious and unconstitutional processes
The unconscious mind. Trying to remember a name, we have a gap and a word can feel to fit though it is empty. Mind will not conscious ly remember seeing something if it flashes briefly. Subminal messaging is real and can be seen by priming. Even without memory people can improve in tasks. Things matter because their impact Consciousness. Moral landscape all morality reduces to experience of consciousncrestures. Even people who believe in God worry about gods experience. No real morality out forth that aren't about conscious creatures. Science might show us how to do best, many truths about ourselves will be discovered in consciousness or not discover at all.
Chapter 3 Riddle of Self
Conventional self is an illusion and meditation is the art of realizing this. We have problem that will not be solved by knowledge. Many concepts like self and I aren't physical, but do a lot for our personal perception. Teleportation that destroys and rebuilds. If they delayed destroying you eluntil you were completely rebuilt. Then the you on Earth would think it was a complete scam as they are killed. So maybe conscious/memory continuity isn't enough. Psychological continuity most important, look at dementia they detorisyr even if it is their neurons. We should perhaps think of teleportation is not different then mere passage of time. What connects you to the person who started this book, ordinary survival also had destructive and replication. Psychological continuity can happen with multiple minds it with follow brain. When split there is no singular I, there is just now two. They could be reunited and both remember everything and be one now psychological continuity. Dumb to ask where was I? Experience of being a self can be interrupted. I is not in the brain right, because rest of body isn't ? Christianity and souls are distraction. Most people look inside, see nothing and give up on introspection. Each moment you have what you need to do and the choice for how to approach it. Just reading this book gives you amazing freedom . Gratitude increases feelings of motivation and outlook. After waking up, you sometimes remember why you should be unhappy and your mind changes. Staying angry requires us to continuously think about why we are angry. Notice how fast feelings can change or pass, it doesn't need to be external though. Mindfulness can help. Buddhism lost in thought is psychosis, cause of suffering. First step of meditation is noticing you are even distracted. First, notice each thought as it arises. Second, thoughts unteavel themselves. Third, thoughts are like thieves in empty house unable to distract. Ego is what it feels like to think without knowing your thinking. Identification with thoughts makes you feel like I🥂,ust glimpse consciousness between thoughts. Out of body experience also mean we can witness ourselves outside ourselves too. Not scientific, but experience. Self recognition in mirror is great test for primates. Shadow hand test where you sync feelings with rubber band can interest people. Theory of mind is noticing not just other people are sentient, but they have actions and desires. Jean Paul satre said it was pivotal to self formation as we are continuously pulled from our subjective self obsession by others as we terealize we are just objects in their world. Self-conscious really means you are aware others are conscious of you. Movies fundamentally make us lack self-conscious, but be in social interactions. Self must be illusion because tits the result of transitory process, we don't need data from lab to know it.
46% of time mind wandering according to a survey, and lesd happy when doing it even when thoughts positive. Pro meditators report same severity of feelings, but are less sad. Purchases depression stress less feelings of pain can you become more accustomed to pain faster. Seeking meditation can reinforce the self. One path is sudden enlightenment where you don't have fundamental insights but instead execute changes in behavior and have sudden insight. Direct method, Destroy the ego by seeking it for there's nothing there. Reflect on the insight they there is no self. A guru said enlightenment was sudden and permanent. He raised this women as a stunning example, when she went to another matter he asked her when her last thought was. She said one with week. He said, ok let's wait for your next thought we are patient and will wait. After 10 second, her enough unraveled. Relization is just the beginning. Demand more from your training, meditation should make progress. Masters can teach and answer questions. Mirrors aren't better for reflecting beauty, neither is the mind with thoughts.
Having no head
Hardy noticed, when you look out at the world your head is never seen. No head to be found. Great description of dualist view of consciousness. As you gaze at the world, look for you head. Turn your attention towards the direction of the other persons gaze. If you don't notice it easy, then don't worry won't happen. Imagine your friend doesn't believe the window can be a mirror. Spirtual practice is noticing the window without being distracted by the world/thoughts. Can glimpse it and say so what. Some make it. a secret as meaning can be unclear without seeking other enlightenment.
Chapter 5 Death Drugs and other puzzles
If there are truths to introsepection, then there must be better and worse ways to get there and fools and huksters. In this realm, the relevant facts and skills of teachers are more difficult to assess. Cults are needy people with charamstic leader. Cult and religion the difference is number of adhereents. Gurus just means some people hold this person in high esteem like Charles Manson to Jesus. About how to live so greatest position of power. Story: Guru cuts off your finger... the boy became enlightened. Everything can be a mirror to look at your egocentricity. If everyone guru were judged by the worst said, no guru would escape. Navy hazes with something that if not voluntary would be tortue. For someone who doesn't achieve, a doctrine that condemns ambition can be liberting. Relationship with any expert means you don't know and they do. Morally bad gurus with bad personalities can still give spirtitual insights. Guru enlightenment with no ego can think their beyond morality, "any action can't be harmful". Maintaining eye contact can make you appear enlightened, tremendous power. Watch interviews of Osho. Stare into someones eyes as a lover, some will find it creepier but some will be bewitched by you. Don't give into deception. Eye Contact Meditation:
Sit across your partner and hold each other's gaze.
Nde(near death experience), some people are obessed. 10-20% of people report any experience. Used to support heaven/soul. Sam is agnostic about physical nature of consciousness. He is against religion and bad science. Dmt is wild drug. If a particular story of enlightenment or being special is very alluring, the bar for evidence should go up not down. Drug war is one of great moral failures of our time. Cigarettes and tacaco worse than ectaasy and weed or LCd. Removed from children or addicts. LCd is one of great rites of passage. Bad trips are like hell and you aren't sure if your current state will ever change. Rational normal consciousness is just one form and there many others. Aims of spirituality are not exactly those of sciences but not unscientific. "Consciousness is basis of examined and unexamined life, it is that that can be seems and that that does the seeing. "
Conclusion
"generation after generation humanity fails to abolish our ancestors worst ideas". Many people think religion offers something that has no alternative. "Until we talking about spirituality and self transdence in rational terms, we will remain dogmatic". There are experiences then the story we tell about it. Technology means human ignorance is even more dangerous. Everything good or bad must appear in your perception. "Changing your perception is often as good as changing the world." Mind determines quality of life. Alterant states of consciousness are empirical facts. Consciousness is neither improved or harmed by what it knows, observing this is the basis of human life. Bring how things seem closer to how things are.
Review:
I wanted this book to be better. I agree wholeheartedly with the premise: spirituality and meaning is and should be independent of religion and institutions. But, perhaps I didn't read it carefully enought on a sped up audio book because I am not sure I am closer to actually attaining that ideal. It seems more to me like a series of essays tangitanially related to consciousness and spirituality and drugs. But, I already understood the premise and it seems like that was the conclusion of the book that was supported throughout. Not to mention chapters upon chapters criticizing religions and specific thinkers. I'm really not sure who the audience of this book was intended for. It is a guide to spiritufality without religion or a lure for religious people to give up religion. Either way it is much too abstract and unprespective to be very helpful as a guide and too unforgiving and hardline to be a olive branch to religious. There is definitely many things Sam Harris seems to understand about the nature of spirituality and consciousness that left me confused. So, I plan to give this another reading and another chance because it is a unique and powerful view that I belive in.