Am reading a book called “Waking Up” by Sam Harris, subtitled ‘searching for spirituality without religion.’
I’m enjoying it so far but I’m in two minds about it (!) On the one hand, I’m excited to learn about the nature of consciousness and how mindfulness can improve my quality of life. Can it be true that my inner voice is not actually me? Can I reach nirvana by practicing meditation?
On the other hand, how stupid would I feel to have taken over five decades to only just be beginning on the road to achieving spiritual enlightenment, if it’s not all just a bunch of hooey?
I strongly recommend his app, also called Waking Up.
And his podcast, ‘Making Sense’.
Thanks for this. It’s an amazing book so far, could be life changing.
I can’t remember how much of his life story he goes into in the book but he spent a lot of his 20s in India and Nepal studying Buddhism/Hinduism…but he’s also fiercely atheist, one of the ‘four horsemen’ alongside Dawkins, Dennett and Hitchens (RIP). And he dabbled with psychedelics. So he has a fascinatingly scientific perspective on the positive aspects of meditation and spirituality that filters out the mythology and superstition.
I ‘discovered’ him about two years ago somewhere down a rabbit hole that began in Wellington 4 years ago.
Enjoy the book!