Mr. Sam Harris on happiness and spiritual experience.

Sam Harris speaking at AAI 2007 on human happiness, spiritual experience, and the "atheist" movement.

[@epicnessendshere]

Everything that comes out of Sam's mouth could be written down and would automatically form a book. His language and use of words and phrases is phenomenal

[@yodishtrajagatheson3154]

damn, he is so articulate, whenever he expresses an idea, he literally executes it perfectly

[@TinyTurtie]

Honestly, this man just calms me the fuck down. Okay guys, we have Sam on our side. Shit will be fine.

Well said.

[@musicauthority7828]

You are completely wrong, there are some people who could have Sam Harris on their side. and it wouldn't make fucking difference at all so STFU.

[@bobobrien8968]

@@musicauthority7828 Hay, he’s just expressing his opinion. When I last checked, that was one of our basic freedoms. and then there’s the freedom not to be judged by bitter, cold, hateful bone heads like you come off as. Your a troll. What a sad life.

[@HMZ047]

Exactly my thoughts. I've been following his advice and guided meditations for sometime now, and hoping to arrive at a place in consciousness which he advocates. But for now, as an amatuer, just his talks, session, podcasts, audiobooks; do for me that which he himself would argue, should be achieved through 'mindfullness' or 'recognising the nature of consciousness'. He's like a living incarnation of the wittiest self-help book; a book whose articulation and use of language brings you more joy and confidence than the otherwise brillliant ideas that are actually being conveyed.

[@HMZ047]

And yeah also, having discovered him, is for the first time in life that i have felt that there is hope, and 'my people' are out there. So more than any other person that i know, it is Sam Harris, who is on my side. On the side of confused young men like me, who didn't so easily fit the systems designed for the average. Or had the luxury of relying upon the well baked belief systems/worldviews that our peers in the multitudes have no qualms in gobbling up and fall back upon. For us he's guy who did the hardwork of our lives for us; that many of us weren't even genius or brave enough or in a position in time and space, to even imagine possible. He showed that there is a way to consolidate skepticism and happiness without a sacrifice of integrity. In his own words, “Confusion and suffering may be our birthright, but wisdom and happiness are available”. I recommend every human to read his books or atleast the summary of ideas he has to share and offer. I never really understood how people could have one person they've come across or knew and designate them as their Hero. Well ladies and gentlemen Sam Harris is my Hero. My hero personally, for how he has helped me and my hero in general for i just want to be able to serve the project of humanity even if only a shred as much as he has. I'm probably starting to sound like i'm right about to deify or idolise the man, which is ironic, so i'll stop. Just add one quote that now i truly understand after discovering Sam's work. "Given how long its taken for me to reconcile my nature, I can't figure I'd forgo it on your account, Marty." -Rust Cohle (True Detective)

[@rr7firefly]

"Intellectual honesty will always be more durable and deeper and more easily spread than atheism." -- Sam Harris' golden words.

[@msmay1312]

after hearing this words, I just want to cry. How brave he is!

[@swedensy]

Intellectual honesty is Atheism by default.

[@smhaack63]

Artjoms Pugacovs Yes it is, but I think ones goal should be to be intellectually honest (without care where that leads).

[@deanodog3667]

So we burnt all those free thinkers and witches for nothing ffs ?!

[@jarrod5855]

Atheism isn't even really a thing.There is no belief in Atheism, it's a rejection of belief.

[@mikeyo1234]

I emailed Sam several years ago about atheists need to embrace mindfulness and meditation without the mumbo jumbo. He responded that he advocated meditation and agreed that there was a risk of atheists throwing the baby (meditation) out with the bath water (religion). So this talk is great!

[@Curious-nt9dp]

@@DonaldAMisc Add awareness and self-doubt to meditation. You will fully make Buddhism and Advait Vedanta redundant.

[@bubbyskittles4802]

@@Curious-nt9dpI'm interested, could you elaborate on this?

[@motorhead48067]

@@bubbyskittles4802 I can’t be absolutely sure, but I think his point is that one doesn’t need Buddhism or Advieta when you have awareness, curiosity, and a healthy amount of doubt. Those things in combination can’t help but bring you to the insights about the nature of mind that Buddhism and Adveita discuss.

[@millenialmusings8451]

@@motorhead48067 Sam doesn't acknowledge antinatalism. That's one place where he messed up.

[@mikeyo1234]

I agree. A cold hearted cynic who offers no way to move beyond materialism is of no use to anyone. A healthy skeptic who has a heart is probably the most balanced person in existence. Sam is a great role model in this arena,.

[@ivanm.r.7363]

This is like a Satsang for intellectuals and atheists. a beautiful thing to watch :)

[@squamish4244]

Many modern Buddhist teachers rarely reference belief systems or 'God' in their teachings. In traditional circles, Zen in particular is not much concerned with metaphysical inquiry. In fact, one of the most famous Zen anecdotes concerns the great 18th Century teacher Hakuin: Student: "Master, what happens when you die?" Hakuin: "I don't know." Student: "What?!? You're a Zen master!" Hakuin: "But not a dead one."

[@avedic]

I love Sam. Sums up my own viewpoint. I was a die-hard atheist for the longest time...mainly due to my unfailing interest and respect in science. Yet, recent mediation and psilocybin mushroom experiences..of which the psilocybin was the single most poignant, important, and meaningful experience of my entire life..have opened me up to the idea that there may be something very interesting and mysterious about consciousness that is worth looking in to. It needn't be about abandoning reason though

[@acslater017]

May I ask where you’re at now, 8 years later?

[@TejasM14]

What a clear thinker!

[@rans131]

Buddha didnt become enlightened until he gave up his DESIRE to become enlightened

[@quillanvideoclip]

lux ex tenebris -you can't give up desire to be enlightened unless you prefer to remain benighted forever. The Buddha became enlightened when he realised there was nothing to "become"-he, we, were always enlightened even before the bulb got switched on-ta-da! lux ex tenebris.

[@dheena12]

The desire to be something, call it enlightened it whatever, diverts the approach. As other person commented, "there is nothing to be enlightened" , there is no approach, why define a path and restrict. Approach itself is concrete. Why even define something. Your comments are well thought through. Agree

[@renakmans3521]

True and yet you need to shed the old skin somehow.

[@willx1598]

@@renakmans3521 the need to do this is also something that appears in awareness, don’t associate, all the best

[@naphza1]

I am always amazed by how much sense Sam makes when describing our neurotic tendencies and the automaticity of our existence. Mindfulness breaks that spell and frees one of this tendency to be perpetually “lost in thought”. Well put Sam, again. Thanx for the posting.

[@pacoval4577]

kudos to Harris for advocating that, even though there is no god, it is necessary to maintain inner peace and temper our minds.

[@Jide-bq9yf]

@Paco Val he’s awesome , but I suspect , he will always be in the business of preaching to the choir . Overwhelmingly , People are terrified of the unknown and dont understand what it means tto die . And Religion constantly assures them , they most definitely wont .

[@omgekendongekend5694]

Who says there is no god

[@ethanjohnson3642]

You are God is the secret

[@dontworry4082]

Paco Val how do you know there is no God?

[@NGEternal]

@@dontworry4082 We can't "know", however that doesn't mean there is good reason to believe there is one, either. You don't believe in unicorns, do you? Because the truth is, that which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.

[@tuckercoffin2164]

Yep. I'm going through exactly this. I had a goal to reach. I've reached it and I thought I'd just be eating ice-cream until I die now, but no. I'm still looking for something. I guess it's time to stop looking and just be.

[@ldg1414]

As a skeptic who suffers from panic attacks, I'm very thankful I found Sam Harris to dust off religiously infested yet useful ideas.

[@squamish4244]

When Harris says that these subjective experiences are often most important and transformative in someone's life, he's not exaggerating in the slightest. Based on a vast number of testimonials, people's lives can be turned completely upside down in the best possible way.

[@howardrobinson4938]

Some of Sam's turns of phrase are so damn comedic. Some of his audience surely doesn't get that because Sam delivers so poker faced. His comedic intent is brilliant. He knows it and, I believe does it, for his own amusement as much as for the amusement of what he knows will be a minority of his audience. Also he wants the content of what he is saying to certainly be foremost in its effect. But really, even the comedic phrases fit perfectly in his contexts. Quite simply, Sam Harris is a master speaker and wordsmith. Sure, he could do what some speakers do and go for more laughter to stroke his own ego by clueing the audience in when to laugh, perhaps by smirking and laughing himself, but the proof of his humility and respect for the intelligence of that part of his audience that would get his humor is made evident by his straight man delivery. This guy is good. Real good. And his subject matter is what we all direly need to here in these times. Thank Universe he's come around.

[@mohnjarx7801]

Ben Stiller is woke AF

[@acardinalconsideration824]

Ben Stiller is off this week

[@technodance_me]

So happy to hear him say this. Some athiest aren't empathetic to the experiences of others. I wonder how many atheist have turned spritualists?

[@LostInThought2013]

I'm an example of that. :) It's interesting how I was shut off to anything spiritual whatsoever based on my experiences with Christianity. A shift in perspective brought on by meditation really opened my eyes. Like someone else said, we can be spiritual in the sense that Sam describes without abandoning reason.

[@Iksbrown]

DOCTOR Sam Harris. He has a Ph.D. in neuroscience. ;)

[@cloerenjackson3699]

Awesome, a couple of people finally getting the real message from these popular conmen.

[@JonDoe-fo3kl]

***** i agree with you.

[@johnrobinson7696]

***** I do not agree with you.

[@jamesrands]

***** I think you need to listen to what he says. The IDF is morally superior to Hamas or Hizbollah (which is what he actually said) and his thought experiment on "perfect weapons" explains exactly why. There was nothing racist and (surprise surprise) it was vastly more nuanced than anything you have attempted to portray. Maybe you're a liar, maybe your judgement is clouded as soon as Palestine enters the equation or maybe you're just an idiot. If the IDF kills children occasionally as a dual effect of attacking a terrorist target that is not ethically equivalent to Hamas or Hizbollah deliberately targeting children. That distinction has been long understood and you rule yourself out of the civilised and informed debate if you are unable or unwilling to recognise that distinction.

[@cloerenjackson3699]

Excellent, well done James of Tunbridge Wells! Did you see what he did their ladies and gentlemen of the gallery? He provided us with a model example of the fact-free argument. Simply explained, a fact-free argument is one which provides any number of claims it supports with absolutely no substantive evidence whatsoever. No more in fact than you'd find in any argument in which the speaker was simply making things up. Thereby making his argument persuasive to absolutely nobody but an idiot prepared to randomly accept his say-so for no reason. Notice also that he "backed up" his argument using a method common to this type of argument and extremely common on KZbin, which is to simply arbitrarily connect his words with positive qualities such as "nuance" and intelligence. Whilst, similarly arbitrarily, connecting any argument in disagreement with his to negative qualities, in particular negative intellectual qualities such as stupidity and the want of an education. Once again though providing absolutely no credible source or context whatsoever for why anybody else would come to the same conclusion. Any and all the substantive or important material is in fact left in an imaginary but crucial exterior world that all right thinking are supposed to have visited and arrived at the same conclusion, i.e., the conclusion of the speaker, who we are invited to accept has visited some kind of intellectual shangri la of which you have no knowledge and the speaker has plenty. For as long as the speaker refuses to actual connect you with some believable evidence for their conclusions, the correct label for this type of text is "A heap of total shit". Practice yourselves with exercises, for example: "Even stupid people should know that Peter Pan was a magic boy who could fly and make dreams come true. Anybody who thinks this is just a pile of fiction should be ejected as an idiot whose view is unworthy of consideration". Oh, and don't forget to write in a pretentious and didactic style, as if this makes you sound cleverer, more important or more believable, which of course, it doesn't.

[@davidf8858]

Zen priests do not explain the Buddha's experiments this clearly.

[@craighicksartwork]

Zen priests don't attempt to.

[@emilymayer5537]

I like being alone and improve myself very much when I do; intelligence comes from within, not from some outward sources. I must be the anomaly.

[@acardinalconsideration824]

Intelligence comes from both. If you or I would’ve been born a few thousand years ago with the exact same genetics as we have now, we would be very ignorant individuals due to our environment

[@SovietSR71]

this vid is amazing. MUST SPREAD IT AROUND INTERNETZ

[@atious]

i think that quote really expresses something all would benefit from considering

[@tqn1972]

Why did you edited out the iphone joke...regarding,"when are you going to make this thing smaller?" I can see the break in the speak where you edited it out!

[@takchengsze4719]

I was an orthodox christian. I could tell that not all christian are spiritual people. Many are just herd following the crowd.

[@dbsk06]

I actually think he’s far superior to jordan Peterson

[@kuroryudairyu4567]

Even a fart is superior to that pathetic cringy dangerous bigot......

[@Norundithus]

Especially these days

[@squamish4244]

Yet our experience of happiness is subjective. So subjectivity must play a role in the study of happiness.

[@johnheaviside596]

Sam.............This is Lama Tsepal (aka John Heaviside) maybe we chat someday. Nice work........and I have some editorial critique which I'll abstain from here. The importance of continuation of the true transmission lineage. One cannot get it from a book. Contemplatives and mystics are establishing ourselves in a modern context.

[@heekyungkim8147]

I have given up happiness... this modern life I cannot even function.

[@marcies1297]

I feel u

[@cygnusvideo]

Excellent video.

[@sudkjain]

All mortals come packed with a load of faith. In the journey called life some are busted and some are added(like atheism). Then comes the moment of truth in every mortal's life ie death and we realise none was enuf to save the day for us.

[@neihanadew514]

What speach in this? Anyone know where the full thing is?

[@squamish4244]

Apparently, according to neuroscience, every emotion only lasts for a minute and a half before requiring another thought to generate it again. 1.5 minutes for a powerful pleasurable emotion and then it's gone and you have to think about it again for it to come back. That's one chaotic mind!

[@TheSubpremeState]

i must be different. I always love to idea of solitary confinement compared with sharing with prisoners

[@sresnick2]

> [Buddhism and Hinduism] advocate the 'detachment > from material desires' for inner peace, nothing else. Buddha's teaching doesn't "advocate" detachment, inner peace, or anything else. Buddha did teach that an attachment mind (i.e., the mind that likes or dislikes, wants to get or wants to avoid) is a cause of suffering. This is the case whether the object of the attachment is a material thing, an idea, a good feeling, emptiness, freedom, or anything else.

[@major600]

It sounds like he's saying if we shut down our inner monologue and just live in the moment, we could achieve the happiness of the ancient mystics.

[@GSDKXV]

major600 not shutting down our inner monologue, but observing it without judgement. Equanimity approaches when you focus your attention on every object of consciousness (thoughts, itching, sounds, etc) arising in the present moment without making efforts to alter your experience. Its not about thinking more clearly, but experiencing more clearly

[@arranhc]

@@GSDKXV wow, amazing

[@GermanOperaSinger]

@velesk Buddhism at its core is just a philosophy of meditation that does not incorporate any religious ceremonies or superstitious beliefs. People have warped Buddhism into the so called 'religion' it is today. The same holds true for Hinduism, which most Westerners have a very poor understanding of. Both advocate the 'detachment from material desires' for inner peace, nothing else. Many people are turned off by Eastern philosophy because they equate it with religion. It's not the case.

[@constipatedbowels3473]

GermanOperaSinger very beautifully stated...yes in Buddhism,yoga and Hinduism,dere r methods of inquiry and introspection dat r radically empirical and have nothing to do wid metaphysical beliefs...infact,most significant corner-stone of yoga,buddhism and advantage Vedanta z the validity of direct experience ,and inference and not unjustified belief or blind faith....

[@quillanvideoclip]

Well said! The same comments you rightly make would also apply to Taoism. Never mind. Religiosity is a pervasive trait of human frailty. Let granny take the kids to the temple to make offerings, mumble prayers and burn incense if she wants-no harm done-god (small g) willing. LOL!

[@jongreenepwns]

Can anyone link to the original full talk that this is from?

[@blesshawn]

What we all truly seek is R soul.

[@Guedingen]

@MrPhiloscience grateful for the upload as I deleted this accidentally. However I have to take issue with you that there are only long pauses, etc cut. Doesn't he also challenge the atheist notion that 'spiritual experience' lies in experiencing setting and rising suns but is something profounder i.e. as he says earlier, not contingent on anything.

[@Mahesh-om6sq]

If life just happened and be gone after death just like that, why not live a relaxed free life travelling,having fun etc. Why Sam Harris is extremely passionate about Spirituality, Samadi, Meditation!!!Strange isn't it if there is no afterlife(as per him) bugging too much on these issues,is it needed!!!

[@arranhc]

Live up to your own intuitions

[@velesk]

@Aeythvaenn buddhism and stoicism has a lot of common, but the main difference is, that like all other organized faith, buddhism is full of ceremonies and mysticism. the "search for happiness" as he called it must be free of all this. that's why he mentioned, that is has to be free of any faith. just systematic search for this phenomenon.

[@Knaeben]

He destroyed Ben Shapiro once, but the joy from that only lasted about fifteen minutes.

[@joellearvisais7628]

Sam Harris does not “ destroy” anyone…he s just being his smart, eloquent self

[@madhavmaithani7108]

feeling happy is an internal state , does it have external menifestations ? as the saying goes in India - Goonge ka Gur - how does a mute person expresses the taste of sweet ?

[@DavidStrube]

The most significant distinction between solitary confinement and going into isolation seeking happiness is this: perception of choice. If one believes one is in solitude voluntarily then it can be heaven; else, it will be hell. I conjecture that while in solitary confinement, if one chooses to believe it is something that one wants to do, for the sake of seeking happiness, then it would not only be bearable but maybe even preferable to the alternative, i.e., not being in solitary confinement.

[@shantih433]

@EdwardsComment Right. I guess I was hung up on the word "interpretations". Considering the "meaning" of raw data is often still open to subjective interpretation (scientists since Newton have been observing the same world, just interpreting/perceiving it differently) even within science subjectivity plays a major role. This doesn't mean we can't establish probabilities based on consensus, though. It may just mean that "absolute truth" is something we should avoid thinking we've reached.

[@DavidStrube]

(See also the scenes in the Gene Wilder and Richard Prior 1980 film "Stir Crazy" where Gene Wilder didn't want to come out of solitary.)

[@theotherview1716]

@EdwardsComment The idea of a. working collectively (cultures, peoples maintain vastly different ways of perceiving their world largely based on shared history, cultural identity etc. this goes beyond believing in God). Happiness is defined diff. in the West than in the East. There are so many aspects of life that are subjective that to state that "we" need to base "our goals" on objective interpretation is both not feasible and not psychologically normal or healthy.

[@MrPhiloscience]

@ilshockll This was back before I could upload longer videos, so I cut out a few seconds here and there -- mostly long pauses, page turnings etc. The whole talk can easily be found, probably at the top of the suggested videos list.

[@velesk]

he is basically talking about stoicism. it is free of religion and it deals exactly with this view of life - the perception of thinks in our mind brings us happiness/sadness, not the things themselves. ancient greeks had this right, too bad the christianity suppressed it.

[@dylancoleman1921]

I’m strange but I would rather be completely alone. If I could turn off my consciousness I would. I’d rather not experience anything but you can keep my body running for the other people.

[@shantih433]

@EdwardsComment Exactly. My focus is not so much on "objective reality/fact" but rather on how we perceive, think, and talk about it. Of course there is an objective reality, and there is objective fact. None of us live in that world, though. Science, for the most part, has an acknowledgement of this built in, in that it operates based on models and approximations (an does very well by this), but when people assume they've "finally got it" and know "the truth"... they're most likely mistaken

[@bate181]

Does anyone have a link to this full speech?

[@llIIIIlllIIIllI]

why are there gaps in this presentation? what is being said between cuts?

[@sharonallison9922]

YOUR MIND IS LIMITED SAM......

[@indica58]

Use your senses instead of your toughts..

[@DexterDexter123]

What is self if not that constant conversation? Seems like happiness is only attainable if you rid yourself of yourself. Need to look into this further. The strive for gratification must be linked sometimes with the strive for knowledge. You wouldn’t want to get rid of that, surely. I could do with the volume being turned down though... o can see that.

[@kalo_reefer]

brilliant

[@pineapplaplatypotato]

“To be really funny, not just funny once or twice, requires that you kind of just don’t give a fuck.” Wisemen and sages gave too much of a fuck. Trolling is really the answer, as weird as that sounds.

[@squamish4244]

Love is sufficient but it doesn't come naturally, not in the way he's talking about it.

[@ZachRose88]

@AegeanKing Supporting the concept of "God" is even better business.

[@squamish4244]

Not for me, and not for a lot of people. Many loved and curious people are not happy.

[@ZachRose88]

@AegeanKing That's a pretty blanket statement, what about books like the Bible itself? What about people who claim to talk to the dead like James Van Praagh? What about the lady who gained international fame from finding an image of Mary in a grilled cheese sandwhich? Anyways I hope you're right on that point actually. Books by deluded people who believe in the tooth fairy (or "God", whatever) should be laughed straight out of bookstores.

[@mompm]

bravo

[@Sashin9000]

I don't believe the first two presumptions are necessary for that statement to hold.

[@Marqui91]

Dr. Sam Harris

[@AlmostEthical]

No one knows much but why single out atheists? They're probably more rational than others. More interesting was SH's comment about peak experiences, which may be subjective and not scientifically verifiable but they can be objectively hugely important in one's life. Here's the rub: I suspect that believing you can instinctively tap into the universe's weirdness even if you don't understand it makes having peak experiences more likely. Sometimes I wish I was less rational.

[@arranhc]

The problem of being too rational, but we cant help it, its what we believe in

[@shantih433]

@EdwardsComment I'm not sure I know what an "objective interpretation" is. Aren't all interpretations subjective? This is not mere pedantry.

[@jackb2009]

My beliefs are not based on a lack of evidence. We are all in possession of the same evidence. It comes down to where each one of us believes this evidence is pointing, since absolute proof will always be unattainable regarding the existence of God.

[@michellehayton8984]

I feel a deep connection to existence and a peaceful stillness whenever I meditate by letting go of my thoughts and simply being in the moment. I do not believe in God in the traditional sense but I do believe that we are connected to existence, it is just that we get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of life to notice that connection and that is why many people become ego driven and disconnected. Existence itself is a mystery, nobody knows why we are here because it is beyond human comprehension right now. As we continue to evolve perhaps we will come closer to the awnswer. I do not think the universe is intelligent because it does not have a brain. Everything comes out of nothing and returns to nothing. I am not an atheist in the sense that I do not believe in anything. If God exists it is simply creation itself and we are all a part of it

[@alchemy1]

Universe is not intelligent because it does not have a brain? But your brain came from the universe, unless it came from outside of it? Oops. Now what.

[@michellehayton8984]

we are part of the universe becoming aware of itself. No the universe does not have a brain, but it is conscious! There does seem to be a sense of order to the universe, but it does not have a brain in the way a human being does. Pehapes the universe is more intelligent than we know, I do not know the full truth of it and nobody else can claim to either. The human brain is the result of millions of years of evolution and is an amazing thing.

[@sriramprasath4397]

Very true statement! I would even say that the brain does not have intrinsic intelligence, in the sense that... lets say that I have programmed a computer to work out the solution of a mathematical problem for me. It works like a contraption and gives me a solution. But the intelligence required to solve the problem doesnt belong to the computer it belongs to the one who programmed it. I think we similarly train the brain since childhood to help us solve our problems, the brain never truly being the source of intelligence, just a visible part of it. So it is the "I" that should be truly seen as intelligent :)

[@ivanm.r.7363]

+woompa Loompa emergent properties? do some research about it. you're trying to sound smart, but you end up looking naive and dumb lol.

[@ivanm.r.7363]

+Michelle Hayton the universe is conscious? oh my... XD

[@calleedlund21]

What's up with atheists? Do they seriously believe that death must be the end? What if our consciousness can be transfered via electromagnetic fields for example? Through time and into another body at a later date? I don't find anything non-atheistic about that. And regarding spiritual experience. I believe that this is the purpose of life. That the purpose is simply to express yourself however you wish. I've been trying to find out the purpose of life and everything else have failed

[@Dennzer1]

@LegendSw0rd like the theory of gravity

[@nayanmalig]

Watch this - Tibetan Buddhist monks meditating. (history channel). In a meditation test done under Dr. Benson, of a reputed Harvard institute, the monks create heat by just thought. (all wired up & not in ideal situation either). It was not not matter >energy. It was thought > energy. No physicist can explain that. Physics as we know it breaks down. So the word rational fizzles out. Like you said it's a tap into the universe's weirdness. There maybe secretive monks who can be even weirder.

[@MrPhiloscience]

@Aeythvaenn Sure. I guess I just don't understand why they still call themselves Buddhists...

[@theotherview1716]

@Rudra108 The greatest pleasure is a relationship with God. I happen to love Harris though. I enjoy his critical thinking, his courage, and sincerity. I just disagree with him on the God issue.

[@theotherview1716]

@EdwardsComment You are oversimplifying a complex issue. You view these issues in atheist and theist, when there are so many differences between us on so many levels.

[@mirosgerg]

Sam Harris has a voice of a guy who believes in god...

[@ape4390]

w0t

[@Viriyascybin]

Mr. Sam Harris

[@bodhisattva99]

Who programs Sam Harris?

[@f8807kri]

Eastern philosophies are miss understood as religion in its classical meaning.

[@robalvarado290]

When is Ben Stiller going to parody him on SNL?

[@musicauthority7828]

Hell it's constant for me and I'm sick of it. death would be a sweet relief for me.

[@jakescorpion1]

You are confusing Buddhist practice with religion which it is not. Buddhism is about understanding not some magical mystical phenomenon.

[@lovelyeyessee]

He read” Power of Now”😂

[@lovelyeyessee]

@Nobody Unknown No diss on Harris, so what that he and Tolle recycle & earn a living, there's nothing new under the sun. I'm glad the info is making the rounds cause, suffering sucks!!

[@quillanvideoclip]

lovelyeyessee -I dunno. I guess I'm just a shallow guy but I find Tolle intollerable (typo intentional)-he has such a punchable face. I hear he makes more money from his books than JK Rowling does from Harry Potter. But, as a closet Christian, Tolle would simply turn the other cheek so I won't bother with reading his divinely lucrative oeuvre. I like SH though.

[@xsuploader]

@@quillanvideoclip 1. he doesnt make more than jk Rowling 2. If you find his face punchable this is a problem of your ego. Don't project your shortcomings onto other people 3. He's not a closet Christian in the slightest. He merely uses Christian language because he primarily deals with a Christian audience. This is a common thing for speakers to do.

[@DexterDexter123]

Blimey.

[@Smood47]

Mr? You know he has a PhD right? Change your title please.

[@42BETWO]

Intellectual honesty leads us to non-conceptual knowledge of God (in “the cloud of unknowing”). Meditation is the contemplation of ultimate reality through negation...’not this, not that’ (stop thinking)...in the acknowledgement and the experience of the ineffable nothing (“no thing”); off the rails of linear thought; beyond conceptual limitations and their symbolic representations. All religions are just fingers pointing. The Religious tend to suck the fingers rather than get to their point? Getting to the point is the experience of what “IS”...the eternal NOW-OF ITSELF, SO. This, Alan Watts called, “the supreme experience.” Atheists are correct. There’s no naming God (unnameable, per Lao Tzu) as no one exists outside of eternity to hang a name on it-All IS GOD... in a polarity of inseparable opposites (yin & yang). All that exists is the flip side of non-existence (no thing)...like matter and the space that contains it. The invisible knows Itself by the visible...immortal by mortal...life by death...male by female...light by dark...ones by zeros etc... As nothing exists outside of “God,” all that exists must be God-manifestations (incarnations) : God/not god simultaneously. Like a wave is/is not the entire ocean.

[@claudedupont8233]

I can t get no satisfaction

[@Rudra108]

the gentleman and the caveman

[@bxbluesofficial]

And none of that means anything if we're just dust from start dust on a floating rock. ....

[@FlaminPigz7]

Who cares if we are star dust? Do you enjoy being happy? This doesn't have much to do with star dust at all. Just enjoy being.

[@SrValeriolete]

Actually being dust from a start dust on a floating rock is fucking amazing.

[@Hermoor]

I want LSD"!"!

[@Gravija1980]

Sam "gets it" where all other atheists fail.

[@bodhisattva99]

7:27 To recognize "thought" as "thought"... ??? Which is what exactly?

[@SherKhan0122]

Thoughts are transitory appearances in the present moment, arising in the form of mental images and/or mental talk. Your mind's eye, and the voice inside your head. Notice that you actually hear a voice as you're reading these words? Whether you're reading my words, thinking about the future, rehearsing a memory (you’re thinking with other people's voices too!), it's always mental image and mental talk, and it’s always, always happening now. The point of meditation is to develop state of deep awareness with the present moment, so you can be aware of thought AS IT ARISES instead of having your attention constantly being "captured by it" after it’s already arisen. Prelminary mindful awareness meditation is about building up three attentional skills, concentration, sensory clarity, and equanimity. The point of building up these tools is to shine this flashlight of mindful awareness on the arising of thought, and then you "look backwards" to "look for the thinker", or turn your attention in on itself. This spontaneously induces an experience of selflessness. It allows you to penetrate the feeling that you are the thinker of your thoughts. Sam mentions "not recognizing thought as thought" here because the feeling that you are the thinker of thoughts is the same feeling as being lost in thought, being identified with this voice in your head. Just for a moment notice that you don't feel like you are in you are in your big toe. You don't feel identical to your body, you feel like you HAVE a body. And you feel like you, are somewhere inside your head, behind your eyes, separate from the world you are looking out at. But this feeling of "you" can be altered, expanded (psychedelics), or abolished altogether. The stream of inner sensory experience that gives rise to the "feeling we call I" cannot be who we actually are, because intentions, thoughts, emotions, desires, all the things that make us feel like who we are, are all appearing, changing, and disappearing moment to moment. None of the contents of consciousness are permanent. In what way are you the same person you were 5 years ago? Every mental state you've ever had has come and the gone. The feeling that you are the thinker of your thoughts, even if it is the single content in your consciousness that seems like it is always there and defines who you are, is an illusion. What we actually care about (if you think about the tragic mental illnesses of dementia or Alzheimer's), is psychological continuity, not permanent selfhood. Realizing this is not a matter of intellectual understanding, it's a matter of paying closer attention. Building up the sensory clarity of mindfulness allows you to disentangle those strands of inner experience that make you unhappy even when you needn't be. It liberates the mind to allow grateful thoughts and positive emotion such as love, and compassion to appear naturally. The ability to shine light on the ways our minds create our own suffering creates insight, and you start to pay attention to your life intelligently, rather than being killed by the same monster in the same spot every single time. It clarifies and brightens your experience by showing you who and what you really are, have always been, and gives you a glimpse of what is possible, Our true potential for well-being, creativity, compassion, and intellectual growth is quite literally unfathomable to most people right now. You asked your question assuming that the answer would be something digestible, a concept that would help you think more clearly about experience, but your real answer has to come from actually experiencing things more clearly, including the arising of thought. And that's why you meditate. And before all the training it takes for all that crazy cool shit to happen, the other benefits start to pour in surprisingly quickly. -Much of what I said is adapted straight from Sam's book Waking Up. :) Highly recommend getting stoned and listening to it. The man puts it far better than I could.

[@bodhisattva99]

And all of that comes straight out of Buddhist thought. My point was that nobody can actually explain just what "thought" is. Why and how to recognize thought as thought? Got it. What it consists of? Where it originates? What it is comprised of? What our awareness of it is? These are questions science has not answered yet and if it ever does then that will have been the moment when science and religion merge which is, personally, what I believe will happen eventually. Thought/observation are inseparable. One cannot exist without the other. There is NO such thing as "objective reality". Hardcore atheists who identify strongly as 'realists/materialists' seem to always overlook that fact.

[@bodhisattva99]

fuck off

[@ConQuiX1]

Thought can exist without observation, but all observations are thoughts. A measurement is not a thought until it is observed by an observer, but the universe can "self measure" without any conscious observer (this is where Deepak goes off the rails). Wave functions collapse when particles interact in specific ways, quantum states can "decohere". Our minds are built up of these systems, subjectivity emerges out of this physical backdrop of how the cosmos actually is and how it operates. That backdrop is the objective part - it exists, but we cannot and will not ever completely map it. We cannot have a perfect model of ourselves, there is always "overhead" (another contribution from Turing and probably others have realized this). When you say no objective reality exists you are mistaking our not being able to grasp that reality and mentally reconstruct its territory within our subjective mental space with the idea that that territory does not exist (this is the "tree falls in the forest" question - I say it makes a sound, you say it doesn't unless it's heard). We have good reasons to suspect that objective reality exists in our absence, but some of its details will always remain beyond us no matter how advanced we become. The more complex we get, the harder it gets to map because we are a part of the picture that cannot be overlooked or isolated.

[@bodhisattva99]

How could you possibly have "good reasons" that an objective reality exists when the only way that you are aware reality exists is through your perception of it? You would be using your mind to form theories then wouldn't you? And observations gathered via that mind which is the only tool you have to perceive the world in order to develop and consider those "good reasons", wouldn't you?

[@hardcorgamer007]

that boredom is there because there is a void inside each of us that cannot be filled with anything except the transcendent aka the creator of the universe, atheism is an endless pit of delusion and existential dissatisfaction, that deeper form of wellbieng is activated when you connect with god, wake up sammy

[@dw2369]

Oh, and you know for sure that's the answer? It amazes me how certain one can be in the absence of proof . Maybe you are grasping onto something as an answer because you can't sit in the I or We Do Not Know. So , you grasp onto something you have convinced yourself is real because at least that gives your mind rest in this area in your thinking and questioning. But, you will just blow me off and say that I am the delusional one because I will not concede to what I perceive as a made up set of ideologies brought forth by wanting to fill in the blanks .

[@dw2369]

Anyone in desperation can delude themselves that God or his spirit has rested with them and "shown them the way". Wanting answers in this life and direction we will grasp onto ideologies that may not be provable but bring us peace inside for a time. We will turn these ideologies into truth for ourselves and in turn want everyone else to share in this "truth".

[@dw2369]

Earthworm, his name is Sam Harris for one and secondly atheism is a label for those who are not convinced that the "truth" you peddle or believe in holds water. Calling atheism"an endless pit of delusion" makes no since , I mean how can not being convinced a god exist because of the lack of evidence be a delusion?. I mean, if there is delusion here it sits with those who believe in unfounded claims such as the existence of a God who is proposed to exist but can't be seen except in a tree or flower or sunset which are all explained by natural means.

[@johnhanks4260]

Happiness is "hap". The good surprises and inspirations you experience every day. Simple and existential. Proportion. compare the good ones to the bad ones. Seek not. Religions are cults. This creep has his personality cult. Sophisticated people are not in any cults. Unsophisticated people are suckers for cults.? I'm not a sucker for his.

[@abdihakimabdi7368]

wish he could dumb down the vocabulary jeez?

[@matthewtenney2898]

Up until about 5:00, he could mistaken for an intelligent Christian as he lays out the problem that atheism cannot answer (and he doesn't answer it either). Then he begins to characterize people of faith as living in prison in solitary confinement and talking to themselves all the time. The Christian idea is that we can go to the mountaintop but we have to leave it. We have to come down into the real world. Harris fails to acknowledge that. More intense mockery around 9:00 where he accuses people of faith as delusional and frightened and believing in iron-age fairy tales. At the end, he claims love and curiosity are sufficient. But what is love to the atheist other than mere chemicals in the brain that give us a pleasant feeling? That makes love equivalent to a drug addiction. He talks about intellectual honesty but he has set himself up as totally unable to be unbiased. As having rejected God, he has a powerful motivation to be anything but honest.

[@toasternfriends3329]

Everything you wrote overtly presupposes the existence of God, and therefore everything you wrote is b-b-b-bullshit.

[@sharonallison9922]

"HE" ???? I GUESS "SHE" DOESN'T FIT IN THERE.....LEARN SAM

[@henochparks]

Sam's basic problem is he does not know where he came from ...why he is here...or where he is going...he is lost ...He needs to listen instead of preaching his guessing

[@theotherview1716]

I like Harris but he's weak in this area.