Sam Harris: Mindfulness is Powerful, But Keep Religion Out of It | Big Think

Sam Harris: Mindfulness is Powerful, But Keep Religion Out of It
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Sam Harris says that stress-reductive benefits of meditation are rather trivial compared to the insights one can discover about the nature of the self. And though such mindfulness practices can and should be approached through a secular lens, the business of religion is all too often a forced and unnecessary part of the parcel.
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SAM HARRIS:
Sam Harris is the author of the New York Times bestsellers, The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation. The End of Faith won the 2005 PEN Award for Nonfiction.
Mr. Harris' writing has been published in over ten languages. He and his work have been discussed in Newsweek, TIME, The New York Times, Scientific American, Rolling Stone, and many other journals. His writing has appeared in Newsweek, The Los Angeles Times, The Times (London), The Boston Globe, The Atlantic, Nature, The Annals of Neurology, and elsewhere.
Mr. Harris is a graduate in philosophy from Stanford University and holds a PhD in neuroscience from UCLA, where he studied the neural basis of belief with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). He is also a Co-Founder and CEO of Project Reason.
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TRANSCRIPT:
Sam Harris: Mindfulness is very much in vogue at this moment as many of you probably know. And it’s often taught as though it were a glorified version of an executive stress ball. It’s a tool you want in your tool kit. It prepares you emotionally to go into a new experience with a positive attitude and you know you’re not hauling around baggage from the past. And that’s true. Actually having focus and having your mind in the present moment is a little bit of a superpower in situations that we’re all in from day to day. But that actually undervalues what mindfulness really is and its true potential. It’s more like the large hadron collider in that it’s a real tool for making some fundamental discoveries about the nature of the mind. And one of these discoveries is that the sense of self that we all carry around from day to day is an illusion. And cutting through that illusion I think is actually more important than stress reduction or any of the other conventional benefits that are accurately ascribed to mindfulness.
The enemy of mindfulness and really of any meditation practice is being lost in thought, is to be thinking without knowing that you’re thinking. Now the problem is not thoughts themselves. We need to think. We need to think to do almost anything that makes us human - to reason, to plan, to have social relationships, to do science. Thinking is indispensable to us but most of us spend every moment of our waking lives thinking without knowing that we’re thinking. And this automaticity is a kind of scrim thrown over at the present moment through which we view everything. And it’s distorting of our lives. It’s distorting of our emotions. It engineers our unhappiness in every moment because most of what we think is quite unpleasant. We’re judging ourselves, we’re judging others, we’re worrying about the future, we’re regretting the past, we’re at war with our experience in subtle or coarse ways. And much of this self-talk is unpleasant and diminishing our happiness in every moment. And so meditation is a tool for cutting through that.
It’s interrupting this continuous conversation we’re having with ourselves. So that is - that in and of itself is beneficial. But there are features of our experience that we don’t notice when we’re lost in thought. So, for instance, every experience you’ve ever had, every emotion, the anger you felt yesterday or a year ago isn’t here anymore. It arises and it passes away. And if it comes back in the present moment by virtue of your thinking about it again, it will subside again when you’re no longer thinking about it. Now this is something that people tend not to notice because we rather than merely feel an emotion like anger, we spend our time thinking of all the reasons why we have every right to be angry. And so the conversation keeps this emotion in play for much, much longer than its natural half-life. And if you’re able, through mindfulness to interrupt this conversation and simply witness the feeling of anger as it arises you’ll find that you can’t be angry for more than a few moments at a time. If you think you can be angry for a day or even an hour without continually manufacturing this emotion by thinking without knowing that you’re thinking, you’re mistaken. And this is something...
Read the full transcript at bigthink.com/videos/sam-harri...

[@bigthink]

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[@robertdouglas8895]

We have the mind of God. No stress ball needed. That isn't a superpower; it's just power that we all are. Ask and you receive. If you want to ask God to show you your unconscious mind to correct it, that's what you will receive. You realize you are angry because you blame others for your condition. God will show you how to correct those false ideas by metanoia. You don't have to declare you have a religion to ask God for help. Turning consciousness upon itself does not remove you from thinking you are separate from the world you experience. When the messenger returned with the truth that we are projecting the images on the wall, they killed him.

[@3m0k1d4evr]

it is astounding how reasonable this man is.

[@FutureAbe]

lol.. yea I kno what you mean

[@Bozhena904]

Yeah good thing he came up with this completely new mindfullness thing that no stupid religious person would have come up with!

[@barnabyrt1012]

Ralph Livingston, Yes, indeed

[@3m0k1d4evr]

Zwartekaka He didn't come up with it, but he has aided in bringing more attention to it from the secular crowd.

[@thisguy7633]

He has so much compassion for Palestine too (sarcasm).

[@BoStanfordify]

I've never seen someone express theirselves as well as Sam does. The vocabulary, the way he structures speech, the timing. How he manages to never be confusing even when talking about extremely complicated subjects. I'm such a big fan of Sam.

[@highhorseperthian]

When your passionate about something that easy for you to dive in and investigate everyday you tend to let your inspiration find its vocabulary in the moment of talking about your inspiration

[@_SoundByte_]

Well said! I feel the same about him.

[@pravinda333]

I am a Buddhist. I do not know if you know this or not but Buddha always discourage blind faith. Of course Buddhism has 2 parts. One is like a science, logical and philosophical. There is also a part about things like Karma and stuff. But Buddhism never says you go to hell if you are not a Buddhist. Buddhism is open to questioning. Always has been.

[@pravinda333]

Plus. You don't need to believe in anything to meditate. Not even Buddhism.

[@rodolpheleon5788]

David Sebastian Buddha does say that there is a hell though, and the path to hell is more or less "if you fail to heed the teachings", which isn't all that qualitatively different from other religions, nor is it all that different from saying "you will go to hell if you aren't a Buddhist." Of course one could accidentally stumble into the teachings, or a life in accordance with the teachings, without ever actually encountering them, but then one is avoiding hell by being an accidental Buddhist. I like Sam, but I hesitate to follow his argument all the way through; I really think there's something to be said for some of the "religious baggage" of Buddhism (like Karma), and other religions perhaps as well (at least Christianity, the only other big one I've engaged with deeply). I believe that there are deep, mysterious truths about human life and the structure of reality that you can perceive directly with your consciousness as being authentic, if you figure out the right way to seek, which would be totally impossible to test for Scientifically. For example, the doctrines of Karma or Divine Providence (note also that Buddha explicitly affirms the existence of gods and the divine, so is epistemologically a Theist, but his claim is that our work as human beings does not lie in worshipping these gods or 'Brahma'). There is a great deal of Truth coded into the mythological baggage of iron age cult beliefs. The difficulty is in delivering these truths in language. It certainly seems outwardly that the vast majority of religious people have no actual experience of Truth, and their understanding of their own theologies is no deeper than a child's belief in Santa Clause. Or they may have sophisticated intellectual apprehension of their dogmas, but this knowledge only exists on the level of thought and blind belief. This religion-as-ideology (most religion, or at least most strident religious people are like this) is a dead, empty vessel, and infact more often than not a demonic vessel of suffering. This truth was recognized by both Christ and Buddha.

[@romandoria]

rodolphe leon I feel that if you take into consideration the present is all anyone ever has, and you add to that ideas like heaven and hell then they must automatically be rooted in the present. This is to say that you can build your very own hell or heaven in the present moment. So when it says, "if you fail to adheed to the teachings" perhaps it is saying that you will feel so consumed by suffering caused by your own mind that you will be miserable in the present. Of course, not everyone is consumed by suffering but maybe it is because they have their own belief system that helps them out of suffering.

[@romandoria]

I agree with everything you said. Religion has been used as a great tool of control and intolerance. But, do not be quick to disregard all of its teachings simply because of how it was descended through time. There is something that religion alludes to, that forms part of a human need for belonging that can't be ignored and will continue with a different name and better ideals.

[@quantumdelta123]

rodolphe leon I would like to point out that buddha actually never said you'll go to hell if you don't heed the teaching. He simply said you'll always feel the ramification of your actions, good or bad. Harming other living things through killing, hurting, stealing, lying, being dishonest etc. the effect of those unskillful actions will always come back around to hurt you. One can completely live a very fulfilling, very noble life without even being aware of buddhist teachings. It doesn't take a buddhist to know that harming something or someone is a bad conduct. He never intended to start a religion, most "buddhists" nowadays take part in rituals and reiligionise the philosophy in a way buddha would discourage if he were still alive. Buddha explicitly advised “Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.” Just thought I would make a point. Have a great day! :)

[@SpaydtheOmega]

Sidartha Buddha didn't start the religion he just developed a lifestyle. His followers developed the religion.

[@mohsinakhtar7876]

SpaydtheOmega “No religion “ is also another form of religious ideology (self made) The answer isn’t to kick out religion globally and keep it personal Then possibly there would be almost 8 billion different religions one for every human on the planet and that would divide the world into Not just few hundred countries rather billions of countries even the size of a camp tent. More reasonable solution is to find the RIGHT 1(QUICK) And stick to it till death because Truth and Falsehood can’t come together TRUTH always prevails(Quran) The struggle between right and wrong has always existed since the beginning of humankind and it will remain. The only difference is now there are multiple struggles due to the population and the mainly because of so many different ideologies/religions/politics and other “isms” Hint: to make things easy for All of Humanity in UNITY under The AbSoulute Truth 1=3 (Christianity) 1=0 (Atheism) 0=1 (hypocrisy/Satanism) 1=?(Agnosticism) 1=X(others) Correct answer is(1=1) That is ISLAM The only Religion that is fundamentally consistent mathematically and then scientifically and then philosophically. (Read The Quran)

[@davelanciani-dimaensionx]

Same with Jesus. He was Jewish. His followers developed Christianity.

[@professorx3060]

@@mohsinakhtar7876 let me guess, you are Muslim 😂

[@professorx3060]

@@mohsinakhtar7876 I don't know how Islam is "mathematically" true if your ancestors banned math for few hundred years because they thought it was the devil's work. Are you telling me that atheism is equal to "satanism"? Because I see your equations.

[@KibyNykraft]

To say that the self is literally an illusion is a bit exaggerating. Not even the most holistic zen new agers say that. The self exists by the process of the body and brain function. To reduce the force of the ego is another and more important matter.

[@vitaminasHM]

For me, mindfulness and meditation changed my life completely. I rediscovered my own self and figured out it was an illusion. I recovered my capacity to feel a whole range of emotions that I had just covered with anger for a long time. I started with it exactly for the stress reducing values and ended up entering a whole new world that made me transcend to become the person I really want to be. Discovered compassion and how that emotion can make one feel. Just a pity the amount of time I wasted lost in automatisms and thoughts that fed negative emotions. But yes, meditation is an amazing and beautiful practice that, in my opinion, would be great if it were taught in schools since we are children.

[@kaiavera2800]

"One accidental strand of human culture" Love that phrase!

[@mkprocter882]

Sam Harris is exactly how I want to be, he truly is a guy who knows his place in the world and has a deep understanding of life, it's inspiring to know there are millions of people that think along these lines.

[@OMAR-vq3yb]

The Buddhists taught him well. Now he wants to burn their village down.

[@GT6SuzukaTimeTrials]

"Why is it that we rejoice at a birth and grieve at a funeral? It is because we are not the person involved." - Mark Twain

[@kobalt77]

I got a completely different understanding of that the 3rd time I read it. Twain was a genius. I love his quotes.

[@Nathan-hp9tj]

I always listen to Sam Harris when I feel stressed out, his words have a way of calming me down

[@keshavfulbrook6698]

Dharma is not the same as religion. The concept of "Mindfulness" has been carried forward into the modern day through the context of teaching traditions such as those found within Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism), Bauddha Dharma (Buddhism), Jain Dharma (Jainism), etc. These Dharmas are not warring sects, but schools of thought that have their own teaching traditions. We think of them as "religion" because we are projecting our own Western notions of "religious sectarianism" onto Eastern Dharmas. Eastern Dharmas do not hold dogmas or doctrines of "one exclusive way for all mankind." Quite the contrary. Speaking from the Hindu tradition, the Bhagavad Gita tells us that we all are struggling through various paths that will ultimately lead to the same destination, by whichever name it is called. (Chapter 4, verse 11). You must then ask yourself, what is the value of tradition? It is through these traditions that the teachings have been preserved and passed down for you. It is the tree that grew the fruit of wisdom you now enjoy and eat. This wisdom can benefit all, regardless of their path. But to take the fruit alone while neglecting the tree will lead to destruction of the fruit itself. Someone has to care for the tree. Calling traditional Hindus and Buddhists, who care for the tree whose fruits you eat, "fundamentalists" or "the problem with humanity" is an unfair and narrow sighted criticism . Hari Om.

[@TheOrnt]

+Brandon Fulbrook I don't think so.

[@princeofruins3287]

+Brandon Fulbrook Dharma is a synonym of religious duties ...

[@amazon6856]

+Odin Skrotumsson You may not but mindfulness and meditation are core concepts of Dharma Traditions.

[@amazon6856]

+the chikmiester Not that simple....it cannot be understood in terminologies given by the west, you have to live it....

[@princeofruins3287]

amazon That's bullshit...

[@rf-uj5sc]

The difference is Jesus never talked about physics, so Christianity and physics and unrelated. But the Buddha specifically taught mindfulness meditation himself, so even though mindfulness meditation can lead one to discover universal truths regardless of their religious affiliation, giving credit where credit is due isn't a bad thing. Especially when the guy figured it out 2500 years ago. Neither is identifying with the teachings of Buddha, since the Buddha never encouraged sectarianism in the first place.

[@Bozhena904]

We had Buddha...but now we have Sam Harris! Who...who...took something that Buddha teached and is now presenting it as something as his own... Because he's Sam Harris and giving us something that Buddha teached but...better...new and improved...and made better by himself beacuse Buddha was just silly! I'm getting my Sam Harris statue ordered as we speak.

[@RyanDMoore]

I understand exactly where he is coming from, though. As a former Buddhist, many Buddhists adhere to the notion that they are, in fact, Buddhist. Instead of the notion that Buddhism is a great arrow that points to the experience of self-transcendence (much like Sam Harris' lectures on it), but that arrow is not the experience itself. So to call oneself "this" or "that" is to adhere to a pointer instead of adhering to and identifying with the experience of the self-concept as an illusion itself.

[@squamish4244]

Yes, it's the whole "Be a Buddha, not a Buddhist" thing. But it can be useful to place oneself somewhere conceptually, and f I had to do that, I would say I am post-Buddhist, a word that is gaining increasing currency in the modern world. Post-Buddhism argues for an evidence-based interpretation of the Dharma and the cross-fertilization of modern science and technology to produce new insights and techniques.

[@BrainsVsNuts]

The existence of God is a claim about physics.

[@mhmdrifaie1049]

Exactly :) thank you

[@Gullinnova]

this video is very timely for me. I have dived into a lot of Alan Watts and i do enjoy how he challenges what i would define as the limits of philosophy. Identity, words/symbols and their meanings/limitations, Meditation definitely changed my life and showed me a new angle of mind and i can tell Sam has experience what i have with his meditation based on his descriptions which does indeed confirm its objectivity. I agree keep the worship/religion out as always, think for yourself question authority. I always just try to shatter what i believe in to find new ground.

[@savcmsiscool]

Sam Harris is so articulate. His vocabulary is insane and I definitely get lost sometimes when he's speaking about neurons and what-not, but the way he speaks has a calming effect.

[@jibbygibb5138]

2:52 that is so fucking true. Justification of my anger or displeasure is what continues it on, and it's so hard to stop when i feel it's justified.

[@MyLeSaff]

I actually miss the days when I wasn't conscious of my own thoughts, it seems like as blissful idea to me now. I now spend all day hearing myself, and listening to the arguments and conversations that go on up there. If it wasn't for the experiences I've had since I'd definitely take blue the pill.

[@tomnerva1586]

Le Saff Remind me not to let you pick up the phone first. :)

[@mansoor7571]

Ur missing him is an illusion , U need to wake up, and for that U need to be aware that u are nothing lol this is exactly what he is saying

[@jbomb1414ify]

WOW! The phrase "meditation is a tool for cutting through this continuous conversation were have with ourselves" was *SPOT ON!!*

[@bartstewart8644]

The guy is a giant. Much of the criticism of him is just nit-picking. Some of it is just biased baloney. Is he 100% correct on everything? No. Nobody is. Is he brilliant and worth listening to? Yes, he is. I hope if you agree with me on that you will spread the word on Sam Harris. Just pass along some links.

[@squamish4244]

The only thing I really disagree with him on is Islam. And to some extent his strict reductionist view of the mind. But other than that, he is an extraordinary thinker.

[@pontiuspilatus964]

+valar Not to be like that but those are his strongest subjects. These are the things he's te most clear and correct on.

[@batshitcrazy757]

valar you disagree with a neuroscientist on his reductionist view of the mind? I'm not qualified to refute a neuroscientist claims about how the human mind works. As far as religion goes you can find harmful ideology in most if not all of the worlds religions. Religion is a great thing to hide behind if you wanna do some criminal shit and it always has been because people are too afraid to criticize people's beliefs in worry they will become branded a bigot. The fact of the matter is that humans do not require religion to be good people. Compassion is an inherent quality in humans assuming they are not suffering from some mental illness and as an atheist I treat people with compassion for the sole purpose of treating people with compassion, not because I will be rewarded by god in some way. Not that every religious person does this but some do. So if humans do not require religion to be good and kind to each other then what's the point in religion? Why open the door to all of these ridiculous ideologies that breed so much hate and violence in the world? That's just how I see it.

[@sanekabc]

Sam isn't a reductionist.

[@tnvol5331]

then why does he avoid debating Bernado Kastrup?

[@CarolynEllisQtEllis]

Just because we have inner peace and strength as a result of learning from people like Sam doesn't mean there'll be peace in the outside world as a result. But I'm sure it's the place to start.

[@jimbogrey1368]

what makes what he says right ???

[@viviankris9939]

You have wonderful racks

[@OnyxIdol]

Ironically, the way I understand it, Gautamas teachings were very much agnostic in nature. They were turned into a religion later, and against Gautama's wishes.

[@squiglemcsquigle8414]

i wouldnt say buddism is a religion spirituality yes religion no a way of living would be the cliche

[@01assassinscreed63]

Follow Buddha not Buddhism I am not telling to leave your family Just be a good person

[@01assassinscreed63]

@@squiglemcsquigle8414 Buddhism is Just opposed to Gautama teachings

[@01assassinscreed63]

@@squiglemcsquigle8414 well Buddhism isn't a way of living it's a set of rules Like becoming blad rules for monks nuns becoming like Buddha false teachings aren't preached by buddha

[@TheGuiltsOfUs]

Nonsense there is no place for some infantile creator in buddhism and phantom impersonal ones can be discarded just as easily

[@Karl-ps1rc]

I've seen so many Sam Harris videos but this is one of my new favourites. This is the best 6 minute explanation of mindfulness I've ever heard.

[@OSRS_KQs]

He nailed it.

[@chickenhunt5163]

***** like Newton

[@candyazz28]

***** Jesus never existed. I'm sorry for the interruption.

[@jaiitup]

Tyrone Bush Of course he does, He's my landscaper. He's been working on my yard for years.

[@mattordiway1955]

Powerful Sam Harris.

[@BigMTBrain]

Tyrone Bush "never existed"... Like your sense of humor, maybe? He was clearly joking... "nailed it"... "like Jesus"... Get it? :)

[@Clayful1000]

I love hearing this, having already practiced mindfulness since adolescence.

[@Riffeeee]

Thanks for the Great the contetn! What are your Thoughts on Transcendental Meditation? Thanks!

[@ramilurazmanov]

Oh my god, Sam's mind is so brilliant. I'm really thankful to him for delivering all this information is such a digestable way and right to the point❤

[@michaelpesavento8268]

Excellent,Bravo! Clear, concise, reasonable and rational. Thank you. You've made my day.

[@Wastingsometimehere]

Sam is making great points, but this video is young. The future comments are just going to be people seeing 'Sam Harris', down voting and leaving a comment without even looking. Videos like this are why we sub to Big Think.

[@Wastingsometimehere]

***** I was within the first 10 comments.

[@winterwarden]

what has people got against sam?

[@connorjohn9256]

You'll be surprised about how much of what his opposers have against him is completely fabricated for the purpose of edginess.

[@connorjohn9256]

Well, the fact that I personally know atheists that believe in that unfounded nonsense proves otherwise. None of what you said actually means anything. We are our physical body, we have consciousness, we sit still in meditation, and whatever else you exposed means literally nothing. Complete subjective exposition on your part. Try again.

[@connorjohn9256]

Don't deny your experiences, just stop trying to characterize them with debunked nonsense.

[@robdela3632]

“There is far more spiritual potential within than most people realize. The potential is so great that to define it in words would be impossible.”

[@darlingtonboobam4107]

I am always a new and freer human being each time I hear a information session of Sam Harris. ..cannot hear enough of Him. .

[@RevealerOfNow]

I enjoy watching you all squabble about who is right and wrong. As if any one of us has a clue to the true nature of our existence. Just nod, smile, and go about your days happy. It's a suggestion, a different perspective, not law.

[@proxylady3864]

Thank-you. I had been struggling with this; your message really resonates.

[@stuartlimbrick4187]

Always astonishing how answers are right in front of us constantly, if we could only see them!

[@atypical_moto]

I'm working on stopping useless emotions before they start. I can get my anger caused a person cutting me off on the freeway to subside in seconds, but I'm trying gain control of that reaction to begin with. To do it, I believe I need to hold the truths that make the anger subside, in the very front of my mind at all times. Perhaps better escaping the illusion of the self will be part of that.

[@RyanDMoore]

As a former Buddhist, this man is a wonderful human being. He effortlessly represents the Buddhist concept of "anatman", without 'being Buddhist' himself. He understands, but puts it in such a way that secular (or even the religious) can easily understand.

[@fallinginthed33p]

Ryan Anattā He's smart enough to look at the good bits of religious traditions and practice them without the baggage of dogma and superstition - reincarnation, karma, omniscient Buddhas, demons and spirits. He's a scientist who approaches religion with a scalpel and a microscope. That's why I love the guy.

[@Karunainstitute]

It can be helpful to separate what might be called western "Buddhism" from the teachings of the historical Buddha, especially on subjects such as "samma sati" or Right Mindfulness, and the way that the Buddha taught the use of sati to establish a foundation for meditation (jhana), and as a foundation for the entire Eightfold Path of skillful conduct. I agree that religion, forms and rituals can get in the way of liberating insights, but it's regrettable that Dr. Harris can't distinguish between the Dhamma of 2600 years ago, and the Buddhism that developed in the east and west over the last 2500 years. The Buddha didn't invent mindfulness, but he did develop a system of mental training that leads us to some of the same outcomes that Dr. Harris suggests as being valuable. The Buddha's system was pragmatic, highly ethics based, and designed to cultivate wisdom, skillful behavior, leading to a positive life and the eradication of stress, conflict and suffering (and, to be correct, a favorable rebirth). In my view, sure, let's dispense with Buddhism as a 'religion,' but let's not forget what the Buddha taught. So much of what Dr. Harris speaks of comes straight out of the Buddha's teachings; it's less "Big Think" but more "Old Think."

[@yusefendure]

Agreed. It would be unscientific to obscure or omit the Buddhist history of philosophy. This is the reason why I've argued Buddhism should be recognized as a philosophy; not a religion. If you only follow the Noble Eightfold Path, you will find nothing metaphysical, nothing religious in it at all. The illusion of self and Dependent Origination are some of the deepest insights offered in Buddhism. We are all connected like it or not.

[@mohsinakhtar7876]

Let’s be open minded Not lock the brain until we find it The main problem And the cause of hate. It’s not Humanity it’s the ideology Because of which we’ve been divided. Since Realistically it does make a difference if you break it down to what an objective humanitarian point of view is then being a TRUE Muslim has a HUGE influence Let’s take a look at Humanity’s intellectuality (2.2 billion Christians followers of Christianity Believing in the Trinity (1=3)? This belief has an effect on the mind they say is Devine that effects the actions of the person and every other individuality. You have Some believing how a rightous man peace be upon Him died for OUR sins ??? payed the fine So we get to go free from Him?? just believing this will ?? save us from eternal Hell?? So people believe this and some commit crimes thinking that they are forgiven due to their beliefs in this ideology some even consider themselves Heaven worthy As if they are entitled to a guarantee? Therefore have over others Maybe some Moral superiority ??? Let’s look at Atheistic/Agnostic Ideology (2015 Gallup poll found the number of convinced atheists in China to be 61%, with a further 29% saying that they are not religious compared to just 7% who are religious. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irreligion_in_China In China Alone imagine the rest of the world how many people are influenced by Atheist scientists running the schools in the west Population of China 🇨🇳 1.3 billion.. Atheism (1=0) This flawed mindset causes them to argue about the existence of objective morality . They argue if anything is good or bad in reality or if it’s all in our heads and just a Fantasy?? They are busy thinking if they even exist or if they are living in their minds and their mind exists in virtual reality like a game??? ( so they are confused wether they exist in their imagination or their imagination exist in their brain)??? Some are convinced yet some are🤔 not sure 🤔 So some concluded, the likes of great Philosopher said (“I think therefore “I am”) Science has degraded their worth to a mere evolved organism) Pile of shit is the same as a human being (both made up of Subatomic Particles and molecules) And Christianity argues that “I Am” is the name of GOD Which the Atheist uses to establish his own existence because he Thinks therefore he/she claims “ I am” So a confused human being (Atheist) is somehow god in Christianity??? Now let’s take other ideologies Who.. Believe (1=X) X could be anything (including billions of people with different ideologies) E.G Population of India 🇮🇳 (country with 1.1 billion but A Hindu majority) Cow 🐄 could be X for some Adherents of this ideology May find the Urine/stool/meat etc sacred and Holy So obviously killing those that eat the meat 🥩 ( as if it’s only the Muslim community Is this Humanity ?? Or Insanity?? Atheist scientists (vegan) would argue that it makes sense... since both are animals and why would one animal eat another and if Someone killed the one that ate it’s not as bad as eating(eating is worse -it makes you a cannibal. Because you have to kill first only then you can eat the animal. They aren’t wrong scientifically since Human beings are animals equally scientifically. Is this Humanity or Is this Insanity??? Then you have millions and millions of Satanists, Devil worshippers (0=1) Note: everything has a common denominator of 1 Devil has value/wroth of 0 But common denominator of 1 so 0/1=0 Which they(some) assume to be Their god This ideology emerges mainly from Christianity via evolutionary process 1st turning into atheism and then Satanic philosophy (E.G Anton Lavey- author of satanic bible and high priest and founder of the church of Satan- argues how the teaching of Christianity “give your other cheek to the enemy” Is unjust and therefore irrational and hypocrisy since naturally human beings would react to hate with hate ..eye for an eye.. therfore Christianity is unfair and Hypocrisy ) These ideologues hold their own position of what is true and base their desires and whims above All. Some argue having sex with your neighbour(married) is fine there is no right or wrong it’s all Positive it’s fine Not understanding that their beliefs cause divorces and divisions in families sometimes Death out of anger due to break in trust that took years to develop which strengthens Our community. Then you have the Muslim community (1.7 billion final portion of the world) Islam1=1(common sense) Although the majority of them believe this but majority are not practicing due to ignorance, due to inferiority complex, due to the rise of inclination towards materialism, objecting to the teachings of Islam because we now live in the modern age of science and technology therefore (Islam (1=1) the Only consistently coherent ideology through out time) Islam is out dated. Therfore needs to be kicked out of Humanity??? Also many hide their Islamic Faith due to the Propaganda spread by the media labelling all Muslims as terrorists. President of the superpower of the time saying “ I think Islam Hates US” referring to all of US in U.S and by that affecting the global population of almost 8 billion People around us. Then sending troops to kill human beings (Muslims) because they are terrorists. Causing Muslims to react violently and then blaming the Muslims (SEE They Are TERRORISTS) With this advanced propaganda machine(Media) Expecting “THE OTHER CHEEK” because they Are A Christian nation (1=3) But claim “In GOD We TRUST” (Implying 1=1) but in reality believing 1=0 not even 1=3) So inevitably resulting in Hypocrisy (0=1) Satanism For sure Not HuMANITY, Rather it is INSANITY Dictionary definition of TERRORIST-A Systematic use of TeRROR specially as a means of coercion Let’s ask the victims wether red indians upto 100 million Or the African reaching 60 millions Or Vietnam 10 million, Afghanistan 2 million And Iraq upto 1 million Total 173 million As of 2007 So this is where I think this brother of mine in Islam Although I’m from Pakistaan And he is Aafrikaan I quote “ yo lil bro they still laughing... yo they don’t care about you.. yo they want to see you enemies ... yo they want to see you fall... yo look they still laughing” This is why I Think it makes A 👐🏻HUGE HUGE 👐🏻(trump)difference. He understands the situation better then Me cause his president makes him think and worry and have concern for his lil bro’s yo Like you and Me After he hears comments such as “Islam Hates US” form his president, YO OBVIOUSLY Now you decide if doesn’t matter or if it does mater or what is HUMANITY and what is INSANITY [[[[[UNITY]]]]] Under THE absoulute TRUTH 1=1(Islam/judaism) 1=3(Christianity) 1=0(Atheism) 1=X(others) e.g COW is X in Hinduism 0=1(Zionism) SATANism (HYPOCRISY) ISLAM: is UNIQUE!!! AS IT IS THE ONLY FASTEST GROWING RELIGION SOON SURPASSING CHRISTIANTY. MORE THAN 1.7 BILLION followers despite BEING in DEFENSE mode against All TYRANNY. Wiping dirt of ITS face and standing its ground with DIGNITY. Ignoring HATE, false accusations, jelousy caused by HYPOCRISY. Why??? Because ALLAAHH said: ALLAAHH is ONLY [[[1]]] ALLAAHH is The INDEPENDENT [[[1]]] ALLAAHH is The INFINITE [[[1]]] NO (=) NO (partner) The BEGINNING so has NO BEGINNING The END so has NO END THEREFORE NO CONTRADICTION 1 in the BEGINNING 1 in the END ∞ in HIS Characteristics Therfore 1∞1[mathematical FACT] Not JUST 1=1[COMMON SENSE] [[[SUMMARY of The 3rd shortest chapter in Quran (SINCERITY)]]]😊 This is the Definition of ONENESS under which we can UNITE. So cause of UNITY is NOT TRINITY OR INFIDELITY OR HYPOCRISY (specifically ZIONIST philosophy) So [INFACT]cause of UNITY IS Allaahh(الله) The ALMIGHTY Infinitely Independent in His DIVINITY. From EVERY other ENTITY Zionism=Cancer in Humanity. NOT JUDAISM. Lets WAKE UP, realize THE real ATROCITY. SO WHAT ABT KICKING ISLAM OUT OF HUMANITY???? [[[FAM!!! Im from PAKistaN]]] THAT WOULD BE INSANITY AS WITHOUT THE [[1]] true ALLAAHH Existense WOULD just be A PHILOSOPHY. If that is your PHILOSOPHY (then) SoRRy, with All due respect Your existence is THE definition of ATROCITY Drop The HATE before I DROP the MIC LOVE is 4 ALL, so No POINT in a FiGHT Lets UNITE under THE [1] الله SO we can party The TruTH, All DAY All Night. I'M NOT A RAPPER just tryna be POLiTe😁😊 I worship ALLAAHH NOT for MONEY to get a bread to BITe. In His NAME, HE carries our "AAHH" To HIM is OUR return with All our PLIGHT (Dedicated to All with common SENSE) (Abitlity to think common in HUMANS) .therfore Religion(ISLAM) does not need to be proven as it is the obvious TRUTH Who needs proof for 1=1???

[@aidanwade4410]

@@mohsinakhtar7876 bro I know this was a year ago but did you really type all this stuff about Islam out in response to a comment on a video about mindfulness?? Probably not the best use of your time lol

[@mohsinakhtar7876]

@@aidanwade4410 to be mindful means to be woke. The first step to aquiring The Truth One must Be mindful of what he belives. Therfore relevance is clear. Islam is The solution to all Nonsense out there (different ideologies/philosophies) Which are The cause of confusion. Nonsense leads to Confusion which leads to unmindfulness. Islam lead to Clarity and certitude which leads to mindfulness. العاقل يكفيه الإشارة Arabic proverb (For the Intelligent a hint is Enough)

[@gordondyer1]

I have rarely heard details on the subject of spirit, mind, and philosophy described as articulate as Sam Harris; a joy to hear/here.

[@sandunabeysinghe4469]

excellent explanation by Sam...But there's a little argument here...I'm a Buddhist and that's not a sect....a sect is when you try to separate yourself from the rest emphasizing your difference. If so, then calling a Physicist a Physicist is also sectarianism. 'Buddhist' purely means a person who practices the teachings of Buddha. And this Buddhist can of course be a Christian, an Athiest, a Jew, a European, an African or an Eskimo who can practice it in many different levels. It's there to benefit all the human kind without a classification and that's why Buddhism is a universal doctrine...I do not support branding Buddhism such as Ameircan Buddhism or Japanese Buddhism , but for the sake of introducing people the Buddhist practice, we may have to use some branding. coz even though the core principals tought by Buddha are the same, there are some cultural elements associated with Buddhism, depending on the country of origin. So it might be more understandable for Americans if it comes with american cultural elements and Japs if it were to come with their bits and pieces.. right?

[@cameronrowan5258]

I understand your perspective but prescribing concepts such as physicist or buddhism is falling victim to segregating the world needlessly. I think the point was that mindfulness is a human inquiry that should be understood with relation to the individual and not a particular strand of human culture.

[@sandunabeysinghe4469]

yes. indeed. Branding is something that always causes a friction. If useful human knowledge becomes universal branding may not exist and make it more accessible.

[@Edbrad]

How can you be a Buddhist Christian? You have to have a very lax definition of Christian.

[@RezAbbasi1]

Buddhist Christian = Cognitive Dissonance

[@Rayth69]

Brilliant as always! Give this man a TV show and change the world.

[@CarolynEllisQtEllis]

Why would any religious "sector" in the world still believe in it after listening to this man's lecture? Pure and unadulterated wisdom.

[@jimbogrey1368]

maybe only hear what they want to hear ....

[@CarolynEllisQtEllis]

Faith in people is terrifying. I can understand their inability to let this imaginary faith die. It's the next generation that benefits from any epiphanies of the ungodly kind.

[@MrManny075]

Carolyn Ellis Do you know what faith means ? Do you know what religion means ? when you really know, then you know . without using mental pictures try to understand what they means . can you do that ? Your problem and many people like you, is You and what is in your head .

[@skoky76]

manny mo Do you believe that you must pass your faith of ultimate true to your children - if so than it is like trying to keep your children believe in Santa Claus whole life. That is the main problem with religion/faith.

[@orangeiceice12]

Petr Skokan Is his faith any more or less legitimate than Harris's philosophy (though I cringe applying that word in this context)? Anyone who believes in any truth will attempt to give their children the benefit of that. "Letting your children find their own way" is more damaging than trying to impart something to them, even if it's Odinism or self help-book atheism, if only because you invade their inner space with your demands (I don't care what you believe, as long you believe what is right to you), and give them no room to at least rebel against something.

[@Coolpickle111]

Inspiring talk. I agree that anger disappears rather quickly when you are mindful. But what emotion or condition arises on a more permanent basis when you are mindful? Clarity? Wich actions are most compatible with that state? Maybe those of loving kindness and compassion? I would imagine that many buddhists aren’t really religous. That they totally recognize that the images of wisdom and buddha etc. are produced in the mind and will dissapear when you die. Of course I realize that many buddhists take it quite literally that when you die you will be reborn. But I suspect many find that the case is that we are reborn/ die every splitsecond and that the ultimate death that takes with it awareness and our bodies is the true release of suffering. We have this one life and the true art of it is not to suck as much out of it as possible but to relax in a sense of clarity and basically help others as best you can (since that in itself is compatible with the sense of openness that is neccessary to accept the many deaths/ births of a day and the big one where you become what you were before your first birth. - Anyone out there who agrees that buddhism in its essence is not religion? Anyone who knows of communities where it is possible to meditate with non-religious peers? Maybe on zoom? I live in Denmark and would love to try meditation with others in a non-religious context.

[@livinonaflayer2014]

This is why I enjoy Sam Harris. The core belief that it doesn't take religion to be a good person. Likewise being human and all the ups and downs etc are part of a experience that we all have.

[@rmirabelle]

Sam, thanks for this.

[@DiamondMind]

Well the Buddha wasn't a Buddhist and I don't consider myself a Buddhist. But I think if you don't have a framework or context which the tradition creates, it's makes it harder to keep the teaching afloat. The lay community supports the monastics and those who dedicate their entire lives to training in mindfulness.

[@nimim.markomikkila1673]

Gautama the Buddha organized monks and nuns to keep his teachings alive. So, it´s reasonable to say, that he really formed Buddhism i.e. was the first Buddhist. Unlike Jesus, who definately did not form Christianity:-)

[@DiamondMind]

nimim. Marko Mikkilä Those who came after him formulated the concepts into a system called Buddhism. But the Buddha didn't teach Buddhism, he taught Dharma. There is a difference. I think Jiddu Krishnamurti got it right when he said, "nobody listened to Him, thats why there is Buddhism."

[@nimim.markomikkila1673]

You are right, or more exact than me. "Nobody listened to him" is maybe oversimplifying the matter, but he´s on the right track. And I agree, no -ism is really needed.

[@fallinginthed33p]

Diamond Mind Secular Buddhism leads to an ethical framework that's spiritual and secular at the same time. The introspective core of Buddhism can be practiced without the ridiculous superstition that plagues Buddhism as a religion. Mindblowing stuff.

[@anon4449]

What superstitions plague Buddhism? +raboox9

[@yolanankaine6063]

I greatly value Big Think for bringing on all sorts of speakers. I learn so much just hearing these different perspectives

[@TheyCallMeNewb]

His book was a terrific read. This man has an ardent awareness which, I believe, constitutes as near an internal objectivity or disinterest in ones own persuasions that any one person could strive for. Its brilliant psychology.

[@brindlymousten]

Sam Harris apparently possess a narrow understanding about the subject he talks. Just knowing how to breath in and out, and achieving mindfulness is a preliminary step of a very long process. In Buddhist philosophy, this state is described as blissful serenity or Samadhi meditation. According to the much learned Buddhist community , this basic preparation induce a state of mind which facilitate the mind itself to gasp the interrelated higher techniques such as analytical meditation( Vipassana ) etc. This technique undoubtedly helps people like Sam Harris to use as a antidote of stress and make speeches about stress reduction in his own account. For the benefit of enthusiastic public in this platform, one might think it is useful to mention the purpose of meditation including so called mindfulness , is NOT merely to achieve personal goal of blissfulness and stress reduction. In wider prospect, Meditation is designed to fulfil major goals in Buddhist doctrine such as cultivating infinite loving compassion, direct realization of emptiness /selflessness, understanding the unsatisfactory nature of existence and achieving enlightenment. Sam Harris's rather poor notion about highlighting ONLY a part of meditation process and his vain attempt to indoctrinate the wholesome process of meditation seems to limit the qualified knowledge of the Buddhist community, reaching to the proper knowledge seeking wider public audience. Contrast to Sam Harris's minimalistic opinion, Buddhist community and their own practices such as Meditation are strongly interrelated and hardly inseparable. Further more the Buddhist communities who spread around the world, otherwise would delighted to share their wisdom including qualitative meditation techniques with the fellow human beings for the very best of human kind, nether egocentric nor commercially oriented manner.

[@Flyingtart]

Brindly Mousten Did you even listen past the 8 second mark? He explicitly states that mindfulness is much more than just stress reduction. Sam Harris spent a total of over two years in silent retreats, so I think it’s safe to say he is very familiar with the Buddhist meditation tradition.

[@lughlongarm76]

This makes me think of a Chuang Tsu quote: “The fish trap exists because of the fish. Once you've gotten the fish you can forget the trap. The rabbit snare exists because of the rabbit. Once you've gotten the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words exist because of meaning. Once you've gotten the meaning, you can forget the words. Where can I find a man who has forgotten words so I can talk with him?” The analogy to a trap is quite apt: words and symbols and other media through which we derive meaning can be restrictive. There are meaningful concepts within religion, but focusing too much on the religion per se can be debilitatingly limiting and distracting. I don't know about shedding all of the peripheral symbolism entirely, but Harris certainly has an important point here.

[@ArticSense]

Beautiful conversation.

[@stevenw373]

Oh my god what an amazing video! Such a keen intellect smoothly woven in with a great and effective communication style.

[@mikoufou]

I am Raelian, which means I am an atheist, I don't believe in any mystic and non-scientific world like any religion in the world, and YES I totally agree with you. It's a great explanation of meditation. I am so proud to be Raelian today and being able to understand and feel what you are saying. This is the kind of meditation that I practice every day. I suppose what people still feel to be mystical in their meditation and what they believe to be some kind of god or god-like power is what science is trying to say that everything is connected through matter (particule, atoms, sound waves,…) SCIENCE :)

[@kkm227]

After 6 years I don't know if you are still an atheist, but the way you talk you also worship a god named science.

[@duynguyentran1699]

​@@kkm227 science is not a single absolute truth, and there will never be a point where science say "We've done, We find every thing there is to know". Science is a process of humanity as a whole obtain knowlegde about the world. If a guy like me say I am a science guy, it's not that I will blindly defend, let say, the Big Bang theory for all my life, but about the fact that I will use sciencific method to everything I learn. Let say hypothetically in 30 years a scientist come up with enough evidence and math and observations to prove that the Big Bang theory is wrong, the science community will take him seriously and will all research his work to see whether he is a mad man or a genius, by scientific method. Science is about humanity as a whole collectively find the truth about our world, by our own tools, not about strictly sit around believing in any man's words or any book.

[@MegaMantree]

Wow i just found this channel and its amazing. The way he appeals to the audience is incredible. He has complete mastery of Aristotle's three rules of rhetoric. Especially how he appeals to the "Logos" is incredible, his arguments are so sound that is frightening and at the same time you can see the humility in his words he is not saying "hahahah i know more than you guys cause i have a PH.D and i have this and that" instead you can see his appeal to the "Ethos" or to emotions. This mastery of public speaking aligned with his true intentions for everyone to better themselves and reach their highest potential allows us, the audience, to truly comprehend his points on how the value of things are in themselves and how they are applied to our everyday life and not to were it came from. It teaches us to stop making false gods out of ppl and instead take the value of what their saying. You can see how he subtly says to us "don't believe anything anyone says, not even myself, instead test it out for yourself and EXPERIENCE it, LIVE it not in your head but in your everyday life".

[@dietover40]

Sam is so good at explaining it. I am very grateful for this fella. Has helped me immensely.

[@rebeccalankford8573]

I agree. I would like to take the most practical and applicable moral truths and techniques from the world's religions, philosophy and mythologies and compile them for the world without the deity/deity's or afterlife. With a simplistic narrative as much as possible. To not only help those of high intellect and education but that of those who are educationally under served. For ALL humanity.

[@Hazcool45]

Damn i love youtube so much

[@mohsinakhtar7876]

Hazcool45 “No religion “ is also another form of religious ideology (self made) The answer isn’t to kick out religion globally and keep it personal Then possibly there would be almost 8 billion different religions one for every human on the planet and that would divide the world into Not just few hundred countries rather billions of countries even the size of a camp tent. More reasonable solution is to find the RIGHT 1(QUICK) And stick to it till death because Truth and Falsehood can’t come together TRUTH always prevails(Quran) The struggle between right and wrong has always existed since the beginning of humankind and it will remain. The only difference is now there are multiple struggles due to the population and the mainly because of so many different ideologies/religions/politics and other “isms” Hint: to make things easy for All of Humanity in UNITY under The AbSoulute Truth 1=3 (Christianity) 1=0 (Atheism) 0=1 (hypocrisy/Satanism) 1=?(Agnosticism) 1=X(others) Correct answer is(1=1) That is ISLAM The only Religion that is fundamentally consistent mathematically and then scientifically and then philosophically. (Read The Quran)

[@Kags-ve7uw]

Mohsin Akhtar plz just go away and keep your faith with you

[@01assassinscreed63]

@@mohsinakhtar7876 No religion required religion is set of rules false teachings political and fact thief that's all

[@mohsinakhtar7876]

@@Kags-ve7uw I'll not live too long ...everyone will leave this planet soon. Death is knocking at the door. Everyday. Make sure you leave with (1=1 Islam) You will pass the test. It's not rocket science

[@metta1773]

If we use Freud’s theory for some application, don’t we acknowledge Freud? Don’t we mention Einstein whenever we mention the theory of relativity? Just like that, I think the Buddha should be acknowledged for coming up with how consciousness can be understood. Considering this, I like to have gratitude for the Buddha for coming up with his profound teachings that heal the mind. I was also wondering what Sam Harris means by “spooky metaphysics and unjustified claims” - perhaps some things that are presented in Buddhist teachings are not yet known to science and may get known (understood) in years to come - so it is best not to discredit them yet. When I visit a Buddhist temple, I like to prostrate (with gratitude for the teachings), and to keep flowers in front of the Buddha statue (and contemplate the impermanence of the flowers). These “rituals” (if someone wants to call it that) calms my mind, helping me to focus and practice mindfulness/meditation. So, I don’t really understand where “religion” fits into all this. Also, Buddhist literature (the Pali Cannon) is much more vast and profound than just talking about non-self: there is the teaching of dependent origination and the subject-object non-duality, the factors that contribute to enlightenment and the various ways in which we construct the self, etc. As I see it, all these profound teachings would be lost if we cut it off from its original source.

[@laapasakuna]

Excellent.

[@azaraniichan]

The metaphysical claims are interpretations, in the same way that, when Schopenhauer rethinks the '' subject-object non-duality '', he concludes to the existence of his idea of the world as will. You can indeed learn quite a lot by reading buddhist or hindu scriptures about certain operations of the mind, but you don't have to agree with their conclusions, that's all he's saying by that.

[@metta1773]

Jacques - Analyses conducted in science (third-person level of analyses) and analyses conducted in Buddhist teachings represent two vastly different ‘levels of analyses’ - if you read the following article (published in a peer-reviewed journal), you will understand what I am talking about: Karunamuni, N.D. (2015). The Five-Aggregate Model of the Mind. SAGE Open, 5 (2).

[@pmicozzi]

Thanks J Krishnamurti. Thanks Sam for delivering J Krishnamurti's material.

[@MindAgilis]

How / to what extent can we combine technology with mindfulness / meditation to better understand consciousness and improve mental capacity?

[@photam2531]

I agree and disagree. I'm a Buddhist and to be honest I hate how Buddhism is being practice. People bow, pray, etc. to the Buddha. That's not how it was meant to be. He was not a god, he never claimed to be a god. The point of the practice (As Sam Harris said) is to achieve a state of pure understanding and mindfulness of everything. Buddhism was meant to be an "Atheist-Practice". The Buddha rejected the ideas of gods... In the teaching it's not nessary believe in god to be an enlightened person. The way that it was meant to be practice was not in any way a religion, but a philosophy of how to live life. People, turned it into a religion and twisted up with ancestor worship, their regions pagan figures, and the creepy "meta-physics" that he is talking about. You can definitely be a Buddhist and an Atheist. To me there are only two ways you can practice Buddhism: as Buddhist-Atheist or a Buddhist-Pagan. Buddhist-Pagan with their cultural ancestor worship, rituals, local pagan figures, reincatnation, spiritual stuff, etc. Then, there me, Buddhist-Athiest. Simply the Buddha's secular teachings on meditation, compassion, mindfulness, and rejection of self, but without the ancestor worship, meta-phsical stuff, pagan figures, etc,

[@jordancormier2827]

It's been awhile, but I always got the impression the Buddha's message was less atheistic and more that gods were irrelevant to enlightenment, and in fact also trapped in Samsara.

[@MasterMS1123]

I agree with you completely. To me Buddhism is more a school of thought. A philosophy to live by. There seems to just be something in human nature that wants to worship everything, and as a result most forms of Buddhism have become perverse with dogma.

[@photam2531]

Michael Santaly That's what's sad to me. Buddhism is suppose to teach the individual to find inner peace in oneself and one's own accomplishment without the aid of gods, and the "supernatural". By adding in local pagan figures, ancestor worship etc. people have missed the point of the entire practice. It's just a fear that we have yet to conquer as a species. When "times get hard" we want to feel like their is a higher force guiding our lives that is totally all powerful. In a way I feel like that takes some of the stress and responsibility off the shoulders of those people. If things go south (more often then not I have heard people say) "Well, as long as I believe in God, I will go to heaven". Those people take the "delayed happiness" route. Others say "Well, God has a plan for us all" --taking some stress and responsibility off their shoulders. Sadly, people who practice Buddhism say those same things, but replace "God" with "Buddha"--It really makes me cringe every time I hear that

[@MasterMS1123]

Tiffany Huynh In a way I think they are just causing more suffering for themselves. I too have heard those examples plenty of times in my life, and while I understand the difficultly we face trying to live in this world I think when you place the responsibility of your happiness on outside forces you're bound to suffer. We need to learn to be at peace with everything this life throws at us, and take responsibility for our emotional states. A great little book I think you'd enjoy is Buddhist Bootcamp by Timber Hawkeye. Check it out if you get a chance, and the next time I do my Metta meditation I'll keep you in mind.

[@photam2531]

Read it. Great read. Funny story. Both my parents are Buddhist, but they basically let me chose my religion. I didn't "convert" to Buddhism until just a few years back. I read some books, fell passionately in love with the practice and there you go! I've read a fair amount of American text and honestly I have seen two versions of American Buddhism. I don't know if you have seen the same trends but I see: 1. They try to combine a secular practice with their Abrahamic god (defeats the point all together) 2. Or they actually understand the secular nature of Buddhism better then the people who grew up in Buddhist countries like China, Japan, Tibet, etc.

[@kipling1957]

The thing that I struggle with is that, since free will is a delusion, and because I have (it appears) chosen to meditate knowing it is beneficial to mindfulness, I could equally have decided not to meditate (deterministic variables being different), not have those benefits, and not initiated a path of self-transcendence. None of those events are determined by the "I" that I think I am. And therefore it is a forgone conclusion whether or not I am able to improve my wellbeing and hopefully the wellbeing of others as a consequence. An unsettling thought. Does anyone else suffer such existential angst?

[@roughpuppies1690]

yes. This should be libersting though, as its the corner Stone of having compassion toward yourself for your own short commings and for others.

[@sheaquintin1695]

I too have suffered this paradox. It is ego. You don't have to worry about this. Mindfullness is a byproduct of mediation. It doesn't matter if it's you or not because the outcome is the same. The paradox is self correcting. By accepting that you, (the you you think you are) are not in control, your true self begins to make dicisions. Is the true self you?No, the true self is everything but you. In this state you don't exist because the mind doesn't attach itself to anything in particular. You are the observer.

[@Deemoid76]

I think free will is a fantasy associated with our belief in a true self, and as we are liberated through buddhist practice from past patterns of behaviour we more clearly see the true state of things. The true state of things is not a hard deterministic universe as you portray, neither is it that the the self is real and possessing total autonomy if only it could liberate itself through spiritual practice. Buddhism goes beyond the extremes of existence and non existence inherent in the extremes we all habitually fall into. I think Harris falls into the hard deterministic extreme, which is nihilsm. he claims for himself the label of 'rational', and thus endears himself to all those who like to see themselves as the opposite of religious or irrational. But materialism lacks the tools to explain your conundrum and posits a completedly irrational explanation of consciousness as an 'epiphenomenon' magically springing from the complexity of the brain and so on and so forth. This is to say it lacks 'wisdom' - the correct seeing of reality, which Buddhist philosophy trains you in. The other training it lacks is the moral one. There's no point to practicing mindfulness within a metaphysics of materialism because if there is no rebirth ie. no continuum to mind, then there's no point in practicing mindfulness, no point in moral conduct, no point in anything. It's a total anihilationism. In Buddhism we talk about the 3 trainings - of morality, meditation, and wisdom. Take meditation alone, and say that that is the entire path, or all one needs from Buddhism, and that the rest are unnecessary 'religious trappings' and you are like the blind people in the fable, grabbing different parts of the elephant, and incorrectly identifying it as various different animals . . . Furthermore, your mindfulness practice will just power you in the direction you are facing. You will not reshape your values. You will remain addicted to 'things' and their power to grant you happiness - you will continue to take refuge in whatever you took refuge in before, whereas practicing dharma should help you loosen your neurotic clinging to things, people, power, knowledge, pleasure, praise, etc.

[@roughpuppies1690]

Being a determinist or a materialist does not get read of the need for morality. I have a strong moral vote and i am both of those things. There is a scientific explanation for the phenomena of consciousness whether we know it or not. Mindfulness is very useful regardless of rebirth.

[@Deemoid76]

the point is there's no logical basis for morality if you are determinist or materialist. Secondly the assertion there is a scientific explanation of consciousness sounds like you believe consciousness springs from material phenomena. This is unproven and effectively a 'belief' or 'faith' that materialists must subscribe to, and as such, in my opinion similar to a theistic belief in God or the afterlife.

[@nightowl6260]

I greatly appreciate the clarity of what describes.

[@davefischer2344]

We all need mindfulness, this is an essential part of life I believe. Meditation provides us to set a rhythm for our lives

[@dasGagaTier]

Actually I feel that separating mindfulness completely from its Buddhist grounding is at least as damaging as accepting all kind of supernatural claims connected with various contemporary strands of Buddism. When mindfulness is converted into a mere instrument of stress reduction and wellness, as practised by many professional MBSR teachers, something very essential is lost: compassion with all sentient beings as /the/ central value of Buddhist thought; the deep philosophical insight into the inevitability of decay and death; the illusory nature of the self. Ironically, Sam Harris names most of these aspects in his talk, but fails to note that these are core concepts of Buddhist philosophy. Buddism in its earliest discernible form can hardly be labelled a religion. It really is a philosophical and practical methodology for reducing suffering, it requires no beliefs and depends on no deities. However, it does convey important ethical values and philosophical insights, without which mindfulness becomes nothing more than yet another feelgood method.

[@KLARWEIT]

disagree! Compassion is essential AND Buddhism has absolutely no copyright on compassion. It's perfectly possible to practice deep compassion without Buddhism!

[@jochannan7379]

@@KLARWEIT Sure, Buddhism has no copyright on compassion, but in a Theravada Buddhist framework, it is ensured that mindfulness isn't decoupled from compassion. That's the important point. When the practice of meditation and mindfulness becomes just self-referential and solely concerned with your personal wellness, then something very important is lost.

[@KLARWEIT]

@@jochannan7379 fine, I hear that you value your line of Buddhism for what it adds for YOU to your life and to your mindfulness. And I insist that there is NO necessity whatsoever for Buddhism or any other religious or spiritual teachings in order to practice fruitful mindfulness, compassion, love, self connection and introspection. It may add valuable aspects for you and other people but it is NOT a requirement. That is the distinction I am making.

[@connorward409]

I don't think it is unnecessary. Mindfulness is something anyone can practice and cultivate & develop, but to say that religion is completely unnecessary is I think, false, as it was the original philosophies such as Hinduism & Buddhism that brought the teachings of mindfulness to practitioners. I am no expert on Hinduism, but in Buddhism, the Buddha highly praised the practice of Mindfulness Meditation and gave many explanations on it, such as: "What, friends, is right mindfulness? Here a monk abides contemplating the body as body, ardent, fully aware and mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world. He abides contemplating feelings as feelings, ardent, fully aware and mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world. He abides contemplating mind states as mind states, ardent fully aware and mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world. He abides contemplating mind-objects as mind-objects, ardent, fully aware and mindful, having put away covetousness and grief for the world. (MN 141.30)". I don't know Buddhists who say only Buddhists can meditate. Buddhism has great teachings on meditation, and many people are okay with Non-Buddhists meditating, but it doesn't mean it's bad to go to Buddhism for wisdom.

[@idontknow9862]

It relaxes me so much to listen to him...

[@AmarDamani]

One of few people I look upto & he always delivers... I had similar views but could not have expressed like he did in a million years..

[@laapasakuna]

So, basically Harris is blaming and correcting the Buddha for having founded a monastic order - the same that transmitted those mindfulness techniques that Harris himself praises and presumably practises. And the problem, according to him, is that by seeing oneself as a Buddhist one would nourish a divisive identity, as if the sense of identity depended on mere labelling (being non-Buddhist is yet another label). He obviously overlooks that in Buddhism, conventions are not to be rejected, but lived as conventions and not as ultimate truths. Pushing away the self just reinforces the self.

[@kallistiX1]

That is literally not at all what he said. He doesn't blame Buddha for founding Buddhism and I'm not even sure where you got that from. Regardless of what the claims of any faith maybe the problem you cannot get around is that religions are sectarian by their nature. It would be as equally valid for a Christian to claim that since their faith claims their is only their deity everyone is clearly a Christian so there is really grounds for calling religions sectarian.

[@laapasakuna]

Quite simple: Harris criticises all those characteristic of Buddhist doctrine that have been established from the very beginning, i.e. by the Buddha himself. So, he is indeed correcting the Buddha for having taught something different from Harris' post-modernist view. No problem with that, just I find Buddhist thought much more profound and inspiring than Harris' talks.

[@kallistiX1]

laapasakuna Um, no he doesn't: he criticizes unsubstantiated claims on insufficient evidence. It isn't some kind of personal attack directed at Buddha or even Buddhism but at religion, in general.

[@laapasakuna]

When Harris criticizes the institution of the monastic Sangha, he is actually dispraising a fundamental teaching of the Buddha, plain and simple. After all, I appreciate that Harris places the overcoming of delusion of a separate self far beyond mere stress-reduction, but I find his interpretation of Buddhism quite confused. If you have read his book Waking Up you might have an idea of what I am referring to.

[@squamish4244]

The Buddha said many profound and inspiring things (to the extent, it must be stated, that we can be sure HE said them, as we don't really have a consensus on who the historical Buddha was and nothing he said was written down for 400 years after his death). But I think many, many teachers since have said equally as inspiring and profound things. Even the Dalai Lama has said that the vast Mahayana teachings that were developed a thousand years later are not the actual words of the Buddha, but are authentic *in essence* to his core principles.

[@milascave2]

One can practice "Buddhism without beliefs," also known as "stealth dharma. I myself see myself as "an agnostic Buddhist." However, mindfulness did come out of a religion, it's a fact, you can not deny it. It is fine to practice mindfulness without belief in metaphysical things such as enlightenment or reincarnation. However, it is important to have ethics, and to cultivate compassion as well as concentration. Concentration is a neutral tool. A sniper can use it to kill. A sniper could never use compassion to kill. He would have to give up his job (in most cases.) Concentration without ethics or compassion is a breeding ground for monsters. When mindfulness is being taught in corporations to make money, and even in the military, to breed better killers we can see that something is going wrong. As it did during WW 2 in Japan.

[@Mariechaon]

Harris is partly doing exactly that. He sells his knowledge for a looot of money! True Buddhists would never do that.

[@milascave2]

That, and so much more. His lack of compassion for people who practice a different, or any, religion is stunning. His promotion of militarism is, too.

[@NutnRoll]

According to my umderstanding of enlightenment, I don't think it is metaphysical because it can be tested and observed. Why do you think it is?

[@guslabu]

I'm sorry, but your comment that you 'realize you are God' is not even Buddhism nor is it mentioned anywhere in the Suttas. So I claim B.S, not the way you are framing, it, but your knowledge of Buddhism itself.

[@MrCmon113]

@@milascave2 Pure nonsense.

[@Loogable]

It is absolutly helpfull to have a group of people that all focus their lifes on mindfulness around you and it is helpful to have a good teacher while your meditating in an advanced fashion, because it can become too tough and it is helpfull to be reminded of profound truths, that you can verify with mindfulness, that the deciples of the buddha wrote down. Those things help to lead a good life, it is just convenience to call it buddhism.

[@nilslundgren23]

Great talk :)! The thing is that most buddhist centres offers minduflness and meditation courses for free. The only secular option costs lots of money and are usually held by egocentric business people trying to teach about no self. That shit makes no sense either

[@MorrisonEnterprise]

So much this. Carl Sagan takes a huge shit on meditation in Demon Haunted World, whereas Daniel Dennett has spoken on it as a practicer. Both atheists/skeptics, but different understandings on insight, health, and ultimately happiness. This is why I, as an atheist, have a hard time making friends with other atheists. Skepticism too often turns into cynicism.

[@InMaTeofDeath]

***** That doesn't help much if you want to know what actual truth is. If you truly believe you can fly when you jump off a building does that make it true for you?

[@ethanminette4822]

Skepticism turns foul quickly when not paired with open-mindedness. You have to be willing to hear people out, explore new ideas, even if they don't conform to your pre-existing biases. As with most things, you need to find the balance.

[@InMaTeofDeath]

Ethan Minette Well we should also remember what good ol G.K. Chesterton said: “Do not be so open-minded that your brains fall out.” Exploring new idea's and hearing them out is good but without evidence to back them up there is still no reason to accept them, otherwise you're no longer being a skeptic.

[@mickwayne3398]

Ethan Minette find a balance you say. maybe even like, a middle path? ;-)

[@BDelane1983]

skeptopathy.com/wp/?p=69

[@Hades1980s]

Everything he just said makes more sense than anything any religion has prob ever had to offer

[@nimim.markomikkila1673]

A religion or spiritual tradition called Buddhism has offered us the foundations of mindfulness:-)

[@noticias6111]

"..the conversation keeps this emotion in play for much, much longer than its natural half-life. And if you’re able, through mindfulness to interrupt this conversation and simply witness the feeling of anger as it arises you’ll find that you can’t be angry for more than a few moments at a time. *If you think you can be angry for a day or even an hour without continually manufacturing this emotion by thinking without knowing that you’re thinking, you’re mistaken. And this is something you can just witness for yourself*." --I don't fully jive with this part. What about when it comes to developmental disorders like little kids with autism?. Also the part after where the transcript truncates (~4:00):what no bringing up of perennialism or universalism?

[@ModernVisage]

I agree with this video; however, I have found other features in learning how to put red/yellow lights in the meek, erroneous, human cognition. There are times where mindfulness would block(or support) epiphanies that would arise while the stream of consciousness is panning out. Its all about timing and understanding appropriate times to channel different mind-settings. Sometimes when we ruminate about something emotionally offsetting we can come to a conclusion that provides a different perspective or arouse an emotion that would be helpful as fuel towards a solution or the problem may push us to admit to needing assistance. Though, when emotionally charged, we can dash into one possibility too quickly to make home in one path within a specific dimensional fork. All in all, practice mental yoga and keep a level head! Much compassion shed & Thanks Mr. Harris.

[@iVulgarThrust]

Super spiritual guy here, not really religious at all. Seeing all these people trying to 'save' us from ourselves... It seems kind of presumptuous and borders on narcissism. You can believe what you want, that's fine, but don't treat me like a sick puppy. I've got my own thing now.

[@juckoosaurus]

being a practicing catcholic,i have no problem with atheism or science, in fact i am studying psychology,a form of science, but the whole your dumb or stupid for believing god and everything is really straining and kinda of sad

[@iVulgarThrust]

juckoosaurus I completely agree, just let people do their thing, so long as it's not hurting anybody.

[@HareBrahs]

smart guy

[@asdgashash]

Is there a site with pragmatic and concise instructions for meditation?

[@ShahinNe]

Brilliant Dr. Sam Harris, as always-able with his crystal clear communications and rational reasoning cut through the most challenging ideas, dogmas, and nonsensical practices. Clearly not everyone willing or have the capacity to understand. Simply- It will be their loss.

[@ryansilver11]

in fact the Buddha didn't give a shit whether you worshipped him or not. he just said to test mindfulness for yourself if you want and see if it works.

[@brucecosta]

When the Ben Affleck event happened, nearly every wheel came off the Waking Up book tour cart. I can't help but feel that later in Dr. Harris' life, he'll regret his current impulse to defend himself against all the meaningless pundits attempting to hijack his message and interpret it in a context exclusive to piety. This book represents important work that virtually no one else is doing. As I've begged him to in emails a couple of times now, he needs to stand taller than these social kowtowers. We don't need his help seeing past them, and every moment he seeks to assist us (or, even more uselessly, the audiences of Aslan, Greenwald and others) in getting his message precisely right, he becomes guilty of a criminal waste of screen time. His defense should be to hijack the moment and bend it to this important message. As politicians routinely prove, subjects of visual media interviews get to answer the questions they wish they had been asked. There are leaders in small communities everywhere who are working on exactly this social elevation project. We need Dr. Harris to focus on getting us indoctrinated in his new vocabulary.

[@carterdoyle]

+Bruce Costa Agreed! it was so disappointing to watch the conversations and interviews completley shift back to religion and islam after that interview. Such a wonderful book and unique perspective that deserved wide recognition and discussion. I am hopeful he can come back to these ideas and concepts in the near future as a leading voice in this area, rather than the likes of Chopra

[@BarbarraBay]

+Bruce Costa Sam is a naughty boy. That you want him to "indoctrinate" you shows how deluded and astray this Sam Harris cult is.

[@brucecosta]

+BarbarraBay I have no idea what either of those sentences means.

[@BarbarraBay]

+Bruce Costa When there is right view, credit or gratitude is given to where it is due; following the reality of cause & effect. Buddhist meditation is rightly connected to Buddhism because this path is exclusive to Buddhism, being traced back to Buddha. The realities of impermanence, unsatisfactoriness & not-self are discussed nowhere apart from in Buddhism. Penetrating these realities in a way that extinguishes suffering was an extraordinary & rare feat (performed by Buddha) rather than something ordinary & commonplace, as Sam is inferring. Sam misrepresents Buddhism by calling it 'religion'. If Buddhsim was religion then it could not be secularised as Sam is trying to do. The Buddhist path or method has a scientific character & this branch of science is called 'Buddhism', just as other branches of science are called 'physics', 'chemistry', etc. "Buddhism" literally means "the science of awakening" & this science is expounded with perfect detail & coherence.

[@BarbarraBay]

+Bruce Costa Unlike Sam Harris, the Buddha was fully enlightened. The Buddha did not conduct a crusade to destroy the religions of the world. In fact, the Buddha helped religious people improve the efficacy of what they believed. One title of Buddha-Mind is 'lokavidu' or 'knower of the world/s' because Buddha-Mind comprehends the world & the various psychological dispositions of various individuals in the world.

[@xenonweebs5951]

i conviced with the talk of Sam Harris, and one of the things that the most i like from his speech is talking about how the methodology gives us a simple process to distress ourselves from everything can stop us from being in mindfullness, but the legit case here is that we've at least to seperate it from religion's information and everything reminds of religion itself. that's the idea here. religion had really played an important rule in the past of humanity. but now, we've to let it go.

[@allansegall4502]

But as an artist, when I am thinking and not aware of when I'm thinking; this is the playing-field of my creative thought process. It is, as John Cleese once said, an oasis for the creative mind to operate.

[@istaphobe]

Buddha ask he not be worshipped and said we all can be Buddha, and gave us the seminal instructions on the science of meditation and the transcendence it can achieve. For that reason, I don't think saying Buddhist meditation is wrong or any different than saying newtonian physics or Cartesian reason. They don't worship, merely pay homage or recognize where the spark of the study arose.

[@Mariechaon]

Exactly THAT is the problem with Harris even though a lot of what he says has value…

[@AnstonMusic]

Sam Harris is awesome, do watch more stuff of his everybody!

[@BarbarraBay]

Mindfulness is not generic term. Mindfulness is specific to it use. For example, Christian mindfulness (in the phrase "God...what is man that you are mindful of him") is different to Buddhist mindfulness. The practise of Buddhist mindfulness is to remember to put into practise the Buddhist teachings. 'Meditation' cannot be separated from 'Buddhist' meditation or 'Christian' meditation. Buddhist meditation is not "turning consciousness onto itself" as Sam falsely states. Core Buddhist meditation is to keep the mind free from certain states of mind that cause human suffering (which also prepares the mind for 'insight' or 'vipassana'). It is noticeable Sam is unable to divorce himself from Buddhism when he discusses the impermanence, unsatisfactoriness & selflessness of experience. Yet Sam seems to declare these realities can be realised without any exposure to Buddhism. Sam appears to be 'coveting' (stealing) Buddhism despite the Buddhist teachings literally stating one is 'mindful to give up covetousness'.

[@ninjadarkside9423]

Gonna watch this whenever im pissed ..it help thank you

[@bo8403]

No offence Sam, but you are my God

[@PsychedelicTragedy]

Powerful Sam Harris!

[@josephkingsley8708]

"One of these discoveries is..." "That in and of itself is beneficial." I love this guy.

[@rickyfulbrook1026]

I don't completely frame Buddhism around meditation but I do still really like Buddhism and love to read books on it and go to monasteries. I call myself a secular Buddhist, is that ok?

[@sambarker6141]

Mr Harris makes some good points, but I disagree with him on the fact that religion NEEDS to be kept out of it. I agree it's unnecessary, but just being religious doesn't impede the mindfulness process if it's done correctly. Also, he regards Buddhism as a religion, which is not entirely accurate.

[@Susano19]

I don't think that's what he was trying to get at. All you have to do is look at the comment section of this video to realize how unproductive religion can be. I think what he wanted was for people to try and benefit from meditation without worrying about religious context. A lot of people give religion too much weight and might not try meditation because they believe its a foreign religious practice and that might upset their religious sect or god (I know people like this). To me it seemed like he wanted to encourage people to try secular Buddhism/meditation but took this roundabout way to avoid people getting the wrong message.

[@sambarker6141]

Susano19 Oh ok that makes sense, I see what you're saying. I would hesitate to say however that religion itself can be unproductive, I think it all depends on people's interpretations of it.

[@MikeTall88]

A stone might not make your soup any less good, but why insist on keeping the stone if it does nothing?

[@lsd25records]

religion is based on lies and deceit ... so ya leave it in the past a mistake never to be made again..

[@sambarker6141]

funghighlsd25records Explain your claims, then provide evidence for them. Also, you can't just say "religion" like it's one thing, you could even go so far as to sayreligion as a concept doesn't exist. There are many different religions with many different beliefs, so you have to specify which one you're talking about.

[@ChrisBandyJazz]

In a material world-where consciousness is an illusion, where everything is a chemical accident-how do you get absolute spiritual values such as goodness?

[@JohnGrove310]

+Jeffrey Bradt excellent reply Jeffrey

[@sidhanth8042]

Do i have to tell you if cutting off your fingers from your hand is good or bad ? do you need to make a philosophy about it ? If you truly experience the whole universe as "you" , like you do your fingers , would someone have to tell you killing is wrong etc ... Its like experiencing the whole world as your children. Not just thinking about it , truly realizing it.

[@Severe_CDO_Sufferer]

Every creature that lives in socially structured groups, and depend on the group for sustenance and/or protection will display some degree of altruistic behavior. From and evolutionary standpoint, it makes perfect sense.

[@bentleymayes4536]

Even High Functioning Psychopaths without empathy act compassionately and altruistically because if they don't life is just 10 times harder. Being kind seems to adhere to a natural law about interaction between living organisms. Of course, it's not an absolute be nice to everything, that's certain death.

[@stormcall7470]

Chris Bandy you don't. They don't exist

[@raeldickerson8381]

I really like this. Yeah I have my own personal beliefs, but if I’m trying to introduce someone to practices meant to hone mindfulness, I “leave all my baggage at the door” so to speak.

[@Knaeben]

I lived in a Zen Monastery for a month in 1995. They had no real dogma. They had a rich symbology, but had no problem admitting the robes and such was just a costume. I don't see how he is discounting that. You will always have to have a context within to elicit some experiences.

[@TheArchevil]

I've studied the history of Buddhism, including Hinduism, Taoïsm also the 3 "western"religions and i must say that if you replace "God" with energy you'll have a better insight in religion. In an african language Allah literrally means "All" and not God. Matter got created by energy and energy can't be created nor destroyed which means that we come from this big pool of energy and when we die we return to it. Sounds like the heaven-theory doesn't it? Jesus always said that God is in all of us and the only to explain this is by saying that God is the energy that is in all of us. and by meditating or praying you tap into this large pool of all. So most religions are off and i believe that this is the truth is why Buddhism seperated from Hinduism and it's the same as to why Jesus seperated himself from Judaïsm. So i must end with that there is no individual being on this planet, we're all linked together, just imagine the butterfly effect and simply because we're all connected we'd better get along. Peace.

[@xrbk17x]

Interesting point

[@TheArchevil]

***** Energy is what created the universe and is present in all of us. It's what makes more sense than the Judaistic God who was written about by a certain group of people who used this God to declare themselfes as the chosen ones. I went back to the origin of all religions, like how humans used to worship plants for better crops, you might call it retarded, but science has shown that talking to plants actually helps them grow. So what do you influence in a plant or tree when you talk to it? again it's energy. Are you a Christian, because the passage about how Jesus got killed by the priests in fear of becoming obsolete should be very familiar to you? But then again, let it sink in for a while, not religion, but the history surrounding those religions are a much darker time than the dark ages, which is why, i assume, that mr. Harris speaks negatively about those religions and focusses on the more modern religions.

[@TheArchevil]

Jason If i'm mistaken again. how about you tell me when i was mistaken the first time and then when i was mistaken again? I'm open for new information, but a comment like yours doesn't contribute at all.

[@195ashes]

Just because we all contain energy, that doesn't mean that there are no individuals. Shard traits + interaction + interdependence ≠ no individuality. Humans are clearly not a hive mind.

[@TestMeatDollSteak]

TheArchevil So far as I'm aware, no one knows why or how the universe came to be (why or how we have the universe instead of nothing). It would be more than slightly overstepping your bounds to make any definite claims about what, if anything, "created" the universe.

[@LynnColorado]

Thought Provoking. Thank you.

[@ptadisbander7959]

Vipassana was amazing, the technique is amazing but the subtle buddhist teachings in it were a bit meh. But it is not even slightly coercive, absolutely recommend the 10 day course, invaluable life tool.

[@luzquevedo986]

You're still ignorant about the full understanding of Buddhism Sam. Buddhism is a science of mind in essence, not a religion. Not all of us Buddhist see Buddhism as a religion. As we come in to the new age, more people will comprehend that. Give credit where it's do. Nothing is wrong will showing appreciation to Buddha's Dharma 1000 years from now, thanking Buddha for his teachings of mindfulness. Of course one doesn't need to be Buddhist to benefit from Buddhist meditation, doesn't mean we should or need to drop the fact that Buddha is/was amazing in his ways of bringing and teaching mindfulness to the universe. Buddhism has and will continue to have beautiful, fresh, and great wisdom to share for every living being. And I am aware That Buddha was never a Buddhist. A lot of people in our tradition is aware of this now. Buddha Bless you. P.s. the Sharma scriptures say Buddha's teachings will be around for the next 5,000 years. So get use to it/us.

[@luzquevedo986]

*Dharma

[@Zetarrino]

Religion is such a loose and problematic term.

[@NothingTheGreat]

Please rest assured that Sam Harris grasps the nuances of Buddhism much better than you do.

[@jonathanrosa674]

NothingTheGreat rest assured you are ignorant.

[@uilium]

Keep religion out of it? That is such an easy thing to say for someone who worships materialism.

[@trivas7]

Incredibly good stuff, Sam. My only concern is that it's hard in practice to separate the practice from the religion; practically speaking. ;) All the mindfulness centers I encounter trot out their Buddhist creds.

[@eqminds]

Sam Harris - I am a huge fan of yours! Love your honesty and your experience