Sam Harris (1) (1967–)

Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion by Sam Harris is a thought-provoking and refreshing exploration of consciousness, mindfulness, and the human search for meaning, without relying on traditional religious frameworks. As I read it, I found myself both challenged and intrigued. Harris, being both a neuroscientist and a long-time meditator, bridges science and spirituality in a way that feels grounded and rational, yet still deeply introspective. His writing encourages readers show more to look inward, to question the nature of the self, and to experience awareness not as a belief, but as a direct and tangible state of being.

From a reader’s perspective, I appreciated how Harris managed to make complex philosophical and neurological concepts accessible, though there were moments where the tone felt a bit dense or overly analytical. Some readers might find his critiques of religion a little sharp, but I saw them as part of his honest attempt to separate genuine spiritual experience from dogma. What stood out most was his ability to make meditation feel less like a mystical practice and more like a science-backed tool for understanding our minds.

Overall, Waking Up is an enlightening and intellectually stimulating read that pushes you to rethink what spirituality can mean in a modern, secular world. It’s not a light or sentimental book, it’s more of a mental workout, but by the end, I felt like I understood myself, and the nature of awareness, just a little bit better. For anyone curious about finding depth and meaning without religion, this book is a powerful guide. show less

There are religious people who are liberal, moderate, and there are others who are nothing but fanatics. Their credo and interest shouldn't be confused, yet... One of the main argument of this book is that, even moderates carry a dogma; that according to which the path towards peace will be finally paved only once all of us will have learnt to tolerate even the unjustified believes of others. To Sam Harris, such demand for tolerance is, on the contrary indeed, one of the key forces driving show more us to a moral abyss.

Sharp, enlightening, powerful, brave, here's a book that, even if I disagreed with some of his points, I found impossible to put down. The author not only shows how dangerous it is to refuse putting faith under the microscope of critical thinking (as every belief system, especially when making grandiose claims, should be) but, ironically, that a moderate/ liberal approach to the supposed 'holy' texts was rendered possible only in humanistic societies emphasising Reason. In other words, moderate wouldn't be moderate if it were not for the rational outlook of atheists, or, at least, agnostics and/ or deists. But then, so what?

The issue, of course, is that such heritage from the Enlightenment didn't reach (or at least didn't succeed into establishing itself in) all parts of the globe. Islam is a key example, but not only -Hinduism and, even, Christianity are here standing accused too. Now, political instabilities, civil wars, terrorism, and totalitarian theocracies have always been part of human history. The problem however, is that now we are living in an age of chemical, bacteriological, and nuclear weapons... Do we really want to carry on our unquestioning of the mindset underpinning faith, or is the price to pay for such 'tolerance' become far too great? Sam Harris being American, he especially points his finger at the USA, undeniably the leading power to the rest of the world, yet also a country where unquestioned faith has had a disastrous impact, both internally (e.g. Creationism, homophobia...) and externally (Bush's policies towards the Middle-East...).

In the end, there is no 'sacred text' that is not a Pandora box. A religiously faithless world remains, of course, an utopia (at least for the likes of me and him) but it doesn't mean that faith itself, and the dogma that come in its trail, cannot be 'domesticated' (so to speak) to render it as safe as possible. What this book does, though, is to remind us that tolerating the absurd won't help in achieving such endeavour.

A must-read. show less

Just did not care for this book—apparently I fail even at spirituality for atheists. :P

In general I take issue with movement atheists and therefore did not get on with Harris for the first chapter or so. I feel that secularism conceals a lot of hidden biases and falls into the trap of assuming that behaviors are functional if and only if they are rational or bring us closer to objective truth. As someone who tends toward rational skepticism, I find this to be a lovely idea, but based on my show more observation of the rest of humanity, it just ain't so.

I did enjoy his discussions of neuroscience and philosophy and was really excited for the rest of the book. However, once we got to the meat of his argument about meditation, I was literally frustrated to tears. His insistence on the illusion of the self only filled me with a kind of existential anxiety. I feel certain he is onto something, but I was simply unable to grok his explanation or figure out how I could possibly come to this conclusion on my own via meditation.

Undoubtedly this would be a great book for the right reader, but I need something about meditation and mindfulness that's more guided and less didactic and will allow me to develop my own vocabulary and best practices for understanding and regulating my mind. show less

More on Earth, Horatio

Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion by Sam Harris (Simon & Schuster, $26).

Don’t worry; one of the well-known “New Atheists,” Sam Harris hasn’t abandoned his skepticism and he isn’t going all New Age on us.

Instead, in Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion, the neuroscientist offers some good reasons for the spiritual practices of meditation and contemplation—reasons that are grounded in science and ethics, not in the supernatural show more or religious.

His basic argument is that seeking inner stillness and altruistic behavior (an ethical decision to act in ways that maximize the happiness of others) has benefits for us that do not need to be ascribed to God or any other supernatural being.

It’s important to note that, despite the title, what Harris means by “spirituality” is not the commonly understood definition—that is, he doesn’t mean the attempt to become closer to or understand a supernatural being or the divine. Spirituality, as he discusses, it is an aspect of consciousness and not tied to a being that exists in spirit form. Still, his use of this language will no doubt equally tick off skeptics and religious people.

That probably means he’s on the right track.

Reviewed on Lit/Rant: www.litrant.tumblr.com show less