Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion

For me, this is one of those books that change your view of the world and offer additional tools to experience existence in a richer and more contemplative way.

Sam Harris is a rationalist that constantly uses his understanding of the scientific method to derive new meaning and understanding. This is the key aspect that drew me to his ideas from the very beginning of the book. Consider this: we are talking about spirituality here, and in the way Sam frames it, science is not a contradiction but a complement.

The premise of the book is that consciousness and its contents is all there is. From this premise he proceeds to ask, given that all of our experience of life is about the subjective experience of consciousness and the variety of contents that can be drawn upon it, why not to explore them directly? - Through meditation and a contemplative framework.

This book is for those who want to explore the ideas behind meditation and are curious about what to make of it. Sam is a truth seeker, honestly looking for a deeper understanding of life, he is a good guide. Totally recommend this book and also the companion app, WakingUp.

Sam Harris covers a lot of ground in this book. At times, I was nodding along; at others, I was absorbing new ideas; and a few times, I was completely lost.

I enjoyed the thesis - that being aware of our present and taking steps to be better at being aware of our present is objectively good for us. Most of the book seems to strongly support this thesis. This is especially true of the beginning of the book and parts where Sam discusses research.

I disagree with what appears to be an antagonism towards religion. While I see the many harms from dogma, I also know and see people who benefit themselves and those around them by their religious faith. I do not see religious faith as antithetical to good life. Not a religious person myself, I am not making this claim of my view from a defensive posture.

While I did not altogether follow the discussion of different spiritual teachers and their successes and failures, I did enjoy the very personal aspect that Sam brings to those narratives - having met and seen some of the people, he has a different perspective than I could get elsewhere. On that same topic, I appreciated his cautionary words about how difficult it is to identify a real guru/teacher on spiritual matters. In addition to the caution, he gives specific examples of things that are probably red flags.

I've always been intrigued by the idea of meditation- to a degree some of the most free times I've spent is through playing music and at those moments of completely removing ones self from ones surroundings and surrendering to the moment- most musicians will understand this feeling. The emotional connection to everyone around you and to the music. It's exhilarating, and the only way I've managed to explain it properly to non musicians is to compare it to the moment of making love to someone, when the world disappears and your only goal is to merge with that person before you. The moment is all that matters, then and there.

Now what does this have to do with the book? Quite simply, through some of the meditative exercises
Harris offered in this. I managed, whilst only briefly, to achieve a similar feeling. It lasted only seconds, but it was there- and these exercises, combined with music practice have been having some effect on personal anxiety and well being recently.

It may not be for everyone, and this book really only serves as a basic introduction, but I'll definitely move forward and read more on the subject. Especially in light of reading some of the studies on the subject that Harris quoted in the book. The evidence towards mindfulness and meditation is growing, and being thoroughly explored within neuroscience and Psychology now- and in combination with stoic philosophy, I can see it have a positive effect personally.

I'd recommend this to anyone, like me, who is sceptical but interested in meditation and its benefits.