“Until we can talk about spirituality in rational terms—acknowledging the validity of self-transcendence—our world will remain shattered by dogmatism.”
—Sam Harris
“Spirituality”
Spiritual life begins with the suspicion that there is “a source of psychological well-being that does not depend upon merely gratifying one’s desires.” Spiritual practitioners have found that suspicion to be true, but many have an aversion to religion and believe science and secular culture overlook the extraordinary states of consciousness that may be achieved through meditation, use of psychedelics, or other means. Author Sam Harris is one such person. He wrote this book to provide “a rational approach to spirituality.” His approach draws from Eastern religious and spiritual traditions (which are concerned more with introspection than worship) and has as its goal the achievement of self-transcendence and subsequent arrival at “a state of well-being that is imperturbable—or if perturbed, easily regained.”
“The Mystery of Consciousness”
People who have the connection between their left and right cerebral hemispheres severed behave as though each hemisphere has a mind of its own—which, if each does, begs the question of what happens to a person’s sense of self when their brain is split. While we may be tempted to believe their subjectivity collapses to a single hemisphere, Harris tells us that consciousness is “divisible” and “more fundamental than any apparent self.” He also tells us that although “human minds are a product of human brains,” correlations between brain activity and the contents of consciousness cannot explain the emergence of subjective experience. That certain arrangements of atoms produce “an experience of being that very collection of atoms” is a mystery that science might never dispel but that spirituality can help us to understand.
“The Riddle of the Self”
Most of us feel like “the subject of experience in each present moment.” But Harris tells us that this “self”—not our personhood but the sense of being a center of consciousness that is distinct from and inhabits a physical body—is actually an illusion and one that spirituality largely consists in dispelling. The illusion of the self is brought about by our “habitual identification with thought” (which Harris identifies as “a primary source of human suffering”). By learning to observe our thoughts without identifying with them, we can glimpse consciousness devoid of a distinct self-entity. Our first sign of progress will be noticing just how distracted we are. But if we persist in our practice, our concentration will improve, and we will begin to recognize thoughts themselves as “mere appearances arising in a wider field of consciousness.”
“Meditation”
According to Harris, true meditation is not about producing a certain state of mind but about recognizing “that which is common to all states of experience, both pleasant and unpleasant.” Two traditional paths to spiritual awakening are “the path of gradual ascent” and “the path of sudden realization.” The former emphasizes consistent practice, disciplined attention, and incremental growth and aims to foster changes in a person’s perception and behavior over time. The latter considers the possibility of spontaneous and transformative realizations that may be triggered by intense meditation or unexpected life events. Harris encourages us to “take[] the goal as the path”—that is, to practice self-transcendence—and to remain open to the possibility of both gradual and sudden insights. He also instructs us to “attempt to invert consciousness upon itself”—that is, to look for that which is looking—and to notice “what happens to the apparent divide between subject and object.”
“Gurus, Death, Drugs, and Other Puzzles”
Those of us who participate in spiritual life may encounter gurus, reports of near-death experiences, and psychedelics. Gurus are spiritual teachers, some of whom may be wise, respectable, and worth listening to, while others may be charlatans or exhibit dubious or harmful behavior. When under the tutelage of one, we should not allow ourselves to be deceived, though we should “make certain allowances for cultural differences.” Near-death experiences are profound personal experiences that can accompany a brush with death and are commonly invoked as proof that consciousness is independent of the brain. But Harris tells us that they are only ever had by people who, despite claims to the contrary, did not suffer a complete loss of brain activity. Lastly, psychedelics are psychoactive drugs that may be indispensable for those of us who are skeptical about profound changes in consciousness. However, that they can induce not only positive but also negative experiences suggests that once we are convinced that freedom from the self is possible, we would be wise to find safer ways to practice it.
“Conclusion”
Religion is so widely believed to be the only means by which to facilitate and make sense of transcendental experiences that most of us either make a religion out of spiritual life or have no spiritual life at all. But altered states of consciousness are “empirical facts” and can be experienced under a wide range of conditions. Harris believes the meanings that religions provide are “false and divisive” and that if we view self-transcendence “in universal and secular terms,” we can live a spiritual life without deluding ourselves.