Sam Harris picks a fight with God
Getty ImagesAccording to the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, an amazing 92% of Americans believe in God or a universal spirit—even one in five of self-identified atheists believe in a higher power. Ardent secularist Sam Harris isn’t deterred by those numbers, and in fact has made it his life’s mission to force the faithful to question their religious faith—Harris would even argue that the future of civilization is dependent on it. Questioning commonly held assertions and wisdom found in the Bible; seeking out debates with theologists across the spectrum, from Judaism to Christianity to Islam; and all but picking a fight with God, Sam Harris takes his secular crusade to Patt’s microphone.
Also on this episode
Guest:
Sam Harris, co-founder & CEO of The Reason Project; neuroscience researcher; author of “The End of Faith” & “Letter to a Christian Nation”
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Bill,
ReplyDeleteI agree, Harris most definitely is not a typical atheist given his interest in meditation and his advocating for a contemplative science. I don't think "dabbling" is an apt term to describe his experience with meditation, though. He studied with meditation masters in India and Nepal, and as far I tell from his numerous articles and interviews, he has been practicing meditation for about twenty years. He doesn't talk much about the specifics of his practice, and calls his gains in this area "modest," but perhaps he is really just being modest. In any event, his descriptions of meditative states are as clear as any I have read, so I see no reason to assume he's a mere dabbler.
But then again, I'm a big fan of the guy, and so I tend to rise to his defense even when he's not being criticized!
Hey Bob,
ReplyDeleteI was not aware that Harris had been doing meditation that long - I have not heard and read about that. I remember him mentioning a year or two ago that he had done a 3 week retreat (or maybe a month), and that he had maintained the practice.
A long-term practice is even better. It only Dan Siegel a one-month retreat to change the whole focus of his research in neuroscience, so maybe Harris will follow the same path and start looking at the deeper aspects of meditative brain states.
I like Harris, too, despite my occasional frustration with him (like when he argued in favor of torture).
Peace,
Bill
Yeah, I think it was in various radio/video interviews that I heard the most about Harris's personal experiences regarding meditation. Below are a couple of written interviews where he impressed me with his grasp of meditative states. Of course, he could just know this stuff on a cognitive level. I don't know. In the Science Network interview he does mention that when 9/11 happened, he had already been "studying meditation" for a decade. Not sure if that means practicing regularly.
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend, Bill!
http://www.slumdance.com/blogs/brian_flemming/archives/001324.html
http://thesciencenetwork.org/media/videos/295/Transcript.pdf