Podcast appearances and mentions of Douglas E Harding

The answer to whether or not the self is an illusion is tricky—it really depends on what you mean by both self and illusion. In this episode, we challenge the sense of self that we all feel from the first-person subjective experience. We all feel like we are riding around inside of our heads looking out at the world. We don't feel like we are identical to our bodies, but instead that we have bodies—we look down at them from up here inside of our heads. Nondualism:Most people would say that they are behind their eyes in the center of consciousness. But neuroscientifically there is no place in the brain for such a self to exist. And we know from optical illusions that the brain can be easily fooled. It is in this sense that the self can be shown to be an illusion because like all illusions, it disappears when you examine it more closely. This experience is known as nondualism or non-dual awareness, and it is when the sense of subject and object—of you in your head and the world out there—merge into one unified experience. But this is not to say that you aren't real or even that the self isn't real. Illusions can be like any emergent phenomena—on one level of analysis they don't exist but on another level, it makes perfect sense to talk about them. Temperature, for example, is an emergent phenomenon. Temperature is the average kinetic energy of the particles in a system. So it does not make sense to talk about the temperature of one atom, but that does not mean that it never makes sense to talk about temperature. I think of the self—the concept of being an "I" or a subject—in the same emergent way. There are times when you can look closely and realize that you are not a separate subject. This experience of nondualism is beautiful and worth exploring. Sometimes it happens on accident—you've probably even had such a self-transcending moment without realizing it—and sometimes you can induce it through the practice of specific techniques (linked below). But the fact that the self is an illusion doesn't mean that you have to experience the non-dual emptiness of consciousness all of the time. And it doesn't mean that you have to completely dispense with the concept of self. Most of the time it is perfectly valid to be a separate subject who has a name and an identity. What's the point?For me, the point of nondualism and of practicing non-dual awareness is just to be able to see this deeper reality whenever I want. Because it is the sense of being a separate self that creates most of our suffering in life, and it can be an immense relief to let go of it—to realize that there is nobody inside of your head to experience the suffering. Suffering doesn't go away, but the sufferer can. So with a meditation practice to give you some concentration, you can get underneath the many layers of the mind to realize that there is nobody inside of your head—there's no experiencer having the experience. There's just consciousness and its contents. Timestamps:coming soon! Links:https://samharris.org/taming-the-mind/ (Taming the Mind: A conversation with Dan Harris) https://youtu.be/fajfkO_X0l0 (Sam Harris: The Self is an Illusion) https://www.livescience.com/55999-is-your-self-just-an-illusion.html (Is Your 'Self' Just an Illusion?) by Robert Lawrence Kuhn https://samharris.org/podcasts/drugs-and-the-meaning-of-life/ (Drugs and the Meaning of Life) by Sam Harris https://samharris.org/books/waking-up/ (Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion) by Sam Harris https://www.amazon.com/Having-No-Head-Rediscovery-Obvious/dp/1878019198 (On Having No Head: Zen and the Rediscovery of the Obvious) by Douglas E. Harding Related Exploring Kodawari Articles:https://exploringkodawari.blog/what-is-consciousness/ (What is Consciousness?) https://exploringkodawari.blog/what-is-meditation/ (What is Meditation?) https://exploringkodawari.blog/modular-theory-of-mind/ (The Modular Theory of Mind)... Support this podcast

Sam Harris (no relation to me, by the way -- although I wouldn’t mind it) has had a formative impact on my contemplative development. He was one of the first “normal” (at least that’s how I computed it, back when I was still a rather judgmental skeptic) people I met who was really into meditation, which gave me a lot of courage and inspiration to pursue the practice myself. He later helped me get into my first meditation retreat with his old friend Joseph Goldstein, which was a massively important event in my life and the beginning of a deep relationship with Joseph. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Sam, he is a neuroscientist, philosopher, author, podcaster, and app founder. I first heard of him in the mid-aughts, when he wrote a book called The End of Faith, which was a jeremiad against organized religion. I was surprised to learn that he had spent, cumulatively, several years on meditation retreats. He later wrote a book which touched on those subjects, called Waking Up. That is also the name of his meditation app. But while he has one foot firmly in the contemplative world, he is also very much in the arena, mixing it up on Twitter and on his wildly popular podcast, called Making Sense, with his controversial views on hot-button issues from Trump to race to Islam. Sam really believes that the future of civilization depends on our ability to have rational conversations on thorny issues. And he has a new book called Making Sense: Conversations on Consciousness, Morality, and the Future of Humanity, in which some of his podcast conversations are revised and extended. I wanted to have him on to talk about the book, and to explore with him how somebody who is so fiercely engaged in the public square uses meditation to guide and sustain him. I suspect many of you may disagree with him on key issues -- I often wrestle with his ideas quite a bit, personally -- but no matter where you stand, I think you’ll find his answers to these questions fascinating. Take Part in the New Year’s Series To submit a question or share a reflection dial 646-883-8326 and leave us a voicemail. If you’re outside the United States, you can email us a voice memo file in mp3 format to listener@tenpercent.com. The deadline for submissions is Monday December 7th. Where to find Sam Harris online: Website: https://samharris.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamHarrisOrg Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Samharrisorg/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samharrisorg YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNAxrHudMfdzNi6NxruKPLw Books Mentioned: Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion by Sam Harris: https://bookshop.org/books/waking-up-a-guide-to-spirituality-without-religion/9781451636024 The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason by Sam Harris: https://bookshop.org/books/the-end-of-faith-religion-terror-and-the-future-of-reason/9780393327656 On Having No Head: Zen and the Rediscovery of the Obvious by Douglas E. Harding: https://bookshop.org/books/on-having-no-head/9781908774064 If you're looking for a sign that you're supposed to start actually meditating - this is it. And, you can bring a friend or family member along for the ride. For a limited time, if you buy yourself a subscription to Ten Percent Happier, we'll send you a free gift subscription to share with whomever you'd like. Note that nothing is permanent, and this offer is no exception: get it before it ends by going to www.tenpercent.com/december. Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/sam-harris-306

Sam Harris (no relation to me, by the way -- although I wouldn't mind it) has had a formative impact on my contemplative development. He was one of the first “normal” (at least that's how I computed it, back when I was still a rather judgmental skeptic) people I met who was really into meditation, which gave me a lot of courage and inspiration to pursue the practice myself. He later helped me get into my first meditation retreat with his old friend Joseph Goldstein, which was a massively important event in my life and the beginning of a deep relationship with Joseph. For those of you who aren't familiar with Sam, he is a neuroscientist, philosopher, author, podcaster, and app founder. I first heard of him in the mid-aughts, when he wrote a book called The End of Faith, which was a jeremiad against organized religion. I was surprised to learn that he had spent, cumulatively, several years on meditation retreats. He later wrote a book which touched on those subjects, called Waking Up. That is also the name of his meditation app. But while he has one foot firmly in the contemplative world, he is also very much in the arena, mixing it up on Twitter and on his wildly popular podcast, called Making Sense, with his controversial views on hot-button issues from Trump to race to Islam. Sam really believes that the future of civilization depends on our ability to have rational conversations on thorny issues. And he has a new book called Making Sense: Conversations on Consciousness, Morality, and the Future of Humanity, in which some of his podcast conversations are revised and extended. I wanted to have him on to talk about the book, and to explore with him how somebody who is so fiercely engaged in the public square uses meditation to guide and sustain him. I suspect many of you may disagree with him on key issues -- I often wrestle with his ideas quite a bit, personally -- but no matter where you stand, I think you'll find his answers to these questions fascinating. Take Part in the New Year's Series To submit a question or share a reflection dial 646-883-8326 and leave us a voicemail. If you're outside the United States, you can email us a voice memo file in mp3 format to listener@tenpercent.com. The deadline for submissions is Monday December 7th. Where to find Sam Harris online: Website: https://samharris.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamHarrisOrg Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Samharrisorg/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samharrisorg YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNAxrHudMfdzNi6NxruKPLw Books Mentioned: Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion by Sam Harris: https://bookshop.org/books/waking-up-a-guide-to-spirituality-without-religion/9781451636024 The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason by Sam Harris: https://bookshop.org/books/the-end-of-faith-religion-terror-and-the-future-of-reason/9780393327656 On Having No Head: Zen and the Rediscovery of the Obvious by Douglas E. Harding: https://bookshop.org/books/on-having-no-head/9781908774064 If you're looking for a sign that you're supposed to start actually meditating - this is it. And, you can bring a friend or family member along for the ride. For a limited time, if you buy yourself a subscription to Ten Percent Happier, we'll send you a free gift subscription to share with whomever you'd like. Note that nothing is permanent, and this offer is no exception: get it before it ends by going to www.tenpercent.com/december. Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/sam-harris-306

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