Waking Up: Spirituality for Atheists

An introduction to the idea, popularised by Sam Harris in Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion (2014), that you are not your thoughts, and that meditation can reveal this directly.

Thought experiments about the self

The teleporter: imagine a machine that copies you atom for atom and rebuilds you 100 miles away, but doesn't delete the original. Which one is "you"? Both can't be.
Split-brain patients: when the connection between the brain's hemispheres is cut, people can show two separate streams of awareness and even conflicting preferences. One famous case describes a man's hands working against each other. So what is the "self" that seemed single before?

These suggest the solid, single "I" we assume may not be what it seems.

The cinema

When you're absorbed in a great film, it fills your whole mind. But you're not the film. You're the one in the seat, watching it. Thoughts and feelings are the same: they play on the screen, and you are the awareness noticing them.

Try it

Sit still and simply wait for your next thought to appear. It may take a few seconds. Now imagine watching your mind like this all the time: which thoughts keep coming back? That's meditation.

Experiential truths

Some truths can't be fully argued, only felt. You can't logically prove why cruelty to a baby is wrong, yet you know it. Long periods of watching the mind lead to insights often called non-duality: you are not your thoughts, you have more freedom to interpret reality than you think, and everything is interconnected. Talking about it means little; experiencing it means a lot. That's what "spirituality for atheists" means here.

Thought experiments about the self

The cinema

Try it

Experiential truths

See also