Atheists Debate Meditation Sam Harris is an atheist who meditates regularly, and admires Ramana Maharshi and Jack Kornfield. His new book, Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion, was recently reviewed in a Secular Humanist magazine, Free Inquiry (December/January 2015). The reviewer is a lawyer who has defended freedom of expression for atheists before the Supreme Court. Here is my letter to the editor (hope they print it in the next edition). RE: “Claims for Meditation’s Benefits Overreach” by Eddie Tabash Is there empirical evidence that the sense of having a separate self is an illusion? Mr. Tabash says “no,” and challenges Sam Harris to prove his claim that the sense of having a separate self is an illusion. Harris argues, in Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion, that the true goal of meditation is to overcome that form of human suffering caused by the illusion of being a separate self, and thereby attain that form of happiness that comes from understanding one’s actual oneness. Rather than using empathy in an effort to see what Harris is trying to convey, Tabash challenges Harris to “help me have these experiences in a way that I will have no choice other than to regard them as objectively verifiable.” Of course, that isn’t going to happen. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. The evidence of oneness is everywhere. All organisms are unified as emerging elements of evolution. All forms of life are inseparable from the air, light, ground, and gravity they share. Eddie, Sam, and I are expressions of The Big Bang, hurling through something we humans call “space;” a cultural construct. The illusory experience of being a separate self is another cultural construct – a construct of self-alienation. The counter factual condition to that illusion need only be seen from a new perspective. Meditation may be the only known means for overcoming self-alienation and experiencing the reality of oneness. Through meditation the willing person can learn to relax the effort used for clinging to the illusion of separation, and then dwell in the happiness of experiencing reality. Secular Humanism should be taking this message to the world. William J. Kelleher, Ph.D. Author of The Human Birth Defect Los Angeles, CA
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 00:49:52 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015