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#Spirituality

Wanted to like it more than I did. The bits on consciousness and meditation were interesting, but didn‘t really introduce me to any new concepts. Admittedly, the book has been out for several years. Some parts were very interesting, while others I really just wanted to skim through. Plus, I‘m always wary of folks who open with statements about LSD opening their mind when it wasn‘t done in a lab setting. Ok read, but not great.

#spirituality

A book about enlightenment, what it is, what experiences are expected from meditation, the nature of consciousness and other compelling arguments about the ego and thought. It's not an easy book to read sometimes, but nonetheless a great insight on an atheist's view on spirituality. This book has changed my perception of gurus and the like will definetly remember the teachings of the author for a long time. I recommend it!

“We manage to avoid being happy while struggling to *become* happy.”
#intellectual #religion #spiritual #meditation

I liked Waking Up for the most part, some parts had me riveted but there were also parts where I felt like fast-forwarding. Sam Harris provides an overview for the nonreligious how to be spiritual – or more specifically, how to be more aware of one‘s consciousness and peacefulness by meditation. Harris is a neuroscientist and has a knack for explaining how our brains work and how mental discipline can lead one to a happier life.

"Judging from the state of my consciousness at the time, millions of years of hominid evolution has produced nothing more transcendent than a craving for a cheeseburger and a chocolate shake."

"Love was at the bottom impersonal, and deeper than any personal history could justify. Indeed, a transactional love -- I love you because... -- now made no sense at all." - Sam Harris

"Our minds are all we have. They are all we will ever have. And they are all we can offer others."

Essential reading for anyone interested in #consciousness, #meditation, #spirituality, or science of mind. Whether religious or not, Waking Up by Sam Harris is an intelligent and masterful analysis of consciousness and self.

"We are always and everywhere in the presence of reality. Indeed, the human mind is the most complex and subtle expression of reality we have thus far encountered. This should grant profundity to the humble project of noticing what it is like to be you in the present. However numerous your faults, something in you at this moment is pristine--and only you can recognize it.
Open your eyes and see."
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#SamHarris #WakingUp #VandyReads2017