Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality without Religion Paperback – 29 Jan. 2015

Sam Harris delivers another excellent addition to his collection of cold, cutting, fact based books in his usual eloquent prose. If you are interested in, curious about or already practising some form of spirituality or any other means of discovering the fruits of higher consciousness this book is a must read. As you would expect if you`ve read any of Sam Harris` previous work he offers a no nonsense secular approach to discovering the deepest nature of Human consciousness through a variety of paths. Full of insightful information and practical guidance on how one might begin to embark upon a path in search of "Higher Consciousness" and what it might look and feel like once attained.

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I agree with Terry Patten's view about this book:"The mind of rational science is reconciling itself with the truths encountered via spirituality, and the mind of trans-rational spirituality is reconciling itself more rigorously to the penetrating clarities of rigorous, evidence-based rationality. Each is realizing that they must reckon more fully with the other's incontrovertible truths. That means they're converging, headed for a "marriage" of sorts. This marriage, as it ripples through world culture, is likely to mark an epochal cultural sea-change.I think that among our most prescient, original thinkers, there's a dawning awareness that the coming together of rationality with spirituality, the "marriage of science and spirit" is THE big thing happening now in terms of cultural evolution--an event on the scale of the Reformation or the Enlightenment. It is the most significant intellectual and cultural event of our time and it will reshape the future of human affairs."http://www.terrypatten.com/blog/the-marriage-of-science-spirit-negotiating-the-great-pre-nupI think the above is more about the author's persona and unique socio-cultural standing, than the contents of the book. For the die-hard rationalists, this book is likely to open up more vistas of experience that die-hard conformist empiricism can provide subjective access to. For the other school, there is a larger possibility of mind-soul harmonization than a `faith system' can engender on its own.My key observations from this book stand out as below:1. I agree with the point made that all religions are not the same as per the Perennial Philosophy - in that they do NOT always point to the same underlying reality, and when they do, they don't do it equally well. The notion of a `highest common factor' uniting all religions begins to break apart the moment one presses for details. (pp 20-23)2. Focusing on the primacy of mind has some lurking dangers - pure cushion clinging forever to `the exclusion of all else can lead to political quietism and hive-like conformity. The fact that your mind is all you have and that it is possible to be at peace even in difficult circumstances can become an argument for ignoring obvious social problems (pp 30). Zachary Stein's blog post covers this eloquently, even though I do not fully subscribe to the example he cites to make the point:http://www.zakstein.org/spirituality-beyond-escapism/3. Morality linked to conscious experience of sentient beings make a powerful case for cutting through cultural relativism, something covered in `The Moral Landscape' and reinforced here. `I take it to be axiomatic, therefore, that our notions of meaning, morality, and value presuppose the actuality of consciousness (or its loss) somewhere. If anyone has a conception of meaning, morality, value that has nothing to do with the experience of conscious beings, in this world or in the world to come, I have yet to hear of it'. (pp 78-79).4. Derek Parfit's teleportation thought experiment brings up interesting questions of physical and psychological continuity as the basis of one's identity, and I think offers a good segue to the `I' exploration (pp 84-88), leading to something we know but often forget - `If you are thinking without knowing you are thinking, you are confused about who and what you are' (pp 101). `The Riddle of the Self' does a good job of bringing the experience of Wei Wu Wei wrote long ago:"Why are you unhappy?Because 99.9 percent of everything you think, and of everything you do, is for yourself--and there isn't one."5. The Dzogchen story of the Swiss woman in Nepal with Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche was a powerful reminder how treacherous it could be to `think oneself into the illusion of enlightenment' based on peak experiences or otherwise. (pp 132-133).6. Douglas Harding's `Headless void' anecdote is a nice pointing out exercise to practice, I felt, even though vehemently denigrated by Douglas Hofstadter!7. I found Chapter 5 of the book the least remarkable, and in large measure almost unnecessary and/or a ramble, uncomplimentary and lurid details on G.I.Gurdjieff and Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche notwithstanding! The view on Sri Aurobindo struck me as particularly hasty and unfortunate, and I hope he has a different experience next time when he tries. And the staunchness of the Eben Alexander attack sounded both unnecessarily long and of an `axe to grind' motivation.In summary, this book conveys a developmental progression of the author from his earlier work, and if his self-claimed openness of mind continues, there is a possibility of influencing cultural shifts in sections of society relatively untouched by the light of consciousness.