Just digging through the Sam Harris archive. Only heard the first hour so far.
Always interesting to hear two people who don’t totally agree talk something out. They agree that the basic idea that the self doesn’t exist and that getting to know your world are principles that will lead to a more ethical life. Interesting point by Sam that the introduction of LSD showed a lot of people that altering your POV is possible. It can take a while to get there with meditation, but drugs can be a shortcut. Obviously there are problems with that, like believing it’s the drug doing all the work, or drugs that take you somewhere that doesn’t work out so well.
I totally agree that drugs will alter you POV and one hell of a lot of other things.
I totally agree that drugs will alter you POV and one hell of a lot of other things.I agree in general, however marijuana, if used with discretion, can "open" new perspectives on a subject. Carl Sagan used marijuana, especially when he was pondering a specific problem. His wife told the story that while showering, he would often write an equation on the shower wall with soap, lest he forget the "inspired" thought. It is one of the minor drawbacks of marijuana, in that it causes temporary short-term memory loss. One can have an important fleeting "insight", but not recall it the next day in order to flesh it out. Meditation is a form of "clearing" one's mind from external "interferences". This is why usually a quiet place is selected. Marijuana (if properly used) produces a state of meditation which allows one to "shut out" extraneous external interference, but often allows for a deeper introspection.
While you may not have self, you have personal karma. For deciding your fate for the future. You really want good karma. Had around sixty buddhas living on a farm one year. And the religious rituals were the same in the offerings and methods. It was the lifestyles that was difference. There were two camp cooks, the food was the same for everyone, except when it came to alcohol. But they separated into three groups based upon their Buddha lifestyles. The more Buddha did not touch alcohol or marijuana. The in-between group did use alcohol, but only after it had been changed by adding herbs and things to make it ok. The third group was more Americanized, drank and partied all night. I think the third group Americanized Buddha and the self was all Buddha was about to them.
Actually, this turned out to be a pretty dry podcast for Sam. It was a very academic approach to meditating, which would probably be informative if that was what I was looking for.
Anyway, I switched over to the latest Humanize Me. Religious Deviant: Humanize Me
Very good dialog on how to have dialog. Use my blogpost to focus on the key 10 minutes.
Nice website you put together. Good job.