Waking Up: Dan Harris + Sam Harris

On September 9, 2014 broadcaster, meditator, and author Dan Harris engaged mind scientist and renowned sceptic Sam Harris about his new exploration of spirituality recently released book, "Waking Up."

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[CharleneCash]

As someone who has been diagnosed with PTSD..anxiety...depression..
OCD..and Bopolar 2...along with being a recovering addict/alcoholic...
Mindful Meditation has changed my life in more positive ways than I can fully express with words.
It will be a part of my every day life...for the rest of my life.

[rainmon]

"you're in your mind even though you're in the world" Sam has great insights that are just spoken off the cuff like he's ordering lunch, I wonder how many people actual hear him.

[mackenziej.leavitt]

"The feeling of the self or ego is the feeling of thinking without knowing that you're thinking." That's such a brilliant way of putting it.

[fullyawakened]

Sam Harris absolutely nails it!  This interview is a great summary of his latest book and he perfectly integrates it into the foundations he laid with The Moral Landscape and Freewill.  The man has his shit together in ways that most people don't even understand is possible.  Thanks so much for sharing this video

[kulu]

I wish i was as articulate as Sam. Everything he says is so clear.

[astrovicis]

The mental health of world leaders is incredibly, incredibly important. We really, really need to keep that in mind and try to help wherever we can.

[Erik-ywkj]

"No distance between themselves and the task." - I have felt this many times while developing software. It's called "getting in the zone" and it's that state where you are so fully absorbed into what you're doing that hours can pass without any awareness of them having done so. And it's usually when we produce our best work.

[fpcoleman]

Wow!
So grateful for this.
I studied Zen Buddhism and took some meditation courses many years ago. As an atheist this is the closest I get to a form of "spirituality" which is relevant to me. Great to hear a reference to Harding's On Having no Head.
Also a reference to "living in the present moment" is highly significant for me. I practice this every day.
Don't live in the regrets of the past. Leave the past where it is; in the past.
Also, don't live in the hopes of the future; the future is in the future. Always live in the present moment. Fully live what you are are experiencing now.

[The.Nasty.]

What Sam said about feeling like you’re behind your eyes riding around in your body is so on point… especially relating to meditation.

I used to meditate on a regular basis, and totally feel like a passenger in my own body, using my eyes like windows.

Yet my wife, who has never meditated, says that she doesn’t feel that way at all.

Interesting stuff, that’s why I love these guys!

So thought provoking and fun.

[throttlebuff]

He has a way of putting into words things that people have thought about but are not able to communicate, like the description of "self".

[kencampbell]

Another priceless contribution by Sam. Thank you.

[KostaKolimechkov]

The last 6mins of this interview were my "waking up" moment. Thank you.

[medicalii]

sam harris is an absolute gift to the world

[alllowercase]

It is so strange to hear Sam Harris talk about Douglas Harding. I stayed at his house when I was 19 year's old, back in 2000. His workshops were life-changing. I didn't think he was that well known so it is great that Sam is bringing him into people's awareness.

[neurosentience]

22:14 - 30:00 YES! Especially 26:38!! I've had this switch occur in a meditation having never heard of any of this. I just discovered Sam and I'm blown away that this type of mindfulness is being experienced by others. He has a way of putting this stuff in perspective that is pure genius! If you don't get it, please continue to look. It's not hard it only seems that way.

[frdrennan]

Although I haven't formally pursued mindfulness meditation, it sounds very much like the feeling one gets as a musician, or even from distance running. The pure focus that excludes every other sensation and thinking without noticing you are thinking.

[NeedsEvidence]

Sam Harris is one of the great enlighteners of our times, a scientist who provides, with unique eloquence, fascinatingly profound insights into the nature of the mind.

[newearthlivingithaca]

The relentless refrain of the self makes us feel separate, isolated from experience. Losing it allows for a connected expansive experience of everyday life. Simple but not easy.

[georgepaul]

Sam Harris I enjoy listening to your soothing way of expressing analytic philosophical thoughts.

[wendyfrith]

I recall being in that zone for more than a decade, i.e., when a healthy child at play, whether wildly, outside with our tribe of kids, or under the sheets with only a flashlight and a HardyBoy mystery. We were not listening to the narration nor telling it, we WERE it. Total awareness without an interrupting thought in our heads!