Waking Up with Sam Harris - Looking for the Self (26 Minute Meditation)

This is a 26-minute mindfulness meditation, led by Sam Harris.

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[manifest_it_man]

I first listened to this about 4-5 years ago on a bus ride back from university. I was in my first year. What came from this was beyond words. I had what I could only later pin-point as a "satori" or "sotāpanna" experience. An experience of no-self. I was engrossed in the raw stimulation around me and remember that when it subsided, and my mental chatter came back, I had been grinning so hard that my cheeks hurt. It's hard to say for sure how these experiences impact you but as far as I can tell, this experience served as a new foundation from which I built myself. I am forever grateful for this podcast episode and my "self" for taking the time that day to listen with intent. Thank you Sam.

[jiraiyajackson]

“A mirror is never really the shape it reflects” what a beautiful metaphor

[pastaboinch]

The way this video ended with no warning or goodbye was so profound and metaphorical. I was notcing everything around me and then noticed the thought of wondering why Sam hadn't spoke in a while. Then I opened my eyes back up and noticed the video had ended and it made me realize this was most likely intentional.

That moment helped me reflect on what I was thinking about and continue to notice what I was thinking and feeling long enough for me to want to post this comment.

I'm not sure how and why that's so profound to me but it just feels like it is.

[GetMeThere]

I hope Sam is aware that there is surely a non-trivial group of people like myself who INTENSELY CRAVE more of this stuff from him. The "market" on meditation these days is crammed with crap. Sam has navigated it and (based on that, and on who we all well know he is) is exceptionally well placed to help out those of us who are ardently interested in going further. I'd love to see more of these, further development of "headlessness" stuff from him, and overall, any and all things he can offer regarding practices specifically aimed at achieving the "selflessness" state of consciousness.

[doc]

sitting still in presence is not a waste of time. It is abundant life.

[kelleren]

Sam, you may never read this, but you are one of the biggest factors in me leaving Mormonism, and embracing skepticism, and formal logic as the foundational pillars of my life.

Thank you. ❤️

[melaniekelly]

been meditating for over 30 years now and this is the most clear experience of no self I have ever had. I have been conceptually aware of no self but not experientially aware. Thank you so much for sharing.

[bradyedge]

Take a seat either in a chair or crosslegged on a cushion, and gradually become aware of the sensations of sitting, the feeling of pressure in your back or legs, feel your arms at your sides, and perhaps take a few deep breaths
allow gravity to settle you into your seat
and now gradually become aware of the process of breathing
notice where you feel the breath most distinctly, either at the tip of your nose or in the rising and falling of your abdomen
just feel the mere sensations associated with the breath, from the beginning of the inhalation, through the pause between breaths, and follow the exhalation to the end. Simply cover the breath with your awareness. Just feel it however it comes. If it’s shallow that’s fine, if it’s deep that’s fine. Just let it come naturally.
See if you can notice the next inhalation from the moment it begins through its full duration, and so too with the exhalation.
And the moment you notice you’ve been lost in thought, simply observe the thought itself, whether it’s images or language, notice how it disappears, and immediately come back to the sensations of breathing.
And as you do this you can open your awareness to all sensation; there’s nothing magical about the breath. So you can feel sensations in the body, wherever they spontaneously appear; you can listen to sounds in the room. Just notice what you in fact notice in each moment.
Simply let your awareness be the space in which each sensation arises: feelings of pressure, movement, the sensation of breathing, sounds, and even thoughts themselves.
Everything that you notice is arising in the same space of consciousness: the sensations of your body, the sounds in the room, feelings of fatigue or restlessness - whatever you can feel or sense or perceive is arising in consciousness in this moment. Simply rest as that condition in which sounds and sensations and emotions arise and change and pass away.
Take a moment to feel the sensations of your face and head. Perhaps it feels like your awareness is behind your face or in your head. But the feelings of your face and are in awareness in this moment. They are appearing in this same condition. They are appearing in the same place where you are thinking. Your thoughts are not in your head, your awareness or consciousness is not in your head; as a matter of experience, everything is appearing moment by moment in consciousness, and this includes the feeling of having a head, the feeling of being behind your face, looking out at a world that is other than what you are. In fact what you are calling “the world” is appearing in this same space.
Take a moment to open your eyes, and notice the apparent change in your experience. Now there is a sphere of light and color that you see. But what has changed? What you see is appearing in the same space where thoughts and emotions and sensations are arising at each moment.
Close your eyes again, and stare at the darkness behind your eyelids; your visual field was there all along. Everything you can notice is simply a perturbation of consciousness. As a matter of experience, there is nothing outside of consciousness. Simply rest as that condition in which thoughts and sensations and sights and sounds and moods and emotions arise in each moment.
One of the most common experiences we have in life is of thoughts coloring, or seeming to color, consciousness itself: happy thoughts make us happy; sad thoughts make us sad. But there’s actually an illusion here that we are not seeing. The consciousness that is aware, and the consciousness that is aware of sadnesss, is not actually ever taking the form of those moods. Take a moment to recall something that bothers you: a disappointment, or a recent embarassment, some conversation that went terribly. Just resurrect that memory for a moment. Think of what you said or didn’t say, think of what you should have done, what you regret. Whatever it is, feel that mood that arises, as you dwell on this memory. And simply be the space in which it arises. Be like a mirror into which some ugly image has been cast. A mirror is never changed by what it reflect, if you can feel that you never really take the shape of a bad mood. And notice how insubstantial these thoughts are: how is it that a thought, this mirror image or bit of language in the mind ever convinces you that it is what you are? How is it that your experience is ever trimmed down and determined by the next arising image or sentence?
And so too with a good thought: think of something that makes you happy. Picture someone you love, picture them being happy. Notice how that begins to brighten the mind. But what is it in you that’s aware of these changes, simply aware, not identical to the next arising thought or mood? Where are you amid all of these changes?
As a matter of experience you are not identical to anything you can notice, by the mere fact that you are noticing it, and by the mere fact that it is changing in each moment. None of these things can be what you are.
Again the moment you notice that you are lost in thought, that you’ve been thinking without noticing the arising of thought as an appearance in consciousness, simply become aware of the thought itself, the images, the sounds, or apparent sounds in the mind, and then come back to the sensation of breathing, or to sounds, or sensations in the body. Just notice the next appearance, whatever it is.
And if you’re feeling sleepy or restless, simply feel those states as a constellation of energy. How is it that you notice that you’re sleepy or restless? There must be some signature. And then become aware of that which is merely feeling the energy of these states. That which is aware of sleepiness is not in fact sleepy. That which is aware of restlessness is not in fact restless. Meditation is simply a means to continually drop back into this state of mere witnessing of everything that arises.
Once again you can open your eyes, and notice any apparent change. Does it feel like your experience just got bigger in some way, now all of the sudden the world has come rushing in? But consciousness hasn’t gotten any bigger; you were just as conscious with your eyes closed, and the world you see with open eyes is simply appearing in consciousness. There really is no outside and inside, as a matter of experience.
The place you see with open eyes is the same place where you were thinking and feeling. For instance, picture something in front of you, perhaps on the floor. Picture a...candle burning. Now some people can visualize things quite vividly, but even those of us who can’t can still get something there in the space, in the mind’s eye, something superimposed on what we see in front of us. The candle - or any other thought you can visualize - is a thought. It’s a thought that’s now appearing in the midst of what you’re seeing with your open eyes, and what you see with your open eyes is structured in a very real sense by concepts in the mind, by patterns, some of which are genetically determined, some of which are built up by experience, by which we recognize objects and differentiate them in space.
See if you can relax as much of this machinery as you can, and just view the world as a single sphere of color and light and shadow. Forget about the objects. Forget about the boundary between objects, and just encounter the raw data of seeing. Just let your awareness go as wide as possible, and see a totality of light and color.
Now as you do this, also notice sounds and sensations, feelings in the body. Just let consciousness be a single sphere of experience. Where are you in this condition? Where is the self that answers to the name of “I”? Is there actually a center to this experience?
Or is there just experience?
See if you can notice the next thought that arises as it arises: where are thoughts coming from? And where do they go? Most of us spend most of our lives thinking that we are the thinker of our thoughts. Where is this thinker? Isn’t there only the next thought that arises? If you look closely, you will begin to see that the feeling of being the thinker, the feeling that you are authoring your thoughts, or that you are identical to them, that is what it is like to be thinking without noticing that you are thinking. That is the condition of not having seen the arising of thought.
Just notice the next thought: Think of the Eiffel Tower, now think of a red bus, now remember of the name of the first president of the United States. How could any of these appearances be what you are? You are simply noticing them. They arise in an instant; they pass away in the next. How is it that you ever feel identical to this voice that seems to be in your head? How is it this engine of anxiety and self-criticism keeps turning every hour and day?
For the last minute, just allow yourself to begin again. Come back to the mere sensation of breathing, to sounds, to the feelings of pressure and tingling in your body. Just let your awareness to be wide open, and at rest, whatever you notice.

[kristinaugestad]

Sam! Not sure if you will read this, but I want to say a sincere thank you for making the waking up app. Having struggled with anxiety and depression for the last 6 years, therapy in different forms and medications.. no one had told me the truth about thoughts. no one. Until you did. after a week of mediation, I found myself crying of joy when I brushed my teeth, because such a simple and seemingly boring thing I hadn't really experienced in years because I was in my head and didn't know about anything else. You're an amazing teacher, keep up the good work.

[Spadge]

Everytime we think too much, we loose ourselves in the noise. Just experiencing the world as it is gets us in touch closer with ourselves.

It's beautiful to just sit and take it all in.

[CCOLee-kg]

This is the most important piece of media of my life. I will never be able to fully express what it has done for me. I had no idea this was possible. I was just trying to learn some "mindfulness" and my entire outlook on life and consciousness wound up being completely changed. It's a wonderful improvement.

[DedicatedSpirit]

This should to be in schools.
No religion or spirituality attached.
Just the practice of it...
It is essential!

[TheHealthConscounist]

The power of meditation is incredible, I was feeling very stressed and anxious, probably because I drank alcohol last night and Im feeling hung over and usually when Im hung over I feel more anxious and stressed than usual, and just by meditating for a little bit I already feel much better, more at peace with myself, which has been more useful than Lexapro for me

[mettapresentnow]

Sam is one of the people who inspired me to share my mindfulness journey.
I started deeply looking into meditation as someone who struggles with a constantly wandering mind since early university days. Some days are easy but most days are incredibly hard to be present constantly, especially as a student. But Sam's podcast and audio on meditation has genuinely helped me become a better person and more importantly actively try to be a mindful person. Especially within a secular discourse.
Days are not easy but its the littles steps consistently that count!

[queensavethegod]

Thank you Sam. This was a wonderful guided meditation.
I can't belive how helpful you can be to me.
I can't believe how so much wisdom could come from a single source.
I can't believe you're doing this for everyone to enjoy.
Thank you for all the work you do and thank you for sharing it with everybody.
Thank you.

[namelessnick]

Wow, from this guided meditation I learned that my thoughts are kind of all over the place. I need to meditate some more often!

[MV-gtqu]

This is so helpful for stress and anxiety. Thank you so much.

[isaorozco]

And here I am for my first time... learning
from the best and for this opportunity, I’m so grateful.

[daposevvg]

Try this if you are struggling. Listen to this guid at a park where you can see people and hear activity. Most people have such anxiety sitting alone in a quiet room. I would even suggest headphones at a restaurant for lunch. (But not eating.) But really follow along. Just be around life.
We all have programming that makes us feel like we’re in trouble or being punished if we are alone in a room. And therefore now your punishment is needing to meditate and think about your thoughts.
It is so much cooler when you hear and see people birds crickets life!

[fcukausername]

one thing i did independently that really helped drive his point home: when he gave a list of objects to think about starting with the eiffel tower, i went back to thinking about the eiffel tower after he got to the final object. i then realized how quickly the thought of the eiffel tower faded away until i consciously brought it back simply as a test. it disappeared instantly when he mentioned the red bus. it really put into perspective how transient all of our thoughts can be.