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Sam Harris discusses free will, consciousness, meditation, and the nature of the self. He argues that free will is an illusion, that meditation reveals this directly, and that understanding this has profound implications for morality, justice, and compassion.
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Canon
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Harris argues that the absence of free will should transform our emotional response to wrongdoing: if a person's actions are the inevitable product of prior causes (genes, environment, brain states), then hating them is as irrational as hating a hurricane. This does not eliminate consequences but eliminates hatred.
Highlights
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The practice of meditation is the practice of noticing that you are already aware before you think about being aware
Harris describes the key insight of meditation: consciousness is already present before you try to be conscious of it. The seeking itself is the obstacle. You do not need to produce awareness; you need to notice the awareness that is already the context of every experience.Was this useful?