Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion

I believe society is primed to start understanding spirituality and self-transcendence in a way that is not at odds with science and reason. I was expecting this to be THE BOOK that finally unites these two worlds. I was hoping for a book that explains, step by step and in detail, a possible path of rational spiritual inquiry for novices who are just beginning. This isn't that book. It's less interested in being a usable "how-to" primer, and more interested in simply building the case for such a bridge to be built. If you want to know why it's possible to be a skeptical athiest who also meditates and talks about spiritual matters, this is the book for you. If you want to know how to be such an athiest, you might want to look elsewhere. The book is also a very entertaining account of one man's spiritual journey. Accept the book for what it is and it's very enjoyable and worthwhile. However, I doubt this book will change many minds. If an athiest is receptive to "secular spiritual practice", it's usually because of something she's personally experienced in her own life. If you are not willing to look and see, and experience a change in perception for yourself, then no amount of scientific evidence and logical deduction will make sitting alone in a room doing essentially nothing for hours at a time seem worthwhile. I would recommend almost any well-regarded book on zen Buddhism for anyone who's really serious about this stuff. There isn't anything in that area that a serious spiritual practitioner who's also a hard-headed skeptic shouldn't be able to at least tolerate.

Disclaimer: this is the first book I have read by Sam Harris so I don't know much about his controversies (although I could readily tell that some religionists must hate him) If I had to rename this book I would call it "A middle path". The book came across to me as turning away from both the cynical, materialist view of the world and the mindless devotion to religion. It suggested a middle path, that of mindfulness, meditation, and a closer examination of the self. I found this to be hopeful as a mostly-agnostic scientist who struggles, like most of us, with my own mortality. I enjoyed the parts about history, philosophy, and religion. Given that a large part of the book is devoted to those topics, I think it's a bit misleading to say this book is a "guide". The most guide-like parts of it are one page where he describes a few steps of simple meditation and another page where he gives steps for doing meditation while staring into another person's eyes. I can only assume that he would like me to follow the guidance of the numerous meditation teachers that he cites in the book. I was hoping for a bit more from this book, thus the reason for the 4 stars and not 5. But perhaps it was wise of Sam not to give an in-depth guide to meditation and instead convince the reader that meditation without religion can offer profound relief.

Sam Harris is one of my favorite intellectuals and he has written a book that separates spirituality from religion, examines the cases of split brain patients, ways of altering consciousness through meditation as well as using various drugs, and understanding the differences between good and bad gurus.An informative and economically worded book on penetrating the illusion of self, improving one's psychological well being and experiencing spiritual bliss without the poison of religion.