#342: Sam Harris, Ph.D. — How to Master Your Mind

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Hello boys and girls, this is Tim Ferris, and welcome to another episode of the Tim Ferris Show. This is an experimental episode. And my guest, so to speak. is someone I've known for quite a long time now, Sam Harris. Sam Harris, you may know the name. received a degree in philosophy from Stanford University and a PhD in neuroscience from UCLA. He's the author of many best selling books, including The End of Faith, Letter to a Christian Nation, The Moral Landscape, Free Will, Lying, Waking Up, and Islam in the Future of Tolerance, a dialogue which he co authored. He also hosts the popular podcast Waking Up with Sam Harris. You can find him on Twitter at Sam Harris org. That's H A R R I S Sam Harris org.

and on the web at Sam Harris dot org. But this episode came about because Sam asked me somewhere between six and nine months ago to be a beta tester for a new app he was creating. And ostensibly it was a meditation app. It's called Waking Up, and you can find it at wakingup.com, which I highly recommend. I anticipated it would be good because Sam is always good, and he's one of those rare humans who very irritably seems to think and speak in finished prose. He also has a voice, one of the few voices that can put you into a semi psychedelic state.

while you are completely sober. And if that makes no sense, it will make sense experientially once you get to the end. of this episode. In any case. There are some great apps out there for different purposes. Uh among them Oak, made by my friend Kevin Rose for Meditation, also fantastic. Sam's approach is a little different, and as he puts it in The

Audio. That you're gonna listen to in part he says you do not have to be the best at anything to be almost uniquely qualified for something. He has a very unusual combination of experiences and areas of expertise. And his particular approach here is that of a progression.

And what I like is that there's a logical progression, one, two, three, white belt, yellow belt, et cetera, in terms of layering on different types of training. for learning the skill of meditation. And it's really an experience of exploring consciousness. He also gets into quite a bit more. He talks about his experiences with MDMA. His spiritual exploration. God forbid, see what I did there in India. contact with so called gurus, dueling masters. The goal is the path, duality versus non duality. And there are a lot of gems within that you can apply to business, your personal life, et cetera, because guess what?

The precursor to all of this is your mind and consciousness. So learning how to hone the mind and your perceptions is Really Paramount. to mastering on some level everything else. If you want to just jump to the meditations and lessons that he presents, you can jump to about 47 minutes after he starts.

And uh uh those of you who are even more impatient, I'm gonna be publishing a companion episode to this immediately after this one. So think of it as simultaneously. If you go back to wherever you got this podcast, you'll find a shorter one of say ten or twenty minutes, I'm not sure exactly how long. that will take you through meditations and lessons. I did one meditation first thing in the morning and one lesson

in the late afternoon to wind down. That's how I approached it. So that you can just hit play and jump immediately into guided meditations. And uh they will offer different approaches to give you a flavor. In any case, the lessons themselves will jump into thinking about death, the mystery of being, and in the companion episode, the logic of practice. This is a somewhat dense episode. I encourage you to stick with it. If it's too tough. If uh you find yourself wandering in the mind, which of course you're gonna be training in a sense against

Then you can jump to minute forty seven after Sam starts for the meditations, or you can go to the companion episode. In either case, I really suggest checking out waking up dot com. That is the app itself, I have no financial stake, nothing uh to gain

other than recommending you to a tool that I found to be incredibly powerful and that is shared by some people I also respect greatly who are beta testers like Dr. Peter Atia, who's also been on the podcast. So without further ado, that was a lot of ado, but I think necessary context Please enjoy this exploration of your own mind and consciousness with Sam. Harris. I

Hello, Tim Ferris fans. This is Sam Harris of the Waken Up Podcast. And now the waking up course. Which is a app That

I just released on IOS. And soon to be on Android. And uh my friend Tim has very generously invited me onto his podcast. to preview this course for you.

And to speak a little bit about meditation. And I am very happy to do that. First a warning. In addition to just talking about the course and about meditation Tim has asked me to preview a few of the guided meditations from the app.

So parts of this podcast. Won't make for very good listening. In the car. Or at the gym. Or while multitasking.

And to not be bored by the periods of silence. You really need to be paying Attention. So if you're not in that situation now.

Uh you might save this whole podcast. For another time. I'll let you know when I'm dropping them in and how long they are. So if you insist on listening to this. Well you are. Kite surfing or

Hacking some Government installation. Or Staggering around south by southwest in full ketosis. Or whatever it is that the average Tim Ferris fan does on a day like today.

You will be okay. Okay, so I'm gonna talk for A while about What I'm attempting to do. With this course.

and why I've released it as an app. Of course there there are several meditation apps out there. And many of them are quite good. There's calm and headspace. And my friends Dan Harris and Joseph Goldstein have the ten percent happier app?

Tim's buddy Kevin Rose has the Oak Apple. These apps really are quite good and they will definitely teach you how to meditate. And while I cover similar ground in the waking up course. It's not just a meditation app. I'm attempting something else, too.

But before I get into the app, first let me Tell you a little bit about my background. For those of you who are not. Familiar with it. I got into meditation at the end of my sophomore year in college.

Just when I turn twenty. And This was on the heels of a psychedelic experience that Provided a Fairly startling.

firmware upgrade of my mind. I've written about psychedelics and Supportive and also in in fairly cautionary ways. Especially in my book Waking Up.

And actually there's a there's a main chapter. On that topic. That's available both in print And an audio on my website. Under the title

Drugs and the meaning of life. Tim. has not only referenced it On this podcast, but I think the audio

is available in one of his earlier podcasts. And I'll say a few words about how I view the difference between Psychedelics and Meditation In a minute. Actually I think I should just read you the first few pages of

My book Waking Up. Because it gives the full context. about how I came to this topic and How I think about the nature of mind. And the role that my experience with psychedelics played here.

And also how I came to the practice of meditation. So Here's how the Pock. begins.

I once participated in a twenty three day wilderness program in the mountains of Colorado. If the purpose of this course was to expose students to dangerous lightning, And half the world's mosquitoes. It was fulfilled on the first day. What was in essence a forced march was

Through hundreds of miles of back country. culminated in a ritual known as the solo. where we were finally permitted to rest. Alone on the outskirts of a gorgeous alpine lake. For three days of fasting and contemplation.

I had just turned sixteen. And this was my first taste of true solitude since exiting my mother's womb. It proved a sufficient provocation. After a long nap and a glance at the icy waters of the lake. The promising young man I imagin myself to be.

Was quickly. by loneliness and boredom. I filled the pages of my journal not with the insights of a budding naturalist, philosopher, or mystic, but But with a list of the foods. on which I intended to gorge myself the instant I returned to civilization.

Judging from the state of my consciousness at the time. Millions of years of hominid evolution. had produced nothing more transcendent than a craving for a cheeseburger. And a chocolate milkshake. I found the experience of sitting undisturbed

For three days amid pristine breezes and starlight With nothing to do but contemplate the mystery of my existence. To be a source of perfect misery. For which I could see not so much as a glimmer of my own contribution. My letters home, in their plaintiveness and self pity.

rivaled any written at Shilo or Gallipoli. So I was more than a little surprised. When several members of our party. Most of whom were a decade older than I. Describe their days and nights of solitude.

in positive, even transformational terms. I simply didn't know what to make of their claims to happiness. How could someone's happiness increase? When all the material sources of pleasure and distraction had been removed. At that age the nature of my mind did not seem to interest me.

Only my life did. And I was utterly oblivious to how different life would be if the quality of my mind were to change. Our minds are all we have. They're all we've ever had. And they're all we can offer others.

This might not be obvious. Especially when there are aspects of your life that seem in need of improvement. When your goals are unrealized. Or you're struggling to find a career. Or you have relationships that need repairing.

But it's the truth. Every experience you have ever had. has been shaped by your mind. Every relationship. is as good or as bad as it is.

Because of the minds involved. If you are perpetually angry Depressed. Confused. And unloving.

Or your attention is elsewhere. It won't matter how successful you become. Or who is in your life? You won't enjoy any of it. Most of us could easily compile a list of goals we want to achieve.

or personal problems that need to be solved. But what is the real significance of every item on such a list? Everything we want to accomplish. To learn a new language.

To find a better job. Is something that promises That if done. It would allow us to finally relax. and enjoy our lives in the present.

Generally speaking, this is a false hope. I'm not denying the importance of achieving one's goals. Maintaining one's health. or keeping one's children clothed and fed. But most of us spend our time seeking happiness and security without acknowledging the underlying purpose of our search.

Each of us is looking for a path back to the present. We're trying to find good enough reasons to be satisfied now. Acknowledging that this is the structure of the game that we're playing. Allows us to play it differently. How we pay attention to the present moment.

Largely determines the character of our experience. And therefore the quality of our lives. Mystics and contemplatives have made this claim for ages. But a growing body of scientific research now bears it out. A few years after my first painful encounter with Solitude.

In the winter of nineteen eighty seven. I took the drug three four methylene dioxy and methylamphetamine. MDMA. Commonly known as ecstasy. And my sense of the human mind's potential shifted profoundly.

Although MDMA would become ubiquitous at dance clubs and raves. In the nineteen nineties. At the time I didn't know anyone of my generation who had tried it. One evening. A few months before my twentieth birthday.

A close friend and I decided to take the drug. The setting of our experiment bore little resemblance to the conditions of Dionysian abandon under which MDMA is now often consumed. We were alone in a house. Seated across from each other on opposite ends of a couch. And engaged in quiet conversation.

as the chemical worked its way into our heads. Unlike other drugs. With which we were by then familiar. Marijuana and alcohol. MDMA produce no feeling of distortion in our senses.

Our minds seem completely clear. In the midst of this ordinariness, however I was suddenly struck by the knowledge that I loved my friend. This shouldn't have surprised me. He was, after all, one of my best friends.

However, at that age, I was not in the habit of dwelling on how much I loved the men in my life. Now I could feel that I loved him. And this feeling had ethical implications. that suddenly seemed as profound as they now seem pedestrian on the page. I wanted him to be happy.

That conviction came crashing down with such force That something seemed to give way inside me. In fact, the insight appeared to restructure my mind. My capacity for envy.

For instance. The sense of being diminished by the happiness or success of another person. seemed like a symptom of mental illness that had vanished without a trace. I could no more have felt envy at that moment than I could have wanted to poke out my own eyes. What did I care if my friend was better looking or a better athlete than I was?

If I could have bestowed these gifts on him, I would have. Truly wanted him to be happy. Made his happiness my own. A certain euphoria was creeping into these reflections, perhaps. But the general feeling remained one of absolute sobriety.

And of moral and emotional clarity unlike any I had ever known. It would not be too strong to say that I felt sane for the first time in my life. And yet the change in my consciousness seemed entirely straightforward. I was simply talking to my friend. About what I don't recall.

and realized that I had ceased to be concerned about myself. I was no longer anxious. Self critical. Guarded by irony. In competition.

Avoid an embarrassment. Ruminating about the past and future. or making any other gesture of thought or attention that separated me from him. I was no longer watching myself through another person's eyes. And then came the insight that irrevocably transformed my sense of how good human life could be.

I was feeling boundless love for one of my best friends. And I suddenly realized That if a stranger had walked through the door at that moment He or she would have been fully included in this love. Love was at bottom impersonal.

And deeper than any personal history could justify. Indeed, a transactional form of love is I love you because Now made no sense at all. The interesting thing about this final shift in perspective.

Was that it was not driven by any change in the way I felt. I was not overwhelmed by a new feeling of love. The insight had more the character of a geometric proof. It was as if Having glimpsed the properties of one set of parallel lines,

I suddenly understood what must be common to them all. The moment I could find a voice with which to speak, I discover that this epiphany about the universality of love is could be readily communicated. My friend got the point at once.

All I had to do was ask him how he would feel. In the presence of a total stranger at that moment. And the same door opened in his mind. It was simply obvious. That love.

Compassion. And joy in the joy of others. Extended without limit. The experience was not of love growing, but But of its being no longer obscured.

Love was, as advertised by mystics and crackpots through the ages. A state of being. How had we not seen this before? And how could we overlook it ever again? It would take me many years to put this experience into context.

Until that moment I had viewed organized religion. as merely a monument to the ignorance and superstition of our ancestors. But I now knew that Jesus, the Buddha, Lao Tzu, And the other saints and sages of history. had not all been epileptic, schizophrenics, or frauds.

I still consider the world's religions to be mere intellectual ruins. Maintained at enormous economic and social cost. But I now understood that important psychological truths could be found in the rubble. Okay, so that's how I started my book. Waking up.

Which is a book about the nature of consciousness and How we can understand life changing experiences people can have Experience is often described as mystical or spiritual.

But understand them. In a twenty first century rational scientific context. As some of you probably know I've been a fairly vociferous critic of religion over the years. I've written several books. And participated in many debates.

Spelling out the reasons why? My basic view is this. There's a difference between believing things for good reasons. And believe in things for bad reasons. And this is a difference that we all recognize.

In every area of our lives. Until the conversation turns. to things like God and what happens after death. And the origins of certain books. Like the Bible and the Quran.

My my argument is that we can get what is most profound. out of human life. Without lying to ourselves. Or to our children. About the nature of reality.

That's not to say that the universe might not be incredibly strange. Well that science has everything figured out. In fact, the universe is incredibly strange. And science does not have everything figured out. But

One thing should be absolutely clear. The men and women who lived two thousand years ago. Didn't have everything figured out either. And on many crucial points. They were ignorant of things that every child learns in school today.

Like for instance that brains are somehow involved in producing minds. No one knew this. Two thousand years ago. And to deny it today is is intellectually irresponsible.

So after I had the experience. on MDMA, I just described. I spent the better part of my twenties Seeking out a fairly Esoteric.

Education It wouldn't have been so esoteric in the sixties. When many people were dropping out and going to India with the Beatles. But it was fairly rare to see someone my age Doing this.

In the late eighties. So most of my friends at the time were twenty years older than I was. And I made many trips to India and Nepal to study with various meditation masters.

I spent around a year and a half or two years on silent retreat. Never for longer than three months at a time. That was spread out. Over my twenties. I did a couple of three month retreats and several two month retreats and one month retreats.

And many shorter ones. Mostly in the context of practicing Vapasana. Otherwise known as mindfulness, meditation. But ultimately practicing Zhogchen, which is a Tibetan practice that I'll talk about. In fact, I should just read you another section of my book, Waking Up.

Because I spell out some important distinctions there. Generally speaking Between Gradual

Versus suddenly. Notions of the Realization. or awakening. And this can seem to be a little bit more.

Totally paradoxical. So I'm gonna read you a little bit about this and You'll get more Of my background here.

This is from a section in the book. Titled Gradual Versus Sudden Realization. We wouldn't attempt to meditate. or engage in any other contemplative practice. If we didn't feel that something about our experience needed to be improved.

But here lies one of the central paradoxes of spiritual life. Because this very feeling of dissatisfaction. causes us to overlook the intrinsic freedom of consciousness in the present. As we have seen. There are good reasons to believe that adopting a practice like meditation

can lead to positive changes in one's life. But the deepest goal of spirituality is freedom from the illusion of the self. And to seek such freedom. as though it were a future state to be attained through effort. is to reinforce the chains of one's apparent bondage in each moment.

Traditionally there have been two solutions to this paradox. One is to simply ignore it. and to adopt various techniques of meditation in the hope that a breakthrough will occur. Some people appear to succeed at this. But many fail.

It is true that good things often happen in the meantime. We can become happier and more concentrated. But we can also despair of the whole project. The words of the sages may begin to sound like empty promises. and were left hoping for transcendent experiences that never arrive.

Or prove merely temporary. The ultimate wisdom of enlightenment Whatever it is. cannot be a matter of having fleeting experiences. The goal of meditation is to uncover a form of well being

That is inherent to the nature of our minds. It must, therefore, be Be available in the context of ordinary sights, sounds, sensations. And even thoughts. Peak experiences are fine.

But real freedom must be coincident with normal waking life. And as a sidebar to this. There's now me speaking off book. This is one of the crucial distinctions between meditation. And psychedelics.

As tools. It's very easy. From psychedelic experiences, however useful. That

somehow lies in radically transforming The contents and character of consciousness. Whereas the goal of meditation is to recognize That there's something about

Ordinary consciousness. The very awareness in you. That it's experienc the sound of my voice in this moment. There's already radically free of self. It's already open.

It's already undefined. Consciousness never Is truly confined. By its contents. And so while psychedelics have been very useful for me and many others

The center of the bullseye for me. is something that is actually coincident. With normal. Waking consciousness, right? But precisely the kind of consciousness that could allow you to

Safely drive a car. Right, which If you've ever taken a little bit of a little bit of a little Acid or mushrooms. Is not where one tends to be pitched.

On those drugs. So back to the text. The other traditional response. to the paradox of spiritual seeking. Is to fully acknowledge it.

and concede that all efforts are doomed. Because the urge to attain self transcendence or any other mystical experience is is a symptom of the very disease we want to cure. There is nothing to do but give up the search. These paths may appear antithetical.

And they are often presented as such. The path of gradual ascent is typical of Theravada Buddhism. and most other approaches to meditation in the Indian tradition. And gradualism is the natural starting point for any search. Spiritual or otherwise.

Such goal oriented modes of practice have the virtue of being easily taught. Because a person can begin them without having had any fundamental insight into the nature of consciousness. Or the illusor of the self. He need only adopt new patterns of attention, thought, and behavior.

And the path will unfold before him. By contrast. The path of sudden realization can appear impossibly steep. It is often described as quote non dualistic. Because it refuses to validate the point of view from which one would meditate.

Or practice any other spiritual discipline. Consciousness is already free of anything that remotely resembles a self. And there is nothing you can do. As an illusionary ego. To realize this.

Such a perspective can be found in the Indian tradition of Advaita Vedanta. And in a few schools of Buddhism. Those who begin to practice in the spirit of gradualism often assume that the goal of self transcendence is far away. And they may spend years overlooking the very freedom they yearn to realize. The liability of this approach.

became clear to me when I studied under the Burmese Meditation Master Sada Upandita. I sat through several retreats with Upanita. Each a month or two in length. These retreats were based on the monastic discipline of Theravadan Buddhism.

We did not eat afternoon. And we're encouraged to sleep no more than four hours each night. Outwardly the goal was to engage in eighteen hours of formal meditation each day. Inwardly. It was to follow the stages of insight laid out in Buddha Gosa's fifth century treatise, the Vasudi Maga.

and elaborated in the writings of Upandita's own legendary teacher. Mahasi Saido. The logic of this practice is explicitly goal oriented. According to this view. One practices mindfulness not because the intrinsic freedom of consciousness is

But because being mindful is a means for attaining an experience often described as Quote cessation. Which is thought to decisively uproot the illusion of the self.

Along with other mental afflictions, depending on one stage of practice. Cessation is believed to be a direct insight into an unconditioned reality. In Pali, this is called Nibana. In Sanskrit Nirvana. That lies behind all manifest phenomena.

This conception of the path to enlightenment is open to several criticisms. The first is that it is misleading. With respect to what can be realized in the present moment. In a state of ordinary awareness.

Thus it encourages confusion at the outset. regarding the nature of the problem one is trying to solve. It is true, however. That striving toward the distant goal of enlightenment. as well as the nearer goal of cessation.

can lead one to practice with an intensity that might otherwise be difficult to achieve. I never made more effort than I did when practicing under Upanita. But most of this effort arose from the very illusion of bondage to the self and that I was seeking to overcome. The model of this practice is

Is that one must climb the mountain. So that freedom can be found at the top. But the self is already an illusion. And that truth can be glimpsed directly. At the mountain's base.

Or anywhere else along the path. One can then return to this insight. Again and again. as one's sole method of meditation. Thereby arriving at the goal in each moment of actual practice.

This isn't merely a matter of choosing to think differently about the significance of mindfulness. It is a difference in what one is able to be mindful of. Dualistic mindfulness. Paying attention to the breath. For instance.

generally proceeds on the basis of an illusion. One feels that one is a subject. A locus of consciousness inside the head. They can strategically pay attention to the breath or to some other object of awareness. Because of all the good that it will do.

This is gradualism in action. And yet from a non dualistic point of view. One could just as well be mindful of selflessness directly. To do this, however, One must recognize that this is how consciousness is.

And such an insight can be difficult to achieve. However, it does not require the meditative attainment of cessation. Another problem with the goal of cessation. Is that most traditions of Buddhism do not share it? and yet they produce long lineages of contemplative masters.

Many of whom have spent decades doing nothing but meditating on the nature of consciousness. If freedom is possible. There must be some mode of ordinary consciousness. in which it can be expressed. Why not realize this frame of mind directly?

Nevertheless, I spent several years deeply preoccupied. with reaching the goal of the station. And at least one year of that time was spent on silent retreat. Although I had many interesting experiences. None seem to fit the specific requirements of this path.

There were periods during which all thought subsided. And any sense of having a body disappeared. What remained was a blissful expanse of conscious peace. that had no reference point in any of the usual sensory channels. Many scientists and philosophers believe that consciousness is always tied to one of the five senses.

That the idea of quote pure consciousness Apart from seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching. Is a category error. And a spiritual fantasy. I am confident that they are mistaken.

But cessation never arrived. Given my gradualist views at that point. This became very frustrating. Most of my time on retreat was extremely pleasant. But it seemed to me that I had been merely given the tools with which to contemplate the evidence of my non enlightenment.

My practice had become a vigil. A method of waiting. However patiently. For a future reward. The pendulum swung.

When I met an Indian teacher named H. W. L. Punja. called Punji or Papaji. by his students. Kunjji was a disciple of Ramana Maharshi. Arguably the most widely revered Indian sage of the twentieth century.

Romana's own awakening had been quite unusual. because he had had no apparent spiritual interest or contact with a teacher. As a boy of sixteen, Living in a middle class family of South Indian Brahmins. He spontaneously became a spiritual adept.

While sitting alone in his uncle's study. Ramana suddenly became paralyzed by a fear of death. He lay down on the floor. Convinced that he would soon die. But rather than remaining terrified.

He decided to locate the self that was about to disappear. He focused on the feeling of I. A process he later called self inquiry. and found it to be absent. From the field of consciousness.

Ramana the person didn't die that day. But he claimed that the feeling of being a separate self never darkened his consciousness again. After fruitlessly attempting to behave like the ordinary boy he had once been, Ramana left home. and travel to Tirvanamalai.

An ancient pilgrimage site for followers of Shiva. He spent the rest of his life there. In proximity to the mountain Arunachula. with which he claimed to have a mystical connection. In the early years after his awakening.

Ramana seemed to lose his ability to speak. And he was said to grow so absorbed in his experience of transfigured consciousness. that he remained motionless for days at a time. His body grew weak. Develop sores.

and had to be tended by the few locals who had taken an interest in him. After a decade of silence. Around nineteen oh six Ramana began to conduct dialogues about the nature of consciousness. Until the end of his life, a steady stream of students came to study with him.

These are the sorts of things he was apt to say. These are quotes from Ramana Maharshi. The mind is a bundle of thoughts. The thoughts arise because there is the thinker. The thinker is the ego.

The ego If sought. will automatically vanish. Here's another quote. Reality is simply the loss of the ego.

Destroy the ego by seeking its identity. Because ego is no entity. It will automatically vanish and reality will shine forth by itself. This is the direct method. Whereas all other methods are done only retaining the ego.

No sadness. Spiritual practices. Are necessary. for engaging in this quest. And finally here's one more quote.

There is no mystery greater than this. That being reality. We seek to gain reality. We think that there is something hiding our reality. And then it must be destroyed.

Before the reality is gained. It is ridiculous. A day will dawn when you will laugh at your past efforts. That which will be On the day you laugh.

Is also Here and now. Back to my text. Any attempt to make sense of such teachings. In third person scientific terms.

quickly produces monstrosities. From the point of view of psychological science, for instance. The mind is not just a quote. Bundle of thoughts. And in what sense can reality be quote

Simply the loss of the ego. Does this reality include quasars and hantavirus? But these are the kinds of quibbles. That will cause one to miss Romana's point. While the philosophy of Advaita

That's the that's the word for non dualism in Sanskrit. Well the philosophy of Advita And Ramana's own words. may tend to support a metaphysical reading of teachings of this kind? Their validity is not metaphysical.

Rather it is experiential. The whole of Advita. reduces to a series of very simple and testable assertions. Consciousness is the prior condition of every experience. The self or ego.

Is an illusory appearance. Within it. Look closely for what you are calling I. And the feeling of being a separate self. Will disappear.

What remains. As a matter of experience. is a field of consciousness. Free Undivided.

and intrinsically uncontaminated. by its ever changing contents. These are the simple truths. that Punjabi taught. In fact, he was even more uncompromising than his guru.

In his non duality. Whereas Romana would often concede the utility of certain dualistic practices. Punjaji never gave an inch. The effect was intoxicating. Especially to those of us who had spent years practicing meditation.

Punjib was also given to spontaneous bouts of weeping and laughter. Both apparently from sheer joy. The man did not hide his light under a bushel. When I first met him He had not yet been discovered by the throngs of Western devotees who would soon turn his tiny house in Lucknow into

into a spiritual circus. Like his teacher Romana. Punjai claimed to be perfectly free from the illusion of the self. And by all appearances he was. And like Ramana.

And every other Indian guru. Punji would occasionally say something deeply unscific. On the whole, however, his teaching was remarkably free from Hindu religiosity. or unwarranted assertions about the nature of the cosmos. He appeared to simply speak from experience, but

About the nature of experience itself. Punji's influence on me was profound. Especially because it came as a corrective to all the strenuous and unsatisfying efforts I had been making in meditation up until that point. But the dangers inherent to his approach soon became obvious. The all or nothing quality of Punjaji's teaching

obliged him to acknowledge the full enlightenment of any person who was grandiose or manic enough to claim it. Thus I repeatedly witnessed fellow students declare their complete and undying freedom. All the while appearing quite ordinary. Yeah, yes. In certain cases, these people had clearly had some sort of breakthrough.

But Punjai's insistence upon the finality of every legitimate insight. led many of them to delude themselves about their spiritual attainments. Some left India and became gurus. From what I could tell, Punjaji gave everyone his blessing to spread his teachings in this way. He once suggested that I do it.

And yet it was clear to me that I was not qualified to be anyone's guru. Nearly twenty years have passed, and I'm still not. Of course, from Punjabi's point of view. This is an illusion. And yet there simply is a difference.

Between a person like myself who is generally distracted by thought. And one who isn't. And cannot be. I don't know where to place Punjaji on this continuum of wisdom.

But he appeared to be a lot farther along than his students. Whether Punjiji was capable of seeing the difference between himself and other people? I do not know. But his insistence that no difference existed. began to seem either dogmatic or delusional.

On one occasion, Events conspired to perfectly illuminate the flaw in Punjai's teaching. A small group of experienced practitioners. Among us several teachers of meditation. had organized a trip to Indian Nepal to spend ten days with Punjigi and Lucknow.

Followed by ten days in Katmandu. To receive teachings on the Tibetan Buddhist practice of Zogchen. As it happened during our time in Lucknow. A woman from Switzerland became quote enlightened. in Punjabi's presence.

For the better part of a week. She was celebrated as something akin to the next Buddha. Punji repeatedly put her forward. as evidence of how fully the truth could be realized. without making any effort at all in meditation.

And we had the pleasure of seeing this woman sit beside Punjai on a raised platform. Expounding upon how blissful it now was in her corner of the universe. She was, in fact, radiantly happy. And it was by no means clear that Punjai had made a mistake in recognizing her. She would say things like

There is nothing but consciousness. And there's no difference between it and reality itself. Coming from such a nice, guileless person. There was little reason to doubt the profundity of her experience. When it came time for our group to leave India for Nepal,

This woman asked if she could join us. Because she was such good company. We encouraged her to come along. A few of us were also curious to see how her realization would appear in another context. And so it came to pass.

that a woman whose enlightenment had just been confirmed. By one of the greatest living exponents of Advaita. When we received our first teachings from Tuku Ureg and Rinpache. who was generally thought to be one of the greatest living Zoogchen masters.

Of all the Buddha's teachings. Those of Zoggen most closely resemble. The teachings of Advaita. The two traditions seek to provoke the same insight into the non duality of consciousness. But generally speaking.

Only Zogchen makes it absolutely clear. that one must practice this insight to the point of stability. and that one can do so without succumbing to the dualistic striving that haunts most other paths. At a certain point in our discussions with Tuco Organ. Our Swiss prodigy declared her boundless freedom, in terms similar to those she had used in

To such great effect with Punji. After a few highly amusing exchanges. During which we watch Tuka Urgan struggle to understand what our translator was telling him. He gave a short laugh. And look the woman over with renewed interest.

How long has it been since you were last lost in thought? he asked. I haven't had any thoughts for over a week. The woman replied. Took Oregon smiled.

A week? Yes. No thoughts? No, my mind is completely still. It's just pure consciousness.

That's very interesting. Okay. So this is what's gonna happen now. We're all going to wait. For you to have your next thought.

There's no hurry. We're all very patient people. We're just gonna sit here and wait. So please tell us when you notice a thought arise in your mind. It is difficult to convey what a brilliant

And subtle intervention this was. It may have been the most inspired moment of teaching I have ever witnessed. After a few moments a look of doubt appeared on our friend's face. Okay. Wait a minute.

Oh. That Could have been a thought there. Okay. Over the next thirty seconds.

We watch this woman's enlightenment completely unravel. It became clear that she had been merely thinking. about how expansive her experience of consciousness had become. How it was perfectly free of thought, immaculate, just like space. Without noticing

That she was thinking incessantly. She had been telling herself the story of her enlightenment. And she had been getting away with it. Because she happened to be an extraordinarily happy person. For whom everything was going well for the time being.

This was the danger non dual teachings of the sort that Punji was handing out to all comers. It was easy to delude oneself into thinking that one had achieved a permanent breakthrough. Especially because he insisted that all breakthroughs must be permanent. With the Zogchen teachings made clear, however. is that thinking about what is beyond thought

is still thinking. And a glimpse of selflessness. is generally only the beginning of a process. That must reach fruition. Being able to stand perfectly free of the feeling of self

Is the start of one's spiritual journey. Not its end. I think I'll read one more section here,'cause this will give you more Context. for how I think about meditation.

It's the next section here titled. Zo chan. Taking the goal as the path. Tuku Urgan Rinpache lived in a hermitage on the southern slope of Shivapuri Mountain. Overlooking Kathmandu Valley.

He spent more than twenty years of his life on formal retreat. And was deservedly famous for the clarity with which he gave the quote pointing out instruction of Zogchen. A formal initiation in which a teacher seeks to impart the experience of self transcendence is directly to a student. I received this teaching from several Zhogchen masters.

But I never met anyone who spoke about the nature of consciousness. As precisely as to Corrigan. In the last five years of his life. I made several trips to Nepal to study with him. The practice of Zhogchen requires that one be able to experience the intrinsic selflessness of awareness in every moment.

That is, when one is not otherwise distracted by thought. Which is to say that for a Zogchen meditator. Mindfulness must be synonymous with dispelling the illusion of the self. Rather than teach a technique of meditation. Such as paying close attention to one's breathing.

A Zokchen master must precipitate an insight On the basis of which a student can thereafter practice a form of awareness. The Tibetan term is Rigba. that is unencumbered by subject object dualism. Thus it is often said in Zhou Chen.

Takes the goal as the path. Because the freedom from self that one might otherwise seek Is the very thing that one practices. The goal of Zogin

If one can call it such. is to grow increasingly familiar with this way of being in the world. In my experience, some Zhouchen masters are better teachers than others. I've been in the presence of several of the most revered Tibetan lamas of our time. While they were ostensibly teaching Zogchen.

And most of them simply describe this view of consciousness. Without giving clearctions on how to glimpse it. The genius of Chu Horigan. was that he could point out the nature of mind. With the precision and matter of factness of teaching a person how to thread a needle.

and could get an ordinary meditator like me. To recognize that consciousness is intrinsically free of self. There might be some initial struggle and uncertainty, depending on the student. But once the truth of non duality had been glimpsed, It became obvious that it was always available.

And there was never any doubt about how to see it again. I came to Toko Oregon yearning for the experience of self transcendence. And in a few minutes he showed me that I had no self to transcend. In my view, there's nothing supernatural or even mysterious about this transmission of wisdom from master to disciple. Tukorgan's effect on me came purely from the clarity of his teaching.

As it is with any challenging endeavor. The difference between being utterly misled by false information and Being nudged in the general direction? And being precisely guided by an expert. is difficult to overstate.

The direct perception of the optic blind spot. Provides a useful analogy. Imagine that perceiving the blind spot Will completely transform a person's life. Next imagine that whole religions

Such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Are predicated on the denial of the blind spot's existence. Let us say that there's central doctrines. Assert the perfect uniformity of the visual field. Perhaps other traditions acknowledged the blind spot.

but purely in poetical terms. Without giving any clear indication of how to recognize it. A few lineages may actually teach techniques whereby one can see the blind spot for oneself. But only gradually. After months and years of effort.

And even then one glimpses of it will seem more a matter of luck than anything else. In a more esoteric tradition still. A quote blind spot, master. Gives the quote pointing out instruction. But without much precision.

Perhaps he tells you to close one eye. For reasons that are never made explicit. And then says that the spot you seek is right on the surface of your vision. No doubt some people will succeed in discovering the blind spot under these conditions. But the teacher certainly could be clearer than this.

How much clear? If Joe Oregon had been pointing out the blind spot. He would have produced a figure like the one below and given these instructions. And then I have the the classic. image you would use to

Climpse your own blind spot. Large. Dot on the other. And then I give the instructions here.

Oh, I'll just Breathing through to remind you about how clear this could be. One. Hold this figure in front of you at arm's length. Two.

Close your left eye and stare at the cross with your right. Three. Gradually move the page closer to your face while keeping your gaze fixed on the cross. Four. Notice when the dot on the right disappears.

Five. Once you find your blind spot. Continue to experiment with this figure by moving the page back and forth until any possibility of doubt about the existence of the blind spot has disappeared. Is considered bad form in most spiritual circles, especially among Buddhists. To make claims about one's own realization.

However, I think this taboo comes at a high price. Because it allows people to remain confused about how to practice. So I will describe my experience plainly. Before meeting to Corregon. I had spent at least a year practicing Vapasna on silent retreats.

The experience of self transcendence was not entirely unknown to me. I could remember moments when the distance between the observer and the observed It seemed to vanish. But I viewed these experiences as being dependent on conditions of extreme mental concentration. Consequently, I thought that they were unavailable in more ordinary moments.

Outside intensive retreat. But after a few minutes. Tu organ simply handed me the ability to cut through the illusion of the self directly. Even in ordinary states of consciousness. This instruction was without question.

The most important thing I've ever been explicitly taught by another human being. It has given me a way to escape the usual tides of psychological suffering. Fear, anger, shame, In an instant. At my level of practice this freedom lasts only a few moments.

But these moments can be repeated. And they can grow in duration. Punctuating ordinary experience in this way makes all the difference. In fact, when I pay attention. It is impossible for me to feel like a self at all.

The implied center of cognition and emotion simply falls away. And it is obvious that consciousness is never truly confined by what it knows. That which is aware of sadness is Is not sad. That which is aware of fear.

Is not fearful. The moment I am lost in thought, however. I'm as confused as anyone else. Given this change in my perception of the world, I understand the attractions of traditional spirituality.

I also recognize the needless confusion and harm that inevitably arise from the doctrines of faith based religion. I did not have to believe anything irrational about the universe. Or about my place within it. To learn the practice of Zhogchen. I didn't have to accept Tibetan Buddhist beliefs about karma and rebirth.

Or imagine that Tuka Organ or the other meditation masters I met. Possessed magic powers. And whatever the traditional liabilities of a guru devotee relationship. I know from direct experience. That it's possible to meet a teacher who can deliver the goods.

Okay, so That's the end of my reading. So that's how I come to the practice of meditation. And After I spent the decades of my twenties largely focused on

On meditation. As well as reading the relevant. Eastern and Western philosophy. I decided to go back to school. Because I was writing.

Nonfiction about the the nature of the mind. Happily I had dropped out of Stanford University. Where you can never really drop out. I think Stanford is one of the few schools in the United States that has the policy of never making you reapply. So it just showed up like some

Rip Van Winkle character. After eleven years away. And finish my degree in philosophy. And then went on to do a PhD in neuroscience. A U C L.

So I bring a philosophical and scientific and secular perspective. To meditation. Ultimately, I think we should all be practicing non dual mindfulness without believing any bullshit. That is a human future worth wanting. And

That's what I'm attempting to equip people to do. In the waking up course. In producing The Waken of Course, I'm attempting to do something that I'm especially qualified to do. Mean I don't consider myself the best at any one thing.

But you don't have to be the best at anything. To be almost uniquely qualified. For something. The Waking Up course is in part a meditation course. So obviously they're guided meditations.

I'll be continually adding. to those as time goes on. And I would say that even if you're an experienced meditator Using guided meditations can be extremely helpful. And this is one of the things that's unique about audio.

You can't do this with a book. There's no alternative to having an actual voice remind you that you're supposed to be paying attention. And I find guided meditations extremely helpful and I've been meditating for now nearly thirty years. In addition to the guided meditations, there's also an expanding curriculum of short talks. On a variety of topics.

I call these talks lessons. Some explained concepts. That are directly relevant to meditation. Others are more like philosophical interventions. Or have you reflect on a specific topic?

For a few minutes. Sometimes starting with a scientific finding or a quotation. That inspires a particular line of thought. So here I'd like to give you a taste of the course. I'll start with one of the early meditations.

Very much designed for someone new to the practice of mindfulness. So if you're not bored already. This is the part of the podcast that really will bore you to tears. If you're working out of the gym or commuting.

But if you're in a spot where you can meditate. Here's the first ten minute meditation. Once again, take a seat. Either in a chair. Or cross legged on a cushion.

It's good to sit as comfortably as you can. And it's usually best to be sitting That's straight. As you can. Now close your eyes.

And become aware of the sensations of sitting. Feel your arms at your sides. And perhaps take a few deep breaths. Just allow gravity to settle you. Into your seat.

Now, as you did yesterday, Become aware of the sensations of breathing. Notice where you feel the breath. Most clearly. Either at the tip of the nose.

Or in the rising and falling of your abdomen. Or chest. It doesn't matter where you pay attention to the breath. And you can change your focus. From session to session, if you like.

But for the moment, just pick one spot. And focus there. There's nothing especially significant. About the breath. But it's something you always have with you.

And it's as good as any other sense object. As a basis for training your powers of attention. Eventually the practice will incorporate everything that arises in consciousness. Just feel the mere sensations. Of breathing.

From the beginning of the inhalation? Breaths. And follow the exhalation. To the end.

Try to cover the breath. With your awareness. And once again there's no need to control You're breathing. Just let it come however it comes.

Doing here is sharpening the only tool you really have. Your mind. This is what you take with you in any situation in life. This is what determines how you respond. To emotional stress.

and physical pain. And every other difficulty. you encounter. This is the basis for every decision you make. And every interaction you have with other people.

And as you begin to observe it. You'll notice Perhaps with growing amazement. That your mind is totally out of control. As you try to pay attention to the breath.

You'll begin to notice that the primary obstacle It's thinking. Thoughts continually arise. And you forget that you're even trying to meditate at all.

And this happens over the course of mere seconds. Just try to count. The next one. Ten breaths. Without getting distracted.

You can silently in your mind count one On the inhalation. And one again on the exhalation. And then two. See if you can get to ten.

Unless you have a lot of concentration. You probably Or unable to tell. How precarious Your awareness of the breath.

Actually was. How your attention was being buffeted. On all sides. But just cursive thought. Now the goal isn't to stop your thoughts, but

Or to suppress any emotion. that might arise along with them. It is rather to notice these mental events clearly than and to experience them fully. More fully, in fact.

To recognize them. as appearances in consciousness the moment they arise. But that is generally a very difficult thing to do. In the beginning. So for the time being

The moment you discover that That you're thinking. Just observe it. And come back to the breath. In this final minute

Just start again. Just feel the next breath. As it comes. Okay.

Well just take a moment. To take stock of how you're feeling. Whether you're tired. Or restless. Or calm.

Whether your experience was pleasant or unpleasant isn't really the point. What you're learning here is a new skill. And unless you're coming to this course already knowing how to meditate. You can't expect to be able to do it well. In the beginning.

And as the practice develops over the next days and weeks. You'll see that you do less. Not more. than you normally do. You're not adding an artifice.

To your experience in the present moment. Rather you're simply becoming less distracted. The purpose of meditation is to discover what your mind is like when you're no longer Perpetually identified with the contents of your thoughts. And to make progress you simply need to be willing

To begin again. Okay, so that's what an early guided meditation sounds like. Now I'll give you a lesson. And these are again, these are short talks. On many different topics.

Here's one on the topic of death. Well today's topic is a topic we all think about. While doing our best not to think about it. The topic is death. And how we think about death is

Changes depending on Whether we're thinking about Dine ourselves. Or about losing the people we love. But whichever side of the coin we take here.

Death is Really an ever present. reality for us. And it is so whether we're thinking about it or not. It's always announcing itself.

In the background. On the news. in the stories we hear about the lives of others. In our concerns about our own health. In the attention we pay when crossing the street.

If you observe yourself Closely you'll see that you spend a fair amount of energy. Each day. Try not to die. And has long been noted.

By philosophers and Contemplatives and Poets. Death makes a mockery of almost everything else we spend our lives doing. Just take a moment to reflect on how you've spent your day.

So far. The kinds of things that captured your attention. The things that you've been genuinely worried about. Think of the last argument you had with your spouse. Think of the last hour you spent on social media.

Over the last few days I've been spending an inordinate amount of time Trying to find a new font for my podcast, Mr. This has literally absorbed hours of my time. So if you had stopped me. At any point in the last forty eight hours and ask me what I'm up to.

What really concerns me. What? Deep problem I'm attempting to solve. The solution to which seems most likely to bring order to the chaos in my corner of the universe. The honest answer would have been

I'm looking for a font. Now I'm not saying that everything we do has to be profound in every moment. I mean sometimes you just have to find a font. But

Contemplating the Brevity. Of life. Brings some perspective to how we use our attention. It's not so much what we pay attention to.

It's the quality of attention. It's how we feel. While doing it. If you need to spend the next hour looking for a font, you might as well enjoy it. Because the truth is none of us know how much time we have.

in this life. And taking that fact to heart Brings a kind of moral and emotional clarity. And energy. To the present.

Or at least it can. And it can bring a resolve to not suffer. Over stupid things. Can we take something like Road Rage? This is probably the quintessential example of

Misspent energy. You're behind the wheel of your car. And somebody does something. Erratic or They're probably just driving more slowly than you want.

And you find yourself Getting angry. No, I would submit to you. But that kind of thing. Is impossible.

If you're being mindful of the shortness of life. If you're aware that you're going to die. And that the other person is going to die. And that you're both going to lose everyone you love. And you don't know when.

You've got this moment of life. This beautiful moment. This moment where your consciousness is bright, where it's it's not dimmed by morphine. In the hospital. On your last day among the living.

And the sun is out. Or it's raining. Both are beautiful. And your spouse is alive. And your children are alive.

And you're driving. And you're not in some failed state where civilians are being rounded up. And murdered by the thousands. You're just running an errand. And that person in front of you.

Who you will never meet. Whose hopes and sorrows You know nothing about But which if you could know them. you would recognize are impressively similar to your own.

It's just driving slow. This is your life. The only one you've got. And you will never get this moment back again. And you don't know how many more moments you have.

No matter how many times you do something. There will come a day when you do it for the last time, but You've had a thousand chances. To tell the people closest to you? That you love them.

In a way that they feel it. And in a way that you Feel it. And you've missed most of them. And you don't know how many more you're going to get.

You've got this next interaction with another human being. to make the world a marginally better place. You've got this one opportunity. To fall in love with existence. So why not relax and enjoy your life?

Really relax. Even in the midst of struggle. Even while doing hard work. Even under uncertainty. You are in a game.

Right now. And you can't see the clock. So you don't know how much time you have left. And yet you're free to make the game as interest as possible. You can even change the rules.

You can discover new games that no one has thought of yet. You can make games. That used to be impossible. Suddenly possible. And get others to play them with you.

You can literally build a rocket. To go to Mars. So that you can start a colony there. I actually know people who Who will spend some part of today?

Doing that. But whatever you do. However seemingly ordinary. You can feel the preciousness of life. And an awareness of death is the doorway.

into that way of being in the world. Okay, here's a lesson titled The Mystery of Being. Of all the solar systems in this universe. That might sustain complex life. We find ourselves in this one.

It took billions of years of evolution on this earth. To produce the people we now are. Our brains and bodies have evolved through millions of generations. Reaching back to creatures totally unlike us. To animals so strange.

That we wouldn't even want them as pets. And finally to single celled organisms. For ages. The world got on without us. But now we're here.

And among all the possible people that could exist. We are among the tiny minority. That actually do. And of all the periods in human history where we might have appeared. We live in this one.

Arguably the first in which it was possible to understand our circumstance was In a truly universal sense. For the first time a person's view of the world need not be dictated by the mere location of his birth. or the religion of his parents. For the first time the barriers of language and geography.

Have totally fallen away. At this moment you have instantaneous access to more information. than even the greatest scholar or world leader did a generation ago. And yet on some level we confront the same mystery of our existence. that Socrates were the Buddha faced.

The fact that you are you The fact that you exist in this moment. is a miracle of sorts. There's something Fundamentally inexplicable.

About it. There's no amount of knowledge. That seems adequate to dispel the mystery. Of our appearance here. Whatever you know.

Whatever you believe. Whatever you have done or hope to do You have this moment of conscious life. To contemplate. You have this minute.

This hour. This day. And it will never come again. So I want to talk for a few minutes about the intrinsic mystery of this circumstance. It really is the mystery of being.

In science and philosophy we often claim that we're in the business of getting rid of mysteries. And there is of course a sense in which that's true. If we don't know why people are getting sick, for instance And we discover the virus that's causing it. Well then The mystery has been solved.

But there's another sense in which mystery Never recedes. And if you pay attention you can see that it's an ever present fact. Phenomenon.

The philosopher Bertrand Russell Described our most rudimentary knowledge of the world. As knowledge by acquaintance. For instance, the colour of a table. Standing before you.

And here's a quote. The particular shade of colour that I'm seeing May have many things said about it. I might say that it is brown. That it is rather dark, and so on.

But such statements, though they make me know truths about the color. Do not make me know the color itself any better than I did before. So far as concerns the knowledge of the color itself, As opposed to knowledge of truths about it. I know the color perfectly and completely when I see it.

is even theoretically possible. Thus the sense data which make up the appearance of my table are Are things with which I have acquaintance. And things immediately known to me.

Just as they are. End quote. Now what Russell seems to overlook here Is it this basic knowledge? to which no knowledge can even be theoretically added.

It's a place where we uncover An intrinsic limit. To understand it. When we consider any facet of experience In this case of vision of colour.

If we can then stem the tide of our thoughts long enough. To merely observe it as it is. The fact that we're in total ignorance of Of what it is. Can become obvious.

I mean, w what is the color blue? Not as a function of wavelengths of light. Or neurophysiology. But as it is directly perceived. We're really left with nothing to say.

But that it's blue. Which of course does nothing to clarify things. In fact, it's not even blue. Which is just a word. It's a noise we're making.

Well what we see before us is whatever it ineffably is. Focusing on this distance between concepts and experience. is a means of sneaking up on a truth that is generally described in Buddhism as the truth of emptiness.

has intrinsic independent existence in the way that it seems. Now there are many ways to come at this insight into emptiness. And frankly, this line of inquiry may be too steep. For some of you at this point. So I encourage you to return to it after you have more experience.

In the practice of meditation. But it is worth reflecting on even in the beginning. The moment we suspend the conceptual associations we have with a given object or perception. Our direct experience of it

can grade into this experience of just pure mystery. We're left with this. Wordless intuition. of consciousness and its contents. About which nothing more really can be said.

But right now as you listen to me speak. Pay careful attention. To the process of listening. The feeling of sitting in your chair. Look closely at everything around you.

I'd like to suggest That while you know many things about the present moment. You do not know what anything in itself Is.

Look at your hand. What is it? We can define this part of your body in language. You can call it hand. You can consider the fact that it's made of bone and muscle.

and threaded with blood vessels and nerves. But this is all a description about the object. That you're now looking at. If you simply look at your hand. And ask yourself

What is it? You might realize in a moment of rare open mindedness. That it is an absolute mystery. It is in fact as mysterious an appearance as any you could ever hope to find.

Now there are scientific arguments that can be arrayed against the mysteriousness of any object. We can point to the fact that the atoms in your hand were born Billions of years ago in the belly of a star. And in fact, some of these atoms may have inhabited several stars in succession. It's even possible that some atoms that were once in the bodies of historical figures like Churchill or Cleopatra are now in you.

In fact, it might be descriptively true to implicate the entire universe in your hand. or in any objects being what it is. But no such litany of concepts or connections. can account for the mystery that looms whenever you just look at something. Closely.

Anything. However commonplace And realize that while you might have volumes of knowledge about it You don't have the slightest understanding of what it is in itself.

Now others have noticed this fact. Walter Benjamin, the German literary critic. stumbled upon this mystery in Marseille after smoking hash for the first time. He distilled it in the phrase. How things withstand the gaze.

And all things really do withstand the gaze. We confront the mystery of being In every moment. But we don't notice it. Because this mystery is tiled over with concepts.

Now Meditation isn't about understanding things conceptually. It's the ability to experience things. More clearly. Prior to concepts.

It is the knowledge by acquaintance. That Russell spoke of here. Taken to the ultimate degree. And the more you practice it You'll find that it really is a new form of intelligence.

It leads to another way of being in the world. And one that can allow for a kind of psychological freedom that a continuous entanglement with concepts doesn't. There's a famous parable from the Buddha meant to get at this difference. A man is struck in the chest with a poison arrow. And a surgeon rushes to his side to

begin the work of saving his life. But the man resists. He first wants to know the name of the Fletcher who fashioned the arrow's shaft. And the type of wood. From which it was cut.

And the motive of the man who shot it. And the name of the horse upon which he rode. And a thousand other things that have no bearing at all upon his present suffering. Or ultimate survival. So this man needs to get his priorities straight.

His commitment to thinking about the world. Results from a basic misunderstanding. And then we may be only dimly aware of it. We too have problems.

That will not be solved. By more thinking. Finally, here's a twelve minute guided meditation that comes a little later in the course. As you get comfortable. In your seat.

You might keep your eyes open. For the beginning of this session. And take a few deep breaths. And just let yourself Settle.

Into the feeling. Of rest in In space. And as you gaze in front of you Just let your gaze be

As wide as possible. No need to focus On anything in particular. Just stare into space. With soft eyes.

Feeling the breath. Come and go. Listen to the sounds in the room. Horizon. And passing away.

And as you stare into Take a moment. Is looking.

See if you can Look back. With your attention. This may sound paradoxical.

But See what happens the moment You look. There was a teacher names Harding who wrote a book Titled On Having No Head.

And the exercise he recommended. to his students was too Gase. Whatever is before you. And

Look for your own head. Notice That your head It's not one of the things you see. What is it like to

See the world. And simultaneously notice. that your head is not appearing Yeah. See if that does anything to your sense of

Awareness. Harding used to say that Where his head was supposed to be. It was just the world. See if you can be mindful of that.

In each moment. Gently close your eyes. And Pay attention to this feeling.

That you might have that you're now Inside your head. But your attention is in Something. But again, what you're calling your head

The sensations you get from your skin. The muscles in your face. All of that is appearing in Consciousness. That which is aware is not inside of

Something. Everything is in it. See if you can feel that. Open your eyes again. And

Ask yourself what has changed. There a sense that the World comes rushing in. Mm Space just got bigger.

You might play with this. Opening and closing your eyes. Periodically. Is there really a change There's a change in the contents of consciousness, clearly.

There are things you can see with your Eyes open that you can't. With your eyes closed. But You still have a visual field in both cases.

When you close your eyes your visual field doesn't disappear. All of this changing are the contents of consciousness. Proceed in this practice. We're going to be looking at the first time.

To see if the Feeling that consciousness has a center. That there's a Meditator in the middle.

A thinker of thoughts. You see your A hear of sounds. We'll be looking into that.

Awareness emanates. From a single point inside the head. In some ways this is even easier to do with eyes open. Because we use

Vision. To define ourselves in opposition to our environment. More than we do with the other senses. There's a clear feeling that most of us have.

Most of the time that we are behind our face. Looking out at the world. Through our eyes. But as you look out at the world, In this moment.

Is true. You might look That you were behind your face.

At this moment. And the moment you notice your Lost in thought. Come back to this exercise. Keep an attention very wide.

With her eyes open or closed. And seen If this feeling of being inside the head. Survive scrutiny.

Just give up all efforts. And notice whatever appears. On its own. A slightly different.

Exercise. And there'll be some more of that. Coming. From time to time. Because it's good to use

This growing facility with mindfulness. To Engage kind of structured analysis of experience.

You can definitely precipitate Certain insights. Bye. Doing something a little more directed. Than just noticing whatever happens.

to arise. And if you're interested, you might get that book I mentioned. On Having No Head by Douglas Harding. Because he In a way that was quite unique.

To him. Developed. Analogies and exercises that Can provoke an insight. Into

The Illusoriness. Of subject object. Perception. It's not to say that

Consciousness isn't arising in the brain. Your mind being Co terminus with The rest of

The physical world. Showing that this Sense of being inside the head. From the side of experience.

Changes. When you actually look to see If it's true. And As you play with that exercise.

You might find that A very expansive And Centerless.

what awareness is. Can emerge. In place of this feeling. that you would otherwise call I

Okay. Well, hopefully that gives you a sense of what I'm doing. With a way can have course. Again, this is an ongoing project for me. And as I add content to the course, I'll be attempting to synthesize everything I've discovered in my own practice.

And in philosophy and science generally. This seems helpful for increasing our understanding of our own minds. Of course, many of these things have been discussed by philosophers and contemplatives for Thousands of years. But they can now be viewed in a twenty first century.

Context So unlike my own podcast. Which deals with politics and recent developments in science and A host of topical and controversial issues.

The Waking of Course is really a chance for me to talk about the most important things I've ever learned. So if you're interested in practicing meditation with me and Engaging in philosophical and scientific considerations. About the nature of mind? You can check it out at waking up dot com.

And thank you, Tim, for inviting me on your podcast. Your audience Consider myself not only a friend of yours. But I'm also one of your true fans. Because yours is one of the podcasts that I regularly listen to.

In fact, with some regularity I steal your guests. I discovered Eric Weinstein. On your podcast. And he and I now have done a few together. I found Will McCaskill.

Here. Along with the inimitable Jocko Willink. Um I think there may be a few others. And all those guys became not only podcast guests, but friends as well. So apart from being grateful that you're in my life

Tim. I am hugely benefiting from what you are doing in the world. So Keep it up, my friend. And thanks again for introducing me to your audience.

Hey guys, this is Tim again. Just a few more things before you take off. Number one, this is Five Bullet Friday. Do you want to get a short email from me? Would you enjoy getting a short email from me every Friday that provides a little morsel of fun before the weekend? And Five Bullet Friday is a very short email where I share The coolest things I've found or that I've been pondering over the week. That could include favorite new albums that I've discovered. It could include gizmos and gadgets and all sorts of weird shit that I've somehow dug up. in the uh the world of the esoteric as I do, it could include favorite articles that I've read and that I've shared with my close friends, for instance. And it's very short. It's just a little tiny bite of goodness before you head off. for the weekend. So if you want to receive that, check it out. Just go to fourhourworkweek.com. That's fourhourworkweek.com all spelled out and just drop in your email and you will get the very next one. And if you sign up, I hope you enjoy it. I get asked all the time if you could only use one supplement, what would it be? And my answer is inevitably Athletic Greens. It is your all in one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in the four-hour body, did not get paid for that, and I travel with it to avoid getting sick. I take it in the mornings to ensure optimal performance. It just covers all my bases. If I can't get one

what I need through whole food meals throughout the rest of the day. If you want to give Athic Greens a try, they are offering a free 20 count travel pack for first time users. I always travel with at least three or four of these. This represents a$100 value, so if you buy Athic Greens, you get an extra$100 in free product. So check it out, athleticgreens.com forward slash Tim. Again, that's atleticGreens.com forward slash Tim for your free travel pack with any purchase. This episode is brought to you by LegalZoom, which more than two million Americans have used to help start their businesses. Past guests even, such as WordPress lead developer, CEO of Automatic, Matt Mollenwig, now valued at more than a billion dollars, have used LegalZoom to help with their business needs, specifically in his case to form his company. But LegalZoom isn't just for launching your business. Their services include everything from helping you to manage changing tax laws, reviewing contracts, creating NDAs, non-disclosure agreements, important stuff, handling lease agreements. and assisting with really any other legal challenge, hurdle, inconvenience that typically takes time and effort away from running your business. The best part is that you won't get charged by the hour because LegalZoom isn't a law firm, so they won't be running the clock up.

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