Short, Sweet and To-the-Point

[stan2reason]

Here's another short essay (http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/sam_harris/2007/09/religion_as_a_black_market_for.html) by Sam Harris. This one ranks among my favorites.

[phrog]

This is indeed a jewel. Of course I enjoy any of Harris' essays. A recent meeting of Atheists at our local coffee chats discussed Harris' writings. One particular infidel didn't like Letter to a Christian Nation. He thought it was too much preaching to the choir. That made me laugh. I s'pose he didn't quite grasp the title. Others that night dismissed a lot of what Harris writes because he seems to have a tolerance for some of the far eastern belief systems like Buddhism. Indeed in the later parts of The End of Faith he touches briefly on such philosophies and does seem to give undue respect.

[stan2reason]

This is indeed a jewel. Of course I enjoy any of Harris' essays. A recent meeting of Atheists at our local coffee chats discussed Harris' writings. One particular infidel didn't like Letter to a Christian Nation. He thought it was too much preaching to the choir. That made me laugh. I s'pose he didn't quite grasp the title. Others that night dismissed a lot of what Harris writes because he seems to have a tolerance for some of the far eastern belief systems like Buddhism. Indeed in the later parts of The End of Faith he touches briefly on such philosophies and does seem to give undue respect.


Indeed it's interesting that he spends a significant amount of time on buddhism. I picked up an interesting book after reading TEOF called Buddhism Without Beliefs. Stephen Batchelor describes almost a method of self-psychology and self-understanding without any of the trappings of deity, reincarnation and karma. According to Batchelor these dogmatic beliefs were largely added after Gautama died and have little to do with the methods he taught. Sam is, I think, more intrigued by the benefits of meditation for the human mind than Buddhism per se. Here are some comments on his website:

"My views on Eastern mysticism, Buddhism, etc.:
My views on “mystical” or “spiritual” experience are extensively described in The End of Faith (and in several articles available on this website) and do not entail the acceptance of anything on faith. There is simply no question that people have transformative experiences as a result of engaging contemplative disciplines like meditation, and there is no question that these experiences shed some light on the nature of the human mind (any experience does, for that matter). What is highly questionable are the metaphysical claims that people tend to make on the basis of such experiences. I do not make any such claims. Nor do I support the metaphysical claims of others.

There are several neuroscience labs now studying the effects of meditation on the brain. While I am not personally engaged in this research, I know many of the scientists who are. This is now a fertile area of sober inquiry, purposed toward understanding the possibilities of human well-being better than we do at present.

While I consider Buddhism almost unique among the world’s religions as a repository of contemplative wisdom, I do not consider myself a Buddhist. My criticism of Buddhism as a faith has been published, to the consternation of many Buddhists. It is available here:

Killing the Buddha (http://www.shambhalasun.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2903&Itemid=244)"

All fascinating stuff.

[phrog]

Well there you are! Now I have fodder for discussion next coffee chat. Thanks