The Paradox of Meditation

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In your book waking up you talk about the meditative practice and the goal seems to be which I'm trying to come to grips with. The whole point of morality is to recognize yourself as an individual and others as individuals and then go help them. So that if you're going to use the word self to mean your body your brain your mind everything about you that's not the self that's illusory, he says. But what people also can mean by the word self most of the time is a sense of being a subject of experience.

Bestselling author and friend of the podcast Sam Harris joins Tamler and Dave for a marathon podcast. (Seriously, pack two pairs of astronaut diapers for this one). We talk about the costs and benefits of religion, dropping acid in India, and the illusory nature of (a certain kind of) free will. Then we go at it on blame, moral responsibility, hatred, guilt, retribution, and vengeance. Sam thinks these are antiquated responses based on a belief in spooky metaphysics, Tamler thinks they are important components of human morality, and Dave just wants everyone to get along and be reasonable (like that nice Kant fellow).

Time markers (roughly)

0:00-47:00 Intro and costs and benefits of religion

47:00-77:30 Drugs, the self, free will

77:30-- Blame, guilt, vengeance, moral responsibility, desert.

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