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Huberman Lab
Dr. Sam Harris: Using Meditation to Focus, View Consciousness & Expand Your Mind
Jan 2, 2023
04:17:15
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Quick takeaways
- Meditation allows for a profound shift in how one engages with the world and oneself.
- The mind-body problem and free will are explored, leading to an understanding of the non-duality of subject and object.
- Perception and time perception are discussed, highlighting the elastic nature of conscious experience.
- Practical tools and practices for meditation are shared, including the use of the Waking Up app.
- Psychedelics and their effects on consciousness are also explored.
- Being process-oriented, rather than goal-oriented, is crucial for finding fulfillment in life.
Deep dives
The Illusion of Self: Meditation and Consciousness
Meditation allows one to view consciousness itself and understand the process of consciousness. The main value of meditation is not just changing conscious experience, but recognizing the illusion of the self. It allows for a profound shift in how one engages with the world and oneself. Meditation is a potent portal to access novel ways of thinking and being. The mind-body problem and free will are explored, leading to an understanding of the non-duality of subject and object. Perception and time perception are discussed, highlighting the elastic nature of conscious experience. Practical tools and practices for meditation are shared, including the use of the Waking Up app. Psychedelics and their effects on consciousness are also explored. The importance of recognizing the illusory nature of the self and experiencing the unity of experience is emphasized.
The Nature of Consciousness and Perception
Consciousness is the awareness that illuminates the contents of our experience. The self, as a separate entity from experience, is illusory. Meditation and psychedelics can change the contents of consciousness, but the real promise lies in recognizing the non-duality of subject and object. Default mode network activity is associated with self-referential thoughts and can be suppressed by meditation and psychedelics. The insights gained through meditation are available in ordinary waking consciousness, rather than being distant or deep within. An analogy is made to the optic blind spot, where something is missing from our experience but seems close and unnoticeable. Similarly, selflessness can be recognized in the present moment. There is no separation between the experiencer and the experience, leading to a profound shift in perception and engagement with the world.
The Power of Meditation: Accessing Unity of Experience
Meditation offers a path to recognize the illusion of the self and access a unity of experience. It involves unraveling the duality between subject and object. The goal of meditation is not to change the contents of consciousness, but to understand consciousness itself. Misconceptions about meditation and expectations of deep experiences can delay insight. The importance of recognizing that there is no distance between oneself and experience is emphasized. Meditation is a way to overcome the constant interruption of self-awareness and to experience the flow of consciousness. By recognizing the unity of experience, meditation can profoundly transform one's engagement with the world and oneself.
The Illusion of the Self
Through meditation, the illusion of the self, the sense of being the locus of attention and agency, can be revealed as non-existent.
The Mystery of Thought and Decision-making
The origin of our thoughts and the process of decision-making are fundamentally mysterious. Even the simplest decisions, like choosing between water and coffee, are inexplicable in terms of conscious intention or control.
The Coincidence of Disappearing Self and Illusion of Free Will
While the disappearance of the self through meditation and the illusion of free will seem paradoxical, they are two sides of the same coin. Both highlight the mystery of our conscious experience and challenge our assumptions about control and agency.
The Illusion of Self and the Experience of Meditation
Meditation allows for the recognition that the sense of self is an illusion, a contraction of energy. By breaking the identification with thought and being fully present in the moment, the illusion of self dissipates, leading to a sense of psychological freedom.
Meditation as a Non-Dual Practice
Meditation is not an artifice or practice to add to one's life, but a recognition of the intrinsic nature of consciousness. It is about being fully present in each moment, not just during formal meditation sessions. With practice, formal meditation becomes indistinguishable from everyday life.
The Path to Non-Dual Mindfulness
The initial stage of meditation involves developing concentration and being aware of distractions. As mindfulness deepens, the boundaries between formal meditation and other activities blur, and mindfulness can be maintained even during daily actions like playing music or engaging in sports.
The power of mindfulness
Mindfulness meditation allows individuals to observe their thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations without becoming attached to them. By practicing mindfulness, one can recognize the ephemeral nature of thoughts and emotions, leading to a reduction in their intensity and significance. This shift in perspective offers a sense of relief and freedom, allowing individuals to choose the duration and impact of their anger or negative emotions. Mindfulness also reveals the selflessness and centralness of awareness, enabling individuals to understand that they are simply part of the condition in which everything arises. This recognition offers a non-dualistic perspective, emphasizing the equality of all experiences.
Exploring psychedelics and meditation
Psychedelics, like MDMA and psilocybin, can provide altered states of perception and expanded consciousness. These substances can evoke experiences of ego dissolution, unity with nature, and the exploration of expanded self-identities. While psychedelics can be useful in uncovering new possibilities and insights, the aim is not to constantly seek peak experiences or to be in an altered state all the time. The real value lies in integrating the wisdom gained from these experiences into everyday life, including relationships and personal growth. The concept of emptiness in Buddhism captures the essence of recognizing the no-self nature of experience and finding freedom and unconditional love in ordinary states of consciousness.
The importance of being process-oriented rather than goal-oriented
The podcast episode explores the idea that being process-oriented, rather than goal-oriented, is crucial for finding fulfillment in life. It emphasizes that most of our time is spent in the process of pursuing goals, and the actual achievement of those goals is often short-lived. The speaker suggests that the key to fulfillment lies in fully resting our attention in the present moment, rather than constantly seeking external validation or future achievements. By becoming more process-oriented and being present in the current moment, we can experience a deeper sense of well-being and peace.
The decision to close the Twitter account
The podcast episode touches upon the speaker's decision to close their Twitter account. They discuss the negative impact Twitter had on their well-being, contributing to needless conflict and obsession with reputation. The speaker shares their realization that Twitter was affecting their perception of humanity, as they perceived maliciousness and dishonesty from interactions on the platform, even from people they knew personally. The decision to delete the account resulted in feeling happier, less cluttered, and less distracted in life. While acknowledging potential drawbacks, such as disconnection from certain aspects of culture, the speaker concludes that the absence of Twitter has been mostly positive, providing more space for deep work and reducing noise and negativity in their life.
57.
The Bifurcation Between the All of the Utility of Psychedelics and the Core Wisdom of Meditation
5min
69.
You Know I'm in the Center Politically and You Know if You're Only Criticizing the Left You Hate No Doubt You Get Hate From the Right
6min
74.
Um Um Um Is Your Podcast a Wonderful Tool to Share Knowledge and Synergize Deep Discourse
3min
My guest is Sam Harris, Ph.D. Sam earned his bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Stanford University and his doctorate (Ph.D.) in neuroscience from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He is the author of multiple best-selling books and is a world-renowned public-facing intellectual on meditation, consciousness, free will, psychedelics and neuroscience. He is also the creator of Waking Up and the host of the "Making Sense" podcast. In this episode, we discuss meditation as a route to understanding “the self” and experiencing consciousness, not just changing one’s conscious state. Sam describes several meditation techniques and their benefits, including how meditation fundamentally changes our worldview and how it can be merged seamlessly into daily life. It can help us overcome universal challenges such as distractibility and persistent, internal dialogue (“chatter”) to allow for deep contentment and pervasive shifts in our awareness, all while acknowledging the more immediate stress-lowering and memory-improving effects of meditation. We also discuss the therapeutic use of psychedelics and the mechanistic similarities between the benefits of a psychedelic journey and long-term meditation practices. And we discuss the rationale behind Sam’s recent decision to close his social media (Twitter) account. This episode should interest anyone wanting to learn more about the higher order functions of the brain, the brain-body connection, consciousness and, of course, meditation and why and how to meditate for maximum benefit.
For the full show notes, visit hubermanlab.com.
Thank you to our sponsors
AG1: https://athleticgreens.com/huberman
LMNT: https://drinklmnt.com/hubermanlab
Waking Up: https://wakingup.com/huberman
Momentous: https://livemomentous.com/huberman
Timestamps
(00:00:00) Dr. Sam Harris
(00:04:54) Sponsor: LMNT
(00:08:54) Sense of Self & Meditation, Dualism of Self
(00:18:07) Sense of Self in Brain & Body
(00:25:28) Consciousness vs. Contents, Meditation
(00:28:25) Interrupting Sense of Self & Attentional Focus, Visual Saccade
(00:33:30) Observer & Actor, Default Mode Network & Meditation, Blind Spot
(00:36:52) Sponsor: AG1
(00:41:57) Mediation & Paths to Understanding Consciousness, Non-Dualistic Experience
(00:57:32) Sense of Self throughout Evolution
(01:07:40) Sense of Self from Human Development, Language
(01:19:46) Internal Dialogue, Distractibility & Mindfulness
(01:26:27) Time Perception & Mindfulness, Vipassana Meditation, Resistance & Pain
(01:37:13) Consciousness & Sense of Control, Free Will
(01:43:14) Authoring Thoughts: Storytelling & Ideas, Free Will
(01:52:11) Meditation & the Paradoxical Search for Self
(02:06:44) Meditation & Concentration Practice
(02:11:58) Mindfulness, “Skylike Mind” & Thoughts
(02:15:11) States of Self & Context, Dualistic Experiences
(02:32:39) Distraction & Identification of Thoughts, Meditation & “Flow” States
(02:42:58) Eyes-Open Meditations, Sense of Self, Visual Cues & Social Interactions
(02:54:59) Paths to Meditation, Mindfulness Meditation Step-Functions
(03:05:58) Psychedelics, MDMA & Experiences in Consciousness, Religion
(03:21:11) Meditation, Psychedelic Journeys & Inner Truths
(03:29:48) Psilocybin, Ego-Dissolution & Thought Expansion
(03:40:09) Process vs. Achievement of Goals, Fulfillment in Present
(03:54:29) Leaving Twitter; Conflict, Life Interruption & Politics
(04:06:14) Social Media, Attentional Disruption & Deep Work
(04:15:39) Meditation & Sense of Self
(04:19:02) Sam Harris & Waking Up App, Zero-Cost Support, YouTube Feedback, Spotify & Apple Reviews, Sponsors, Momentous, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter
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