Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion

For the millions of Americans who want spirituality without religion, Sam Harris's new book is a guide to meditation as a rational spiritual practice informed by neuroscience and psychology.

From multiple New York Times bestselling author, neuroscientist, and "new atheist" Sam Harris, Waking Up is for the 30 percent of Americans who follow no religion, but who suspect that Jesus, Buddha, Lao Tzu, Rumi, and the other saints and sages of history could not have all been epileptics, schizophrenics, or frauds. Throughout the book, Harris argues that there are important truths to be found in the experiences of such contemplatives — and, therefore, that there is more to understanding reality than science and secular culture generally allow.

Waking Up is part seeker's memoir and part exploration of the scientific underpinnings of spirituality. No other book marries contemplative wisdom and modern science in this way, and no author other than Sam Harris — a scientist, philosopher, and famous skeptic — could write it.

Praise for andlt;Iandgt;Free Willandlt;/Iandgt;:andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt; andlt;Bandgt;andlt;Iandgt;Publishers Weekly andlt;/Iandgt;Top 10 Science Book of Spring 2012andlt;BRandgt; andlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt; andnbsp;and#8220;A nimble book, amiably and conversationally jumping from point to point. The bookand#8217;s length is one of its charms: He never belabors any one topic or idea, sticking around exactly as long as he needs to in order to lay out his argument (and tackle the rebuttals that it will inevitably provoke) and not a page longer.and#8221; andlt;Bandgt;and#8212;andlt;/Bandgt;andlt;Bandgt;andlt;Iandgt;Washington Postandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt; andnbsp;and#8220;A brief and forceful broadside at the conundrum that has nagged at every major thinker from Plato to Slavoj Zizek. Self-avowedly secular, [Harris is] addressing the need for individual growth and social betterment, and [is] doing so with compelling argument and style.and#8221; andlt;Bandgt;and#8212;andlt;/Bandgt;andlt;Bandgt;andlt;Iandgt;Los Angeles Timesandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt; andnbsp;and#8220;Harris skewers the concept of free will and#8212; that mainstay of law, policy and politics and#8212; in fewer than 100 pages.and#8221; andlt;Bandgt;and#8212;andlt;/Bandgt;andlt;Bandgt;andlt;Iandgt;Natureandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt; andlt;Bandgt;andlt;Iandgt;andnbsp;andlt;/Iandgt;andlt;/Bandgt;"Brilliant and wittyand#8212;and never less than incisiveand#8212;andlt;Iandgt;Free Willandlt;/Iandgt; shows that Sam Harris can say more in 13,000 words than most people do in 100,000." andlt;Bandgt;and#8212;Oliver Sacksandlt;/Bandgt;

Praise for andlt;Iandgt;The Moral Landscapeandlt;/Iandgt;:andnbsp;andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt; and#8220;The most compelling strand in and#8220;The Moral Landscapeand#8221; is its unspooling diatribe against relativism.and#8221; andlt;Bandgt;and#8212;andlt;/Bandgt;andlt;Bandgt;andlt;Iandgt;New York Timesandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt; andnbsp;and#8220;This is an inspiring book, holding out as it does the possibility of a rational understanding of how to construct the good life with the aid of science, free from the accretions of religious superstition and cultural coercion.and#8221; andlt;Bandgt;and#8212;andlt;/Bandgt;andlt;Bandgt;andlt;Iandgt;Financial Timesandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt; and#8220;Harrisand#8217;s is a first-principle argument, backed by copious empirical evidence woven through a tightly reasoned narrativeand#8230; Harrisand#8217;s program of a science-based morality is a courageous one that I wholeheartedly endorse.and#8221; andlt;Bandgt;and#8212;andlt;/Bandgt;andlt;Bandgt;andlt;Iandgt;Scientific Americanandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt; andlt;a name="_MailAutoSig"andgt;andnbsp;andlt;/aandgt;and#8220;Sam Harris breathes intellectual fire into an ancient debate. Reading this thrilling, audacious book, you feel the ground shifting beneath your feet. Reason has never had a more passionate advocate.and#8221;andlt;Bandgt;and#8212;Ian McEwanandlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt; andnbsp;and#8220;I was one of those who had unthinkingly bought into the hectoring myth that science can say nothing about morals. To my surprise,andnbsp;andlt;Iandgt;The Moral Landscapeandlt;/Iandgt;andnbsp;has changed all that for me. It should change it for philosophers too. Philosophers of mind have already discovered that they can't duck the study of neuroscience, and the best of them have raised their game as a result. andnbsp;Sam Harris shows that the same should be true of moral philosophers, and it will turn their world exhilaratingly upside down. As for religion, and the preposterous idea that we need God to be good, nobody wields a sharper bayonet than Sam Harris.and#8221;andlt;Bandgt;and#8212;Richard Dawkinsandlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt; and#8220;Reading Sam Harris is like drinking water from a cool stream on a hot day. He has the rare ability to frame arguments that are not only stimulating, they are downright nourishingand#8230; His discussions will provoke secular liberals and religious conservatives alike, who jointly argue from different perspectives that there always will be an unbridgeable chasm between merely knowing what is and discerning what should be. As was the case with Harrisand#8217; previous books, readers are bound to come away with previously firm convictions about the world challenged, and a vital new awareness about the nature and value of science and reason in our lives.and#8221; andlt;Bandgt;andlt;Iandgt;and#8212;andlt;/Iandgt;Lawrence M. Krauss, Foundation Professor and Director of the ASU Origins Project at Arizona State Universityandlt;Iandgt;, andlt;/Iandgt;author ofandlt;Iandgt; The Physics of Star Trek,andlt;/Iandgt; andandlt;Iandgt;, Quantum Man: Richard Feynmanand#8217;s Life in Scienceandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;/Bandgt;andlt;Iandgt;andnbsp;andlt;/Iandgt;andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt; andlt;Iandgt;andnbsp;andlt;/Iandgt;and#8220;A lively, provocative, and timely new look at one of the deepest problems in the world of ideas. Harris makes a powerful case for a morality that is based on human flourishing and thoroughly enmeshed with science and rationality. It is a tremendously appealing vision, and one that no thinking person can afford to ignore.and#8221; andlt;Bandgt;andlt;Iandgt;and#8212;andlt;/Iandgt;Steven Pinker, Harvard College Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of How the Mind Works and The Blank Slate.andlt;/Bandgt;

"Sam Harris ranks as my favorite skeptic, bar none. In andlt;iandgt;Waking Upandlt;/iandgt; he gives us a clear-headed, no-holds-barred look at the spiritual supermarket, calling out what amounts to junk food and showing us where real nutrition can be found. Anyone who realizes the value of a spiritual life will find much to savor here and#8211; and those who see no value in it will find much to reflect on."

For the millions of Americans who want spirituality without religion, Waking Up is a guide to meditation as a rational practice informed by neuroscience and psychology.
From Sam Harris, neuroscientist and author of numerous New York Times bestselling books, Waking Up is for the twenty percent of Americans who follow no religion but who suspect that important truths can be found in the experiences of such figures as Jesus, the Buddha, Lao Tzu, Rumi, and the other saints and sages of history. Throughout this book, Harris argues that there is more to understanding reality than science and secular culture generally allow, and that how we pay attention to the present moment largely determines the quality of our lives.
Waking Up is part memoir and part exploration of the scientific underpinnings of spirituality. No other book marries contemplative wisdom and modern science in this way, and no author other than Sam Harris--a scientist, philosopher, and famous skeptic--could write it.

Sam Harris is the author of the bestselling books The End of Faith, Letter to a Christian Nation, The Moral Landscape, Free Will, and Lying. The End of Faith won the 2005 PEN Award for Nonfiction. His writing has been published in over fifteen languages. Dr. Harris is cofounder and CEO of Project Reason, a nonprofit foundation devoted to spreading scientific knowledge and secular values in society. He received a degree in philosophy from Stanford University and a PhD in neuroscience from UCLA. Please visit his website at SamHarris.org.