With girlfriend we could meditate a lot. With wife, not so much. With wife and kids, very difficult to meditate. With wife, kid, and mistress, absolutely could not meditate. 😂😂
Agree with Sam, here: when I first started practicing meditation, it was super difficult to get my mind to stop wandering off and to just focus on my breath or body. If I haven't practiced in a while, that's one of the first things that I have to really work on to get up to speed again.
But to what end? So what if you can ultimately and purely pay attention to your breath? Has someone told you a story about meditation? What is the claim here about meditation exactly?
@grosbeak6130 depression often involves extremely negative thoughts about oneself and rumination on them. If I can learn to intensely focus on something tangible and in the present, like my breath or the weight of my body against the surface below it, it becomes easier to tune out negative thoughts when they occur. Edit: RUclips isn't displaying my previous comment. I stated that it's helped me personally with depression when I do it. There's no universal claim about meditation being made.
The take away I got just from this clip is: When mediating while focusing on our breath and the experience of inhaling and exhaling, when those random thoughts that start to gain our attention and focus. We don't usually go, "Wait a minute. Where did this thought and the direction it's going come from?" Or even, "How did I get here?" This is what Sam Harris is saying about that same intrusion of thoughts, Images, and their experiencial events don't for some reason, they don't make us suddenly become aware and question how did we get here? How did we arrive in this dream state and suddenly become disturbed by it or even suddenly shake ourselves awake. That is what I think is what is weird about the various levels of consciousness that we experience. At some point, there's a level of consciousness that we don't question the nature of that current experience or its existence: its reality.
@@adamj3977 I love that part of trying to observe the observer. It usually turns into observing my first thoughts, then my thoughts about those second set of thoughts, and then my third thoughts focusing on those thoughts. And my fourth set of thoughts observing my third set of thoughts that's observing my second set of thoughts that are observing my first set of thoughts. Basically, it's turtles all the way down.
Saw this about a month before school ended, it just barely saved me from getting distracted enough to have to do summer school, but it has helped show me just how much of my life is letting my brain carry me away. It might be the ADHD, but it’s been there all my life, and now I’ll have to stand college being so much more present and in control than I’ve ever been
Wow this was an enlightening statement and I’ve actually thought about this myself for a long time. I’m putting together some other ideas Sam spoke of in other videos about free will and now things are making better sense
As an atheist that practices meditation, Sam Harris is so dear to me. People may find it contradicting since meditation is a sort of spiritual thing and me practicing it while being a skeptic atheist. I first found the idea of meditation through a documentary called 'doing time, doing Vipassana', after learning that there were retreats organized in my country as well. I participated in a silent retreat with about 100 people, where one wakes up at 4:30 AM, meditate for 10 hours each day, 10 days in a row, with no talking, reading, writing or communicating in any way. The experience is made to mimic what Buddhist monks do, and it demonstrates to you the effects of meditation. As an atheist, I doubt I would ever understand and keep meditating if not for that retreat because the effects are so subtle I doubtI would've noticed them. In a silent retreat, that is all being amplified because of the lack of distractions. One is made more sensitive and aware. I would encourage anyone and everyone to try a silent meditation retreat. I practice Vipassana but I recommend either that, Zen or Dzogchen.
Sounds like a retreat by SN Goenka? I did that too, thanks to Sam. :) Meditation is really not religious at all. It's about observing reality, especially the reality of consciousness. It's scientific at its core.
I heard Sadhguru tell a story about Buddah. People recognized him as an enlightened being who understood mysteries of the Universe. A crowd gathered around him and demanded to know: "Is there a God?" Emphatically, he answered them: "No."
@@PokeRapper5000There are subtle references to the nature of consciousness embedded in the Bible. Meditation is like a state of actively "being" and nothing more... "I Am" And if God, for instance, Was ut there wasn't anyone else to aknowledge God's existence, then God would have to create another seperate consious entity to also "be". Add AM. Pretty logical step. Everyday, you add to your conscious experience, starting in the AM. And when you meditate, the goal is to quiet the noise rattling around in your head... Amplitude Modulation. (And his FeMme, Eve aka Frequency Modulation aka the Mother of all Living Things) But they don't teach that in Sunday School.
I agree with him, it is simple yet very difficult to do. I've seen tibetan monks say mediation us easy, but that's definitely not my experience. The last thing the mind wants is to have no thoughts.
That is the nature of the mind. Mediation is not about stopping thoughts since that is impossible, but it is about noticing when you become lost in thought and go back to the present moment which may be observing the thoughts that arise. The feeling that there is a duality of thinker and thought is part of the spell.
I naturally have been doing this since I was a child. I just stay in the moment and don't think. It's very relaxing and I loved to do it sitting on some tree growing up. Only as an adult I realised this is called meditation and a skill. I grew up thinking it was a bad habit I had, because to most people I met it seemed like a waste of time and I seemed weird. 😅
@helgaioannidis9365 I hypothesis that hunter gathers were able to do that. Being that they had to stay in the present moment the majority of the time to enhance their chances of survival.
@@djb5275all humans carry bias. Your belief in God or lack of belief in God actually says virtually nothing when it comes to bias. We are all biased in ways we can’t even begin to comprehend.
@djb5275 I appreciate that, bro. My journey began with RUclips algorithms recommending Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. As much as I admire those guys, they aren't people I'd recommend for people who aren't quite ready to surrender their biases for the sake of truth. In the end, I sort of view Sam as "the sugar that helps the medicine go down," as strange as that may sound. Sam is a critical figure to bridge that gap for people like me who aren't necessarily ready to jump on the other side without thorough analysis.
@@invisabeast9458 No. We're just willing to hear counter arguments because we recognize there are real discrepancies and contradictions that believers either ignore or overlook.
Our emotions, thought trains, and busy minds are all like dreaming. Pure awareness of what's there in this moment is to be awake, and meditation is the way to wake up.
I was surprised to hear that Alex was a meditation skeptic. Even his point about prayer was flawed to me. You don’t have to believe you are praying to any real entity to do the action of prayer, let alone meditation which is literally just the practice of observation. For example you can just observe what thoughts pop up without exerting influence on what appears and without judgement to gain understanding of the true contents of your mind. In dreams, we trick ourselves into thinking we are talking to real people all the time, even though they don’t exist (in the traditional sense). They are generated for us to interact with. To me, prayer is just a consciously enacted version of that. It doesn’t have to mean whatever you’re praying to is real, it can just be an interaction with a concept.
@@fredbeard7710 I think it can be equivalent to an idol, but it doesn’t have to be. I’m saying you can pray to the concept of the most high without necessarily believing that there is a real existing being that embodies the most high in some way. You can still authentically interact with that concept and personify it without believing that the personification you are using is “real”
@@nowwhat6716 I don’t believe in Jesus but I have prayed to him, I don’t believe in Allah but I have prayed to him. I also don’t have an active hope that they are real. Prayer can be achieved through a temporary and mindful suspension of disbelief. You can do that while retaining the lack of belief that they are real entities.
@@nowwhat6716 No, prayer is simply a FORM of internal dialogue. It's deliberately talking to yourself (and also, possibly, hearing yourself respond.) What you may BELIEVE is going on is secondary. You may (correctly) believe that you're talking to yourself. You may (incorrectly) believe that you're talking to someone else, whether that is a real person or something imaginary. Or you may activate no belief at all and instead just be engaged in talking and listening. These are all prayer, in contrast to the form of mindfulness which Harris is describing. He only gives the introductory part in this video, the point when you become aware of the inner dialogue. But the eventual effect of mindfulness practice is that the inner dialogue gradually becomes quieter and less distracting, and eventually falls away. This is the opposite of prayer where dialogue is being actively invited, whether with some imaginary"other" or with the "self." In mindfulness the dialogue is being actively allowed to fade out, so that what remains is direct experience of the present moment. Not only is there no "other," there is no "self."
I have had dreams where it starts out that im laying in my bed and cant go to sleep. then I get up an im on my way. I agree with Sams take on meditation. its the way I was taught. Sitting Practice.
From my experience, it’s not really important to focus on breathing. The key is to notice how jumbled and chaotic our thoughts initially are, to take a break for a few minutes, and gradually try to order some thoughts without rushing. Same impact.
In mindfulness practice, the only importance of having an object of attention is that it gives the mind something to settle into, to the exclusion of distracting thoughts. Counting the breaths is another introductory technique. The narrative exercise of counting preoccupies the part of the mind that would otherwise produce an inner monologue. It's a way of training the mind not to automatically activate the monologue, and this practice takes time to develop. Eventually the counting can be dropped, and attention directed toward breathing or simply being in the moment. The capacity to be fully present to the direct experience of the moment, even briefly and occasionally, is the most important aspect of mindfulness practice. It provides a firsthand perspective on what is important generally, and feels deeply satisfactory in itself. From that perspective we can see that much of our preoccupation with neurotic chasing of desires is not satisfactory and really not necessary. So we might go on from there to readjust our priorities with this perspective in mind. The point is that this secondary enterprise of mindfulness is not driven by a theory or an idea or an "ought" but by direct awareness of the most ordinary things, and therefore is more authentically grounded and more trustworthy than these more abstract mental constructs. Not that abstract thinking has been somehow diminished in value, but that we don't take it for reality.
It is really weird how difficult is to meditate for just 5 minutes or especially to do it as a routine when you’re basically doing nothing or as little as possible!
It's ironic that Sam seems to recognise that it is the reification of concepts that obstructs peace in meditation, but he fails to realise it is the reification of concepts (e.g. race, religion, etc), that obstructs peace in the Holy Land (Israel-Palestine). Join the dots Sam!
I never understood the meaning of meditation as people describe it: a boring process of just sitting there in a certain uncomfortable position and focusing on your breath. Maybe I will never be interested in it. I think it's just a way to fool yourself into believing that you are gaining control of your mind, like controlling your aggressiveness and nervousness, which may be the case for some people, but it will never work for people like me.
I'm amazed he said there's no reality testing on thoughts. That's exactly what thoughts are, a filtering of reality that reconciles actions and applies logic in order to rationalise daily life. I'm not a fan of the idea that thoughts happen to you and are somehow otherworldly and beyond our control.
Weird how we believe our thoughts and ideas are our own yet we have nothing to do with them whatsoever, we can’t create them or stop them they arrive involuntarily and fully formed yet we take full credit for thoughts and ideas.
The situation he emphasizes here is much more severe if you consider that all of reality is too a kind of carrying-away helplessly, wherein each nested imagination is taking us further away, and yet still it doesnt end. theres nothing that is a constant rule either, its just that we have to continue to paint reality in such a way that we can exist and have to exist - but obviously we have the freedom to not take that seriously. thats still not the same thing as falling into some state of eternal bliss, nor is it equal to continuing from the beginning again. the situation is more severe i would say. the life quest is itself is in some way complex, but from a different perspective you see the same pattern (while in that pattern) to be out of the pattern is to be in some abstract form of it.
Because you don't have a master and you haven't got a clue what true meditation is. The one that keeps you alive every single eternal moment. It's the most easy thing in the world to stay connected to it and the most challenging in the world too
In fairness, if we were always cognizant of being conscious, then that could get in the way of being productive. Paying attention to consciousness itself requires effort, and sometimes we probably want to be lost in the dream of life, focusing instead on driving, or speaking, or whatever. Realizing the nature of consciousness can produce life-changing insight and profound experiences though.
This is a common misconception about mindfulness, and often the first barrier for over thinkers. If anything becoming more mindful improves your ability to focus on the task at hand with far more sustained attention as well as increased fulfillment from said task. Given enough practice it stops requiring effort and improves many facets of a persons life
@@GoatCemetery Do you agree that being aware of awareness is an additional thing to be aware of (in additional to, say, reading or typing RUclips comments)? I'm not asking about whether it improves one's life. I'm just asking if you... a random person on RUclips, of course!... think that awareness of awareness requires additional effort, or if it's more like being aware of awareness requires *less* effort than being lost in thought.
@@tobynsaunders Sorry I just saw your reply now. I would say from my experience as a random person on RUclips, no less, it does require effort at first. However, once it has been practiced enough it becomes a habit and allows you to focus on other tasks with less effort. I can’t remember his name, but there is this guy that Sam had a conversation with years ago, he teaches what he calls “effortless mindfulness” you might find that practice interesting!
Why though? I just have to trust that there is some mystical experience on the other side of focused boredom? I’ve literally done acid over a hundred times, I highly doubt anything is on the other side of that door that I haven’t seen already.
You're right. There's no-thing on the other side of the door. That's what you've never experienced. If u did, you'd realise there is no-thing on either side of the door - and no door.
"In this silence, in this emptiness, in this quantum leap from mind to no mind, you have entered a different space which is neither outer nor inner but transcendental to both." Quora
After all that Trump, Gaza, Israel, and Elon Musk nonsense that comes out of Sam’s mouth, it’s really hard to take him seriously. He went from being one of the top atheist public intellectuals to basically being just a guy with opinions
i dont think Sam Harris has ever meditated as in kundalini yoga, he has no concept of the snake at the bottom of the spine, no concept, he is 100% cerebral
ben stiller is pretty deep man
He looks more like the love child of Ben Stiller and Noel Gallagher, when you think about it.
Zen Stiller*
Sam Harris more and more looks like a zoolander parody, his frown wrinkles are very pronounced
I clicked on the channel and was so confused why ben stiller was on it
Looks like Sam Harris
I never expected Sam Harris to curse. Golden. 😂
He does it occasionally. It's often a pretty good comedic device for him
You should listen to 'The Best Podcast Ever', his Waking Up podcast episode that he did with Omer Aziz.
@TheLastLaugh577 no they should not 😂 save yourself the brain damage
Nothing beats his "I want to f*ck Nicki Minaj" line from when he was on Rogan. Completely hilarious.
@@TheLastLaugh577 I was going to recommend the same thing. Eventually he is like, "You have no fucking idea what you're talking about.".
The People’s Eyebrow
Under his eyebrow. Praise be
Sam just wants the best for humanity
actually that's Carlo Ancelotti
That was the first thought that popped into my mark brain.
Great analogy
Ok I just need the girlfriend to do the rehearsal conversation part and my meditation will be just fine
No GF? You should have no distractions or worries then and meditation should come easy!
Nah get a boyfriend instead.
@@NegativSpace-pd6cz why not both
@@Butzemann123 You know what? That's a great idea pal
With girlfriend we could meditate a lot.
With wife, not so much.
With wife and kids, very difficult to meditate.
With wife, kid, and mistress, absolutely could not meditate. 😂😂
Agree with Sam, here: when I first started practicing meditation, it was super difficult to get my mind to stop wandering off and to just focus on my breath or body. If I haven't practiced in a while, that's one of the first things that I have to really work on to get up to speed again.
But to what end? So what if you can ultimately and purely pay attention to your breath? Has someone told you a story about meditation? What is the claim here about meditation exactly?
@@grosbeak6130 I find it helps my depression if I do it regularly
@grosbeak6130 depression often involves extremely negative thoughts about oneself and rumination on them. If I can learn to intensely focus on something tangible and in the present, like my breath or the weight of my body against the surface below it, it becomes easier to tune out negative thoughts when they occur.
Edit: RUclips isn't displaying my previous comment. I stated that it's helped me personally with depression when I do it. There's no universal claim about meditation being made.
Depends on the Person. For me, it reduces anxiety, panic attacks and panic disorder like nothing else. No medication came close.
@@grosbeak6130 stop trying to be clever
The take away I got just from this clip is:
When mediating while focusing on our breath and the experience of inhaling and exhaling, when those random thoughts that start to gain our attention and focus. We don't usually go, "Wait a minute. Where did this thought and the direction it's going come from?" Or even, "How did I get here?"
This is what Sam Harris is saying about that same intrusion of thoughts, Images, and their experiencial events don't for some reason, they don't make us suddenly become aware and question how did we get here? How did we arrive in this dream state and suddenly become disturbed by it or even suddenly shake ourselves awake.
That is what I think is what is weird about the various levels of consciousness that we experience. At some point, there's a level of consciousness that we don't question the nature of that current experience or its existence: its reality.
I call it the power of now
It’s also quiet interesting to ”try” to observe the observer.
@@adamj3977 I do it the time if your interested in sharing experiences
** all the time
@@adamj3977 I love that part of trying to observe the observer. It usually turns into observing my first thoughts, then my thoughts about those second set of thoughts, and then my third thoughts focusing on those thoughts. And my fourth set of thoughts observing my third set of thoughts that's observing my second set of thoughts that are observing my first set of thoughts. Basically, it's turtles all the way down.
Saw this about a month before school ended, it just barely saved me from getting distracted enough to have to do summer school, but it has helped show me just how much of my life is letting my brain carry me away. It might be the ADHD, but it’s been there all my life, and now I’ll have to stand college being so much more present and in control than I’ve ever been
So glad this conversation finally happened! To be continued!!
Wow this was an enlightening statement and I’ve actually thought about this myself for a long time. I’m putting together some other ideas Sam spoke of in other videos about free will and now things are making better sense
It's good to see him again speaking on public.
His eyebrows show more confidence
Indeed 👏🏻👌🏻👍🏻
As an atheist that practices meditation, Sam Harris is so dear to me. People may find it contradicting since meditation is a sort of spiritual thing and me practicing it while being a skeptic atheist. I first found the idea of meditation through a documentary called 'doing time, doing Vipassana', after learning that there were retreats organized in my country as well. I participated in a silent retreat with about 100 people, where one wakes up at 4:30 AM, meditate for 10 hours each day, 10 days in a row, with no talking, reading, writing or communicating in any way. The experience is made to mimic what Buddhist monks do, and it demonstrates to you the effects of meditation. As an atheist, I doubt I would ever understand and keep meditating if not for that retreat because the effects are so subtle I doubtI would've noticed them. In a silent retreat, that is all being amplified because of the lack of distractions. One is made more sensitive and aware. I would encourage anyone and everyone to try a silent meditation retreat. I practice Vipassana but I recommend either that, Zen or Dzogchen.
Sounds like a retreat by SN Goenka? I did that too, thanks to Sam. :)
Meditation is really not religious at all. It's about observing reality, especially the reality of consciousness. It's scientific at its core.
I heard Sadhguru tell a story about Buddah. People recognized him as an enlightened being who understood mysteries of the Universe. A crowd gathered around him and demanded to know: "Is there a God?"
Emphatically, he answered them: "No."
@@PokeRapper5000There are subtle references to the nature of consciousness embedded in the Bible. Meditation is like a state of actively "being" and nothing more... "I Am"
And if God, for instance, Was ut there wasn't anyone else to aknowledge God's existence, then God would have to create another seperate consious entity to also "be".
Add AM. Pretty logical step.
Everyday, you add to your conscious experience, starting in the AM.
And when you meditate, the goal is to quiet the noise rattling around in your head... Amplitude Modulation. (And his FeMme, Eve aka Frequency Modulation aka the Mother of all Living Things)
But they don't teach that in Sunday School.
@@dyrtyharry6789 Sounds like Brahman, dreaming all our lives because it would be boring otherwise. :)
Tat tvam asi ✌
Retreats are scams
Bro is majestic
I agree with him, it is simple yet very difficult to do. I've seen tibetan monks say mediation us easy, but that's definitely not my experience. The last thing the mind wants is to have no thoughts.
That is the nature of the mind. Mediation is not about stopping thoughts since that is impossible, but it is about noticing when you become lost in thought and go back to the present moment which may be observing the thoughts that arise. The feeling that there is a duality of thinker and thought is part of the spell.
I naturally have been doing this since I was a child. I just stay in the moment and don't think. It's very relaxing and I loved to do it sitting on some tree growing up. Only as an adult I realised this is called meditation and a skill. I grew up thinking it was a bad habit I had, because to most people I met it seemed like a waste of time and I seemed weird. 😅
@helgaioannidis9365 I hypothesis that hunter gathers were able to do that. Being that they had to stay in the present moment the majority of the time to enhance their chances of survival.
@@aaronpannell6401 Plus there was less distractions back then. No social media, no internet, no screens, no electronics.
It always gave me a feeling like my brain was struggling to hold it's breath.
Sam is truly a generational talent. I credit him for helping me break out of the chains of religion.
You deserve a ton of credit as well. You were willing to actually listen to logic and reasoning and put your bias aside with an open mind
@@djb5275aww yes because people who follow a religion aren’t opened minded or reasonable, o
@@djb5275all humans carry bias. Your belief in God or lack of belief in God actually says virtually nothing when it comes to bias. We are all biased in ways we can’t even begin to comprehend.
@djb5275 I appreciate that, bro. My journey began with RUclips algorithms recommending Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. As much as I admire those guys, they aren't people I'd recommend for people who aren't quite ready to surrender their biases for the sake of truth. In the end, I sort of view Sam as "the sugar that helps the medicine go down," as strange as that may sound. Sam is a critical figure to bridge that gap for people like me who aren't necessarily ready to jump on the other side without thorough analysis.
@@invisabeast9458 No. We're just willing to hear counter arguments because we recognize there are real discrepancies and contradictions that believers either ignore or overlook.
Absolutely true! It's all about the stories we constantly weave in our heads!
Our emotions, thought trains, and busy minds are all like dreaming. Pure awareness of what's there in this moment is to be awake, and meditation is the way to wake up.
I cant believe you git Sam Harris for your interview! I've been waiting for this!
Sam Harris. Eviscerating monothesism one debunked claim at a time. Love this man
Serious atheists and theists look at Sam as low level.
@@RafaelGarcia-jb3me keep coping delusionist
@@RafaelGarcia-jb3me There is no such thing as a serious theist. They are all a joke
@@RafaelGarcia-jb3me Seriously... no
@@RafaelGarcia-jb3me your cope is low level
Cool, I like both these guys. Start a podcast together!
This is what I like from Harris. He can stop everything else. He really knows how to communicate the principles of meditation.
I was surprised to hear that Alex was a meditation skeptic. Even his point about prayer was flawed to me. You don’t have to believe you are praying to any real entity to do the action of prayer, let alone meditation which is literally just the practice of observation. For example you can just observe what thoughts pop up without exerting influence on what appears and without judgement to gain understanding of the true contents of your mind.
In dreams, we trick ourselves into thinking we are talking to real people all the time, even though they don’t exist (in the traditional sense). They are generated for us to interact with. To me, prayer is just a consciously enacted version of that. It doesn’t have to mean whatever you’re praying to is real, it can just be an interaction with a concept.
Prayer need the believe in entity. Unless U are talking about hoping for example I hope I can go to New York.which is different
I think this is an example of an idol, praying to whatever you deem as opposed to that which is Most High.
@@fredbeard7710 I think it can be equivalent to an idol, but it doesn’t have to be. I’m saying you can pray to the concept of the most high without necessarily believing that there is a real existing being that embodies the most high in some way. You can still authentically interact with that concept and personify it without believing that the personification you are using is “real”
@@nowwhat6716 I don’t believe in Jesus but I have prayed to him, I don’t believe in Allah but I have prayed to him. I also don’t have an active hope that they are real. Prayer can be achieved through a temporary and mindful suspension of disbelief. You can do that while retaining the lack of belief that they are real entities.
@@nowwhat6716
No, prayer is simply a FORM of internal dialogue. It's deliberately talking to yourself (and also, possibly, hearing yourself respond.)
What you may BELIEVE is going on is secondary. You may (correctly) believe that you're talking to yourself. You may (incorrectly) believe that you're talking to someone else, whether that is a real person or something imaginary. Or you may activate no belief at all and instead just be engaged in talking and listening.
These are all prayer, in contrast to the form of mindfulness which Harris is describing. He only gives the introductory part in this video, the point when you become aware of the inner dialogue. But the eventual effect of mindfulness practice is that the inner dialogue gradually becomes quieter and less distracting, and eventually falls away.
This is the opposite of prayer where dialogue is being actively invited, whether with some imaginary"other" or with the "self." In mindfulness the dialogue is being actively allowed to fade out, so that what remains is direct experience of the present moment. Not only is there no "other," there is no "self."
That’s what meditation is about. You can observer this thoughts as they come and go
He is exactly right. However, a good meditation session is noticing how much your inner/mad voice is trying to interrupt.
I'm fascinated with his right eyebrow gymnastics 😅
It’s hard until you train yourself. Then it becomes your natural process.
Both very intelligent people
Miracle of Mindfulness. Thich Nhat Hanh. Buddhist monk
The Waking Up app has changed my perspective on experience for the better.
I don’t agree with most of his opinions. But his meditation technique really helped me in my life. Than u Sam Harris. ❤
I have had dreams where it starts out that im laying in my bed and cant go to sleep. then I get up an im on my way.
I agree with Sams take on meditation. its the way I was taught. Sitting Practice.
All this wisdom & he was great in Meet the Fockers
i always end up thinking of work, but Sam can get me just lost for awhile and focus or sleep. both better then thinking of work
From my experience, it’s not really important to focus on breathing. The key is to notice how jumbled and chaotic our thoughts initially are, to take a break for a few minutes, and gradually try to order some thoughts without rushing. Same impact.
You've never studied Buddhism have you?
Watch the full video
This is completely different than meditating and is useful but doesn't achieve the same thing
In mindfulness practice, the only importance of having an object of attention is that it gives the mind something to settle into, to the exclusion of distracting thoughts.
Counting the breaths is another introductory technique. The narrative exercise of counting preoccupies the part of the mind that would otherwise produce an inner monologue. It's a way of training the mind not to automatically activate the monologue, and this practice takes time to develop. Eventually the counting can be dropped, and attention directed toward breathing or simply being in the moment.
The capacity to be fully present to the direct experience of the moment, even briefly and occasionally, is the most important aspect of mindfulness practice. It provides a firsthand perspective on what is important generally, and feels deeply satisfactory in itself.
From that perspective we can see that much of our preoccupation with neurotic chasing of desires is not satisfactory and really not necessary.
So we might go on from there to readjust our priorities with this perspective in mind. The point is that this secondary enterprise of mindfulness is not driven by a theory or an idea or an "ought" but by direct awareness of the most ordinary things, and therefore is more authentically grounded and more trustworthy than these more abstract mental constructs. Not that abstract thinking has been somehow diminished in value, but that we don't take it for reality.
His right eyebrow goes higher and higher each year :d
Can't unsee hahaha
It will eventually hover above like a halo. 😂
It would be funny if his other eyebrow would start moving lower and lower, as well 😂
Oh trust me, meditation is a pain, my inner voices are too loud
It is really weird how difficult is to meditate for just 5 minutes or especially to do it as a routine when you’re basically doing nothing or as little as possible!
Truth is comedy ❤
Wow yes I don't think I can do that but I will try.❤
It's ironic that Sam seems to recognise that it is the reification of concepts that obstructs peace in meditation, but he fails to realise it is the reification of concepts (e.g. race, religion, etc), that obstructs peace in the Holy Land (Israel-Palestine). Join the dots Sam!
It’s more of a colonialism problem and a capitalism problem more broadly but yeah, free Palestine 🇵🇸
He just described the adhd experience
Meditation is harder than you don’t think
Thank you
I never understood the meaning of meditation as people describe it: a boring process of just sitting there in a certain uncomfortable position and focusing on your breath. Maybe I will never be interested in it. I think it's just a way to fool yourself into believing that you are gaining control of your mind, like controlling your aggressiveness and nervousness, which may be the case for some people, but it will never work for people like me.
you havent even tried properly
@@FreedomBreeze24 i did, actually when i was way younger !
I'm amazed he said there's no reality testing on thoughts. That's exactly what thoughts are, a filtering of reality that reconciles actions and applies logic in order to rationalise daily life. I'm not a fan of the idea that thoughts happen to you and are somehow otherworldly and beyond our control.
Weird how we believe our thoughts and ideas are our own yet we have nothing to do with them whatsoever, we can’t create them or stop them they arrive involuntarily and fully formed yet we take full credit for thoughts and ideas.
You should totally look at the works by Willoughby Britton before getting into meditation.
The thumbnail is epic 😂
The focus of conscious attention, precisely is _presenting The I to itself_ . In other words, you just look into a mirror and nowhere else.
Sam Harris Tryin To Healin Doesn't Care What People Say ❤
The situation he emphasizes here is much more severe if you consider that all of reality is too a kind of carrying-away helplessly, wherein each nested imagination is taking us further away, and yet still it doesnt end. theres nothing that is a constant rule either, its just that we have to continue to paint reality in such a way that we can exist and have to exist - but obviously we have the freedom to not take that seriously. thats still not the same thing as falling into some state of eternal bliss, nor is it equal to continuing from the beginning again. the situation is more severe i would say. the life quest is itself is in some way complex, but from a different perspective you see the same pattern (while in that pattern) to be out of the pattern is to be in some abstract form of it.
wow! so interesting
Alex, was Sam Harris in your studio? Recently?👍💙💙💙🥰✌
Because you don't have a master and you haven't got a clue what true meditation is. The one that keeps you alive every single eternal moment. It's the most easy thing in the world to stay connected to it and the most challenging in the world too
Yeah i think we all learned that from headspace sam .
The Vsauce eyebrow
It's just so easy that it's hard.
In fairness, if we were always cognizant of being conscious, then that could get in the way of being productive. Paying attention to consciousness itself requires effort, and sometimes we probably want to be lost in the dream of life, focusing instead on driving, or speaking, or whatever. Realizing the nature of consciousness can produce life-changing insight and profound experiences though.
This is a common misconception about mindfulness, and often the first barrier for over thinkers. If anything becoming more mindful improves your ability to focus on the task at hand with far more sustained attention as well as increased fulfillment from said task. Given enough practice it stops requiring effort and improves many facets of a persons life
@@GoatCemetery Do you agree that being aware of awareness is an additional thing to be aware of (in additional to, say, reading or typing RUclips comments)? I'm not asking about whether it improves one's life. I'm just asking if you... a random person on RUclips, of course!... think that awareness of awareness requires additional effort, or if it's more like being aware of awareness requires *less* effort than being lost in thought.
@@tobynsaunders Sorry I just saw your reply now. I would say from my experience as a random person on RUclips, no less, it does require effort at first. However, once it has been practiced enough it becomes a habit and allows you to focus on other tasks with less effort. I can’t remember his name, but there is this guy that Sam had a conversation with years ago, he teaches what he calls “effortless mindfulness” you might find that practice interesting!
Sam literally destroyed him in this conversation!
How can one rehearse something that happening in the past?
The mistake you're making is thinking that not being able to focus on not focusing is a bad thing.
What the fuck is happening, how did I get here? I was just in my bed…. AMAZING!!
Go back to sleep. 😆
Sam Harris face: 🤨
yo we need a vine boom edition
Not sure how you can concentrate on your breathing without interrupting it.
Thanks Be... Sam
Why do you cut these shorts like that? The weird jumps really hurt the person's style and flow. Is it sped up too?
To fit it in the 1 minute limit
@@JHeb_ Ah! Thanks, I didn't know there was such a limit.
Harris doin' the People's Eyebrow.
described basic qigong
Sam, all from Hinduism, just give due credit
Why though? I just have to trust that there is some mystical experience on the other side of focused boredom? I’ve literally done acid over a hundred times, I highly doubt anything is on the other side of that door that I haven’t seen already.
You're right. There's no-thing on the other side of the door. That's what you've never experienced. If u did, you'd realise there is no-thing on either side of the door - and no door.
Sam is the best
"In this silence, in this emptiness, in this quantum leap from mind to no mind, you have entered a different space which is neither outer nor inner but transcendental to both."
Quora
I was going to make a snarky comment, but then i realized i was just meditating and got annoyed.
zen stiller
Jokes on you, don't have a girlfriend.
Just come behind Sam’s paywall to learn more
His app is free
👍
I wonder would Sam recommend the practice of meditation to the residents of Gaza
What?
@@rdgpromotions6087 maybe if they just paid attention to the present moment they wouldn't be starving
@@bredafication What do you think you’re achieving here?
At some point, in some podcast, I wish Sam would describe what’s beyond this first stage of meditation…
Language, Timothy
Sam never impresses me. I wish I was a someone so it mattered.
Interesting wish, lol
This comments section is hilarious
If bro was an emoji 🤨
After all that Trump, Gaza, Israel, and Elon Musk nonsense that comes out of Sam’s mouth, it’s really hard to take him seriously. He went from being one of the top atheist public intellectuals to basically being just a guy with opinions
i dont think Sam Harris has ever meditated as in kundalini yoga, he has no concept of the snake at the bottom of the spine, no concept, he is 100% cerebral
Sam Harris is always like 🤨
It's actually extremely easy. You'll know when you try it
Naa Bro is now doing th 🤨
he watching too much realmadrit. afterall Alfonso devis is in talks with real.
Sam be like 🤨
Whoa, Sam getting all spiritual...
Harris ... Hahaha. I will see this.
I’m convinced that nobody would take Sam seriously if his eyebrow didn’t do that thing everytime he talks 😂 🤨
The once great now turned supporting role in massmrdr Sam Fn Harris.. I can’t unsee your takes Sam.. so vile
"Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow." Steve Jobs' final words
Ben stiller is looking rough
What I hate most is class
This is and will be there difference
Clearly TDS can’t be overcome by meditation 😅
Don’t worry Sam, we’ll find a cure one day! 🤣
Your comment only displayed your insecurity and tribalism. Do better.
I meditate but, have never once had a thought that i couldnt trace back to its origins. He sounds like a psychopath.
Love his meditation stuff. But anyone else noticed his political right-shift in recent months?
“Smack your face against the wall. You will actually find this quite difficult.” Wow, sounds like wisdom to me!
What?
🥱