The book is written by Sam Harris and is very interesting.. I am currently reading chapter 3.. Did anyone else read it? It is very interesting and offers some scientific perspective about spirituality. Here is a part from the 3rd chapter: I once spent an afternoon on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee, atop
the mount where Jesus is believed to have preached his most famous sermon. It
was an infernally hot day, and the sanctuary where I sat was crowded with
Christian pilgrims from many continents. Some gathered silently in the shade,
while others staggered about in the sun, taking photographs.
As I gazed at the surrounding hills, a feeling of peace came over me. It soon
grew to a blissful stillness that silenced my thoughts. In an instant, the sense of
being a separate self—an “I” or a “me”—vanished. Everything was as it had
been—the cloudless sky, the brown hills sloping to an inland sea, the pilgrims
clutching their bottles of water—but I no longer felt separate from the scene,
peering out at the world from behind my eyes. Only the world remained.
The experience lasted just a few seconds, but it returned many times as I
looked out over the land where Jesus is believed to have walked, gathered his
apostles, and worked many of his miracles. If I were a Christian, I would
undoubtedly have interpreted this experience in Christian terms. I might believe
that I had glimpsed the oneness of God or been touched by the Holy Spirit. If I
were a Hindu, I might think in terms of Brahman, the eternal Self, of which the
world and all individual minds are thought to be a mere modification. If I were
a Buddhist, I might talk about the “dharmakaya of emptiness,” in which all
apparent things manifest as in a dream.
But I am simply someone who is making his best effort to be a rational
human being. Consequently, I am very slow to draw metaphysical conclusions
from experiences of this sort. And yet, I glimpse what I will call the intrinsic
selflessness of consciousness every day, whether at a traditional holy site, or at
my desk, or while having my teeth cleaned. This is not an accident. I’ve spent
many years practicing meditation, the purpose of which is to cut through the
illusion of the self.