Brief Thoughts on Waking up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion by Sam Harris

In some ways I wish this book would have been published a year earlier, because so much of what I have experienced and thought about in the last year aligns almost perfectly with the themes in this book. It could have given me a head start on the path I was taking. Reading this book now, it seems thoroughly familiar.

To explain: last year at this time I began meditating and taking an interest in spiritual experience divorced from the burden of maintaining unverifiable beliefs (I had previously been actively religious). I took an interest in Vipassana meditation, using techniques from the Mahasi Sayadaw tradition and following the "stages of insight" laid out originally in the Visuddhimagga. I also became interested in Advaita Vedanta and self inquiry and struggled to reconcile the two paths in my mind (gradual vs. sudden). I  experimented with the "having no head" approach to perception that he describes and have taken hallucinogenics, considering their role on the spiritual path. I have read neuroscience books debunking the "illusion of self" from a naturalist point of view, and have considered the idea of brains being filters of universal mind. I could go on and on. 

I think the value of this book for me is that it beautifully weaves together and confirms what I had already found to be true. There is an intimacy to knowing that other people are reading this and being exposed to practices and ideas that have so enthralled me. 

There are a couple of quibbles that I have.

For one, I think he slightly misconstrues the Vipassana approach. While the means of Vipassana is cultivating concentration, sensory clarity and equanimity, a gradual process which implies somebody who is practicing (i.e. dualistic in a sense), the whole point is to more clearly and directly recognize the "three marks of existence", i.e., that all sensations and thoughts, including the ones normally thought to comprise the self (like the sensations behind the eyes), are inherently impermanent, unsatisfactory, and impersonal. According to my understanding and experience, if done correctly, it is just as "direct" as the other approaches he describes; in fact it all boils down to the same basic thing, just coming from a slightly different perspective. 

He also doesn't address the fact that, despite its evanescent nature, the sense of self obviously evolved over time through natural selection because it provided an evolutionary advantage at some point. It may very well be true that it is no longer useful to thrive in the 21st century, but to dismiss it out of hand and call it an illusion, without placing it in a historical context, is kind of misleading. 

"Making Social Science Matter"

I am in the process of reading an insightful book called "Making Social Science Matter" by Bent Flyvbjerg. The social sciences, he argues, will always fail to gain the comprehensive theoretical structure of the "hard sciences" because it studies subjects as opposed to objects, who are inherantly more dynamic and unpredictable and change their behavior depending on the context. He suggests that the social sciences pursue a more context-dependent, action/reflection oriented, practical approach, which will empower communities to generate knowledge based upon their own experience and not through some abstract theory.

Even if he overlooks the spiritual dimension of community development, his prescription contains many useful parallels to the Baha'i institute process.

I won't describe the book in any more detail because Ryan has already given an excellent review.

Movie Review

Movie: The Last King of Scotland
Rating: 8/10

This movie is a character study of the Uganda dictator Idi Amin Dada, who's regime is estimated to have killed up to 300,000 Ugandan's during the 1970's. He is played by Forest Whitaker, who won the Acadamy Award for best actor for this role. His character is developed from the point of view of a young Scotish doctor, who is out for adventure and making a difference. He is lured in by Amin's charm and compelling personality, as well as a desire to assist the "new independent africa" (he would only find out later that the British facilitated the coup that put Amin in power) to become his personal doctor.

Not to give too much away...This movie is really interesting. Amin is a horribly complex character, one that was often highly likable, scary, powerfull, and vulnerable, all at once. Just like the doctor, the audience is unaware, or unwilling to admit, Amin's atrocities. We sympathise with Amin as a fatherly figure, both stern and incredibly loving. We resist the truth, and then it is too late, there is nowhere to go, we are trapped, unable to leave withought horrific damage to our psyche and body. I am glad I was only watching this movie, there are some scenes that are horrific. Yet it is not violent in the traditional sense with masses of people being mowed down in a genocide(ie Blood Diamonds).

Movie Review

Movie: Pan's Labyrinth
Director: Guillermo Del Toro
Rating 10/10

Simply put, this was one of the best movies I have seen for a long time. If you are familiar with other movies by this director (ex The Devils Backbone) , you will know that he likes to blend reality with supernatural portraits of the subconscious/archetypal/mystical elements of humanity.

It is hard to explain why this movie is so good. The setting is Spain in 1944 during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco. The outer plot consists of a war between some communist rebels and the troop of Captain Vidal, but serves only as a backdrop to the secret and magical world that is experienced by Ofelia, the stepdaughter of the Captain. This world compels her on a spiritual journey that must also protect her from the outer world.

I won't give too much away. Be warned, this is not a kids movie. There are scenes that are some of the most brutal and shocking that I have ever seen. The fantastical part of the movie serves to remind adults of the myths and fairytales that haunt and inform us underneath the surface of our lives.

Book Review

Author: Eric D. Beinhocker
Title: "The Origin of Wealth"
Rating: 10/10

I highly highly recommend this book for anyone that is interested in evolutionary thinking as it applies to business and economics. Many books on this subject attempt to make loose analagies between evolutionary theory and economics, that while interesting, provide little real value. This book draws from research on the cutting edge of computer modeling, evolutionary psychology, business theory etc. to show how the profession of economics must go profound changes if it is to be relevant to people in this century. More specifically he argues that The field of economics must stop thinking of the economy as a set of equations that will eventually reach equilibrium, only to be knocked out again by some outside force which will bring things to a new equilibrium. Instead, he argues, it must be seen as a complex adaptive system that is always changing and evolving endogenously, or by its own internal nature.

My description is very vague, but trust me, this book is good, and incredibly well researched.

Book Review

Title: "Making Trade Fair"
Author: Joseph Stiglits
Ranking: 9/10

This is a great book for those who are interested in international trade and development. Joseph Stiglitz, who is a Nobel Prize winning economist, is well know for his time leading the World Bank, being a top economic advisor for Clinton, and writing works such as "Globalization and it Discontents". This book begins by describing the history and current trends of trade relations and theory. He then goes on to argue that the means of agreeing upon and results of global trade rules are manifestly unfair for the poorest countries. Poor countries often do not have the money or influence to legally represent their interests. The result of this is that trade decisions get made by a club of 'elite' countries. This bulk of this book discusses what a true 'development' round of global trade talks would look like that could benefit all sides, especially the poorest countries. This book represent a clear choice between a just and unjust trading system. I highly recommend it.

Book Review

Name: "Storm from the East"
Author: Milton Viorst
Ranking: 9/10

I have just finished an relatively short but entirely engaging new book about the interaction of Western colonialism and rising Arab nationalism in the 20th century, peticularly after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. The book is called "Storm from the East" by Milton Viorst. I highly recommend it. I think it gives a very fair account of this relationship, being objectively critical of both sides, and providing a narrative that helped me better understand the Middle East today and why its animosity towards the West is so great.