Monthly Archives: February 2012

Non-dual spirituality non-self vs Atheist non-self

When you believe* in the spiritual concept of ‘liberation’ i.e. a recognition/realisation of the delusion of a separate self, but you don’t have ‘life after death’ beliefs e.g. a belief in heaven, reincarnation etc. – then ‘liberation’ amounts to this:

1) either ‘dying’ when you die i.e. the concept of a separate self dies when your body dies – as for most people

2) or ‘dying’ a few years before you die i.e. the concept of a separate self dies and one’s own experience is transformed into ‘life experiencing life’

Given that for these people liberation only amounts to a few years of changed experience (often quite joyful) … does ‘liberation’ actually amount to much anyway? Is it actually such a ‘big deal’?

Presumably this is ‘something’ like the way Sam Harris (an atheist philosopher) and Tony Parsons (a ‘liberated’ ‘person’) experience the world (at least sometimes during meditation in the case of the former, permanently in the case of the later).

Since neither ‘believe’ in free-will, do they both doubt that you can ‘do’ anything about the outcome either?

* Strictly speaking – perhaps its not appropriate to refer to spiritual teachers as ‘believing’ certain words such as those written here – since they would say that this is the way they ‘experience’ reality – not a set of beliefs they have ‘about’ reality.

Sam Harris:

http://www.bigquestionsonline.com/blogs/heather-wax/sam-harris-already-has-his-next-book-planned

http://www.samharris.org/site/full_text/consciousness-without-faith

Tony Parsons:

http://vimeo.com/25376402

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUSGiWV0kqE