Jsou radikální muslimové opravdu v menšině? Jak malá je tato menšina? Zastává umírněná většina liberální hodnoty? Kdo je vlastně onen často vzývaný „umírněný“ muslim? A je islám mírumilovné náboženství, které bylo „uneseno“ teroristy? Na tyto a další otázky se snaží najít odpovědi americký spisovatel a neurovědec Sam Harris a egyptský liberální politik a muslim Maajid Nawaz.
Kniha zkoumá podstatu vědomí, nabízí rady k meditaci a varuje před pochybnými guruy. Může otřást vašimi nejzákladnějšími domněnkami o každodenním prožívání a potenciálně změnit váš život. Publikace je určena těm, kteří nevyznávají žádné náboženství, ale nacházejí důležité pravdy v prožitcích historických postav jako Ježíš nebo Buddha. Pro ty, kteří touží po spiritualitě bez náboženství, představuje návod k meditaci jako racionálnímu cvičení založenému na neurovědě a psychologii. Text se také zabývá vědeckými pokusy o podchycení spirituality a filozofickým rozkladem pocitu „já“, který je centrem našeho vnitřního života. Na počátku spirituálního života leží otázka existence „já“. Chápeme se pomíjivých potěšení, hloubáme o minulosti a obáváme se budoucnosti, což nás stresuje. Spirituální praxe je procesem vymaňování se ze zmatku a ukončování stresu. Meditace potvrzuje, že náš konvenční pocit „já“ je iluze a kladné emoce, jako soucit a trpělivost, jsou naučitelné dovednosti. Náš způsob myšlení ovlivňuje naše prožívání světa. Život se zdá být neustálým zmítáním mezi tím, co chceme a nechceme. Je však možné nalézt trvalé naplnění?
Harris offers a vivid historical tour of mankind's willingness to suspend reason in favor of religious beliefs, even when those beliefs are used to justify harmful behavior and sometimes heinous crimes.
From the New York Times bestselling author of The End of Faith, a thought-provoking, "brilliant and witty" (Oliver Sacks) look at the notion of free will—and the implications that it is an illusion. A belief in free will touches nearly everything that human beings value. It is difficult to think about law, politics, religion, public policy, intimate relationships, morality—as well as feelings of remorse or personal achievement—without first imagining that every person is the true source of his or her thoughts and actions. And yet the facts tell us that free will is an illusion. In this enlightening book, Sam Harris argues that this truth about the human mind does not undermine morality or diminish the importance of social and political freedom, but it can and should change the way we think about some of the most important questions in life.
In this dialogue between a famous atheist and a former radical, Harris and Nawaz invite readers to join an urgently needed conversation: Is Islam a religion of peace or war? Is it amenable to reform? Why do so many Muslims seem drawn to extremism? The authors demonstrate how two people with very different views can find common ground.
For the millions of people 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 bestselling author, neuroscientist, and "new atheist" Sam Harris, Waking Up is for the increasingly large numbers of people 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 sceptic-could write it.
Neuroscientist, philosopher, podcaster and bestselling author Sam Harris, has been exploring some of the greatest questions concerning the human mind, society, and the events that shape our world. Harris' search for deeper understanding of how we think has led him to engage and exchange with some of our most brilliant and controversial contemporary minds - Daniel Kahneman, Robert Sapolsky, Anil Seth and Max Tegmark - in order to unpack and understand ideas of consciousness, free will, extremism, and ethical living. For Harris, honest conversation, no matter how difficult or contentious, represents the only path to moral and intellectual progress. Featuring twelve conversations from the hit podcast, these electric exchanges fuse wisdom with rigorous interrogation to shine a light on what it means to make sense of our world today.
Known as the "four horsemen" of the New Atheism, four thinkers of the twenty-first century met only once. Their examination of ideas was wide-ranging. Everything that was said as they agreed and disagreed with one another, interrogated ideas and exchanged insights about religion and atheism, science and sense speaks to our present age. The dialogue was recorded, and is transcribed and presented in this book
"A hard-hitting polemic against religious fundamentalism" - Foreword by Richard Dawkins ' Thousands of people have written to tell me that I am wrong not to believe in God. The most hostile of these communications have come from Christians. This is ironic, as Christians generally imagine that no faith imparts the virtues of love and forgiveness more effectively than their own. The truth is that many who claim to be transformed by Christ's love are deeply, even murderously, intolerant of criticism. While we may want to ascribe this to human nature, it is clear that such hatred draws considerable support from the Bible. How do I know this? The most disturbed of my correspondents always cite chapter and verse.' So begins Letter to a Christian Nation, Sam Harris's hard-hitting rebuttal of religious fundamentalism and blind belief . With deceptively simple arguments, he demolishes the myths on which Christianity was built, challenges believers to open their eyes to the contradictions of their faith and warns us of the dangers of America's ever increasing unification of Church and State. Sam Harris is the author of the New York Times bestseller The End of Faith- Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason and winner of the 2005 PEN/Martha Albrand Award for First Non-fiction. He is a graduate in philosophy from Stanford University and is now completing a doctorate in neuroscience. He lives in New York.
“A civil but honest dialogue...As illuminating as it is fascinating.” —Ayaan Hirsi Ali Is Islam a religion of peace or war? Is it amenable to reform? Why do so many Muslims seem to be drawn to extremism? And what do words like jihadism and fundamentalism really mean? In a world riven by misunderstanding and violence, Sam Harris—a famous atheist—and Maajid Nawaz—a former radical—demonstrate how two people with very different religious views can find common ground and invite you to join in an urgently needed conversation. “How refreshing to read an honest yet affectionate exchange between the Islamist-turned-liberal-Muslim Maajid Nawaz and the neuroscientist who advocates mindful atheism, Sam Harris...Their back-and-forth clarifies multiple confusions that plague the public conversation about Islam.” —Irshad Manji, New York Times Book Review “It is sadly uncommon, in any era, to find dialogue based on facts and reason—but even more rarely are Muslim and non-Muslim intellectuals able to maintain critical distance on broad questions about Islam. Which makes Islam and the Future of Tolerance something of a unicorn...Most conversations about religion are marked by the inability of either side to listen, but here, at last, is a proper debate.” —New Statesman
