Watch the full, three-hour conversation now: www.patreon.com/posts/101184504?

1:43 Sam:"Have you ever taken psychedelics?" Alex:"I have, yeah." *Hitchens from the background:"Of course you have, you're obsessed with drugs!"*

Sams right eyebrow is raising higher and higher every time I see him

“You are the universe experiencing itself.” -Alan Watts

This is one of those rare times i find myself thinking "oh i just really hope these two hit it off" and i care more about how they interact than the conversation itself. Perhaps its because no matter how long this single discussion ends up being, there would be nothing i enjoy more than 2 dozen more of them over the next decade.

I feel pretty thankful that Sam Harris is patient enough to talk about this topic everywhere he goes. I struggle with mindfulness, and understanding it, but each time it is explained, I feel lucky to be forced back to true consciousness, even if for brief moment, and reminded how important it is to keep trying.

I never saw Alex nervous and he is not an intense expressive nervous dude, but you can clearly see he is so happy of being face to face with one of his idols. It’s like he is: “OMG IS SAM HARRIS” the entire time haha 😂

“The more we make inner progress, the more the number of those with whom we can truly communicate decreases.” -Emil Cioran

I am so excited for the full podcast!

I've always wanted alex to delve deeper into eastern philosophies and mindfulness. He's a brilliant mind and it would be a treat to watch him unfold these concepts.

On a Vipassana 10 day meditation course (the practice that got sam going on the meditation path) the teacher said to me, most of the world just talks about this, here, we are doing it" And thats so true.

Sam and Alex in conversation, what a wondeful treat!!!

Two of my favourite public intellectuals in conversation. This is incredibly exciting. I hope it's the first of many talks. I think Alex is just as sharp and clear thinking, if not even more, in religious debates as Sam has been. This podcast is a real treat.

This was such a treat. Thank you, Alex.

The self observing itself deconstruct itself is still the self. The self believing it doesn’t exist is still the self. The self as a noun may be an illusion, but as Bucky Fuller said, “I seem to be verb.”

When Sam says at the end, that “the feeling of I” requires a prerequisite, a light by which I notice this feeling, I was instantly reminded of Heidegger’s concept of being-in-the-world. Which was, at least for me, an eye opener.

I like the use of the gym and its outcome. As a meditator of almost 10 years (and waking up subscriber), there is still much to learn while simultaneously beginning again. Thank you both.

Alex is getting wiser and wiser

Informative! I geek out on this!

I like thay you adress the existential anxiety that is available when doing philosophy. I considered myself weak-minded when I lost some of the footing i thought i had, when i exposed myself to these questions and all their possible answers. Im glad that im not alone in thise experiences. And i love that Sam and you finally got a talk. Its been a long time coming.❤

Can't wait for the full episode!

This is a method that was helpful for me personally with this sort of thing: Asking myself: who do I believe I am? Whatever comes up, I notice it. Because I notice it, that means I am behind it, and it is not me, so I let it go of what came up. What am I thinking about next? Is that me? If not, I also let it go, because I am looking for my true self. I continue to let go of everything that is not me (not push it away, just relinquish it, just letting it drift away). Lo and behold, I am left with only raw experience at the end, not having found myself anywhere, I am left with no self. And what got me here? The act (sensation?) of letting go of each of the things that came up prior. So for me, re-accessing No-self becomes as simple as 'letting go' and learning to consistently access that sensation (action?) without even having to go through that questioning process, just letting go, and then sitting with what is left: no self, just experience. I think this also ties in with the 'No-free will" stuff. Who is it behind your experience that is trying to control it, to access the no-self, to do anything? If there is no free will, who is trying to control what? Just a dog trying to hold its own leash.

I'm surprised how little Alex knows about Eastern Philosophy and meditation.

Immensely thankful to Alex and Sam Harris n KZfaq for the video!!

Thank you for bringing all these legends in one place.

When the student is ready, the teacher will appear

Seeing this interview, I think it would really interesting to have Dr. K from the channel HealthyGamerGG to come on to talk about philosophy, the idea of consciousness, and maybe more in-depth meditation.

Enjoyed the convo...Alex is a smart young guy and he's getting better all the time...I wish him well...

Thank you Alez

Sam Harris talks, I listens

Stoked to see this whole conversation !

Really enjoying watching where your curiosity is taking you

Sam Harris! Wow!! Go on, Alex! it's great to watch your career going stellar, dude. You're very good!👍

Hearing sam explain everything I've personally observed myself doing, like distinguishing the separation from hearing and consciousness and the separation from self, etc... Just feels crazy reflecting on things and just trying to grow intellectually as a person. Coming across a video expressing the ability for others to do that too is so cool. Also reading the comments saying about how this is all essentially Buddhism and how alex didnt already know, as someone from the uk i can totally see how you would be able to come to being mindful without necessarily needing knowledge of eastern cultures as they can be quite stigmatised in the uk thus other methods will likely be taken for self improvement before then exploring those cultures

This new style of videos is great

self is an illusion and the self only lives for a fraction of a second. It’s incredible how the “self” is born but it doesn’t survive as long as you thought. this also seems in accordance with what Sam is saying

Just listening to these guys talk about this subject is so wonderful. I've loved Sam and Alex for a long time and seeing both of them now, describing a phenomenon I enjoy, is just bunkers.

This is something I have hoped for for quite a while. That one or some of these deep skeptics would find an intimate conversation with someone who can translate esoteric or mystical experiences (mostly as part of Eastern, not Abrahamic thought) into language and ideas the western mind can take in. Harris is very good at this, as were Ram Dass and Alan Watts, and it takes talent to do this well. This is a huge step away from discourses with fundamentalist Christian theists. Dawkins had conversations with a Hindu scholar and a Buddhist monk and neither had this particular talent, therefore the communication was clumsy and ineffective. Harris presents a basic, non challenging, non theist basis for his perceptions, which have a strong Buddhist flavor (which is a non theist philosophy but has recognition of transcendental reality as part of the nature of things), but he speaks from a base of his own experience, which is important. This is what I have been trying to get across for quite a while. That the nature of self, of consciousness and existence ( they haven't gone to the latter from what I have seen, Harris is very careful to lay a very strong foundation) has very little to do with conventional Abrahamic religious thinking and acknowledges profoundly that consciousness exists beyond the perceptions or operations of the intellect. I applaud Alex for his openness and refusal to indulge in resistance. More than interesting. The analogy at the end is similar to one I use in that there are not common reference points. If someone has lived in a desert for hundreds of years and you talk about swimming in the vast ocean, they most likely would think you are nuts. Harris does an exemplary job of describing weight lifting as an example. In Shogun Toranaga asks Blackthorne to share his knowledge of the world. What Blackthorne tells him completely blows Toranaga's mind because it is so outside of his field of conception and experience, and Toranaga is an exceptionally intelligent and astute human being.

Took a couple of hits of acid once in college, and about 7 hours in, I realized that my emotions had flown off somewhere. It wasn't bad, it good, just weird. We headed home from our adventure, and once there, I was compelled to listen to a specific album. All of the emotions came crashing back on me and I felt so free and fine. Like all was right in the universe.

"There is only experience" That says it all. It's not too complicated. If there is a "you", you are literally made of all your experiences. Everyone thinks they are "me".

The gym analogy is great

Alex please learn more about Buddhism. Keen for the full episode!

self is not illusion but it essence of your being which reveal itself in decisions you made and your ego. what is humanity if not struggle and conflict between reason and emotion, morality and desire. every moment your are making decision between them. often you don't think before making decisions because your self choose something else over your reason and rationality. idea of self is rooted in decision which you make.

Harris has made it quite far, imagine being able to meet Alex! (seriously, I high Harris in very high esteem, but I just love seeing Alex being actual, full-time philosopher. Remember taking a look at this teen-age youtuber who was already thinking way better than most academic adults I knew)

I accidentally took somewhere around 50-70 hits of LSD. (I took an eyedrop container into the bathroom at a concert, I was trying to give myself a drop and instead I squirted the entire thing.) I sat there and stared at a statue of Bhudda in a friend's house after the concert. I experienced an ego death, as in I did not have a sensation of self anymore. What I had were flashing visions of the faces of everyone I'd ever known, or seen, and a bunch my mind invented, and felt profound love for all of them, forgiveness for their faults. Jesus and Bhudda kept emerging from the sea of faces. I felt unity with every human's struggles, their love, their flaws, their genius, their failures and successes. It was like looking out through all the human eyes throughout history with immense loving kindness and empathy. It obliterated my ability to feel angry at people. I can still get frustrated at situations other people are causing, but never angry at the person. Before I'd even heard Sam Harris or Sopolsky talk about free will I had already begun to treat people as if they were not to blame for their own actions. The experience profoundly impacted the way that I view other people, and the way I treat them.

It's my sincere hope that Alex commits more fully to the endeavor of investigating consciousness and its associated subjects. The addition of someone with his exceptional articulation and keen analytical abilities to this domain would be immensely valuable. We would greatly benefit from having such a brilliant communicator and sharp thinker join the space.

I’ve had an ego death experience and it wasn’t a net positive on my life. It led to me losing stuff I feel was helpful like my will, my agency and my creativity. Maybe if it happened on purpose after years of religious practices, losing my desires and sense of self would of felt like a relief. But to me, the resulting time afterwards felt a lot more like disassociation and depression

It comes down to quality of conversation . These discussions, no matter what your views are , represent what podcasts, and social media were going to aspire to . Instead for the most part it is the nutritional equivalent to junk food for the mind what is out there These are the people I find interesting , great video

If the self is an illusion, what should I call the thing that has been successfully decieved?

The wonderful thing about eastern traditions is that they implore direct engagement with their subject matter rather than leaving it up to ultimate subservience. This of course does not preclude some adherents to follow these traditions blindly nor mean that all followers of western traditions do not explore the implications in great detail, but that the difference in emphasis plays a huge role in how these traditions manifest. There's no one "Buddhism" or "Hinduism" because of how much these practices can vary person to person, let alone school to school. While it should, rightly be pointed out that western traditions have plenty of sub groups, the actual core way people practice their faiths is still quite similar overall. In this clip, Harris, presents a wonderful and digestible explanation of anatman and why meditation can be helpful and also why it is so difficult. Even if one thinks of this is eastern mumbo jumbo in the end, I still challenge people to really think through the implications of anatman and why it might not be so bad. Much of western thought is still gated behind orientalism and that we are all better served to break down these barriers.

It was a good talk. To really relate what Sam Harris tries to convey there is a need to try a Tibetan type of meditation with open eyes. It's not difficult to practice and it's interesting experience.

"We are of such value to God that he came to live among us … and to guide us home. He will go to any length to seek us, even to being lifted high upon the cross to draw us back to himself. We can only respond by loving God for his love." -St. Catherine of Siena

You can really see it all starting to click for Alex here. If somehow he is reading this, I hope you explore this more as many of us can attest that there is something very life changing on the other side.

These discussions about self, etc, are more relevant than ever, in an age of the dawn of AGI.

I get the sense that Sam Harris understands these concepts intellectually and not spiritually.

Just try this experiment: ask yourself "Who am I?" Notice a perception like a sound. If you can watch the perception being born and dying away in consciousness, then that perception isn't you. Same with thoughts and feelings. Watch them come and go, while you remain witnessing. Now turn the light of awareness back on itself. See the part that is doing the seeing. If you can see your own awareness, then that cannot be the totality of Self either. All of these processes take the form of subject knowing object. But perhaps Self is the very act of knowing. In this way it is non-objective, as in not being an object which can be known. Thus it lives outside the objective realm, the world of objects. This could be what is meant by Self not existing, it does not exist in the world of forms. It is formless, timeless, and does not exist within space, like all other forms do. Think back through your life... have you always been there, knowing your own experience? Since you were a child until today, was that pure awareness always there, unchanged? Have you ever known awareness to be different than it is right now? This is its unchanging characteristic. Impermanence is the law of nature for the objective realm, all things shifting in time and space, being born and coming to an end. For an entity outside of this, eternal and unchanging is its nature, never being born nor coming to an end.

I cannot wait for the full release of this episode!

Weren't there a lot of scandels with Better help? Like them illegally selling personal therapy data, and the therapists not actually being qualified to do what they do? Could you elaborate on your considerations to partner with better help?

Props on Alex for letting Sam interview himself.

I have found that so much of the struggle in contemplating these topics comes down to a definitional problem. We often are using the terms “conscious” and “self” differently than others are in a conversation and we end up speaking at orthogonals to each other.

It's so funny that Harris accepts basically the entirety of Humean skepticism except his morality.

Iv listened to Alex for years and I was looking forward to the day he gives Buddhist/non dualism philosophy a proper go. Good to see him not appear to be too resistant to these sort of concepts. All his arguments against the existence of god are based on countering the abrahamic religions. After a year of daily meditation I’m not sure he would hold the same views on the matter ☮️

"The Church refuses to explain sin away or make excuses for it or call it by another name. " Bishop Robert Barron

Alex is the reason I am interested in Philosophy

I'm personally very happy to see Alex grown up into such a grand intellectual having conversations with the best minds on his podcast. It's such a pleasure to listen

Sam is always interesting meditating is really helpful I've been doing it for months and I am more productive and less emotional would recommend to anyone

Sam Harris was in my brain taking notes while I was sorting stuff out. Alex won't find a better mentor than Sam.

Please help me understand! Still a question remains: Who is the subject that feels the tranquility/emptiness that is achieved after the self is removed?

Beautiful conversation. I’m understanding what Iam more every day 🙏🏾

If the self is an illusion, then to whom does this illusion appear (and presumably) deceive?

Sam Harris’ Waking Up app is incredible. It’s helped me and taught me so much.

Ok, I would definitely love to see a lot more conversations between these two.

A scientific examination of your own experience from the first-person perspective. These ideas are some of the most profound I've ever come across.

“We are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively”. For me, Hicks summed it up with this.

For construction of thought building rememberbrane and fluency layerings, I would have hoped to have been built a linguistic ‘structure of routes’ of highly important words that denote certain meaning involved in following directions and purposes. I think that’s a plan for improving cognition and understandings of complexities of equalial and equational thinking. Only, I don’t have all words or any evidence that such a speed dialing could work.

They are analysing Advaita Vedanta philosophy in Hinduism.

Bro stop teasing us with these bites off the full podcast

I want to talk about the duality of Sam’s eyebrows

I feel my being getting lighter and lighter the longer I listen to Sam. Truly a mark of an enlightened soul.

The self is an illusion. We are the observer of "self".. we are infinite awareness.

This is what people think they sound like when they are high or drunk.

I know a guy who took psychedelics in his early 20s. He experienced a profound glimpse of reality and then dedicated his life to understanding what the hell happened. I meditated for 30 years then took LSD. For me it confirmed so much of what I have seen through meditation and other practices. Either way, we both ended up pretty much in the same place.

Great conversation... yet the self is not identical to the ego. Even if the self is just a mental construction is absolutely necessary. I agree with the sense of freedom that gives pure consciousness, but that could be just a deeper level of the self.

I've always had a feeling of unease at the idea of "no self". I think I've found the root of it. Everything before the conclusion: "there is no self" is useful, but the idea of "no self" is useless and meaningless on its own. It's even admitted in this discussion; he says there is still a person who is experiencing stable tranquility while focused on pure emptiness. I think trying to force that feeling into the abstract shape of "no self" is a mental leap that's illogical and distracts from the benefits of the logic before that conclusion. Like confusing the ugly and imperfect finger pointing to the moon as the moon itself. "ego death" has become the new term for enlightenment or nirvana. Multiple secular westerners have spent a few years meditating and come back claiming to achieve "ego death" rather than claiming nirvana. It is a lighter, less delusional sounding, seemingly less self aggrandizing claim that is more widely marketable. I don't think that's inherently a bad thing. But it does leave opening for subtle changes in definitions in ways that are distracting, not beneficial, and even harmful. "No self" is a term with distracting connotations in our culture that don't quite allow for a neat mapping to Anattā, a characteristic of nirvana. "While often interpreted as a doctrine denying the existence of a self, anatman is more accurately described as a strategy to attain non-attachment by recognizing everything as impermanent, while staying silent on the ultimate existence of an unchanging essence". I guess I understand. "No Self" grabs attention. But at the same time there is a subset of people on retreats or using the meditation apps who grapple with this false abstraction to the point of heavy dissociation.

If consciousness is an illusion, then who is being misled?

"... my own words coming out of my own mouth seem no more connected to this thing I'm calling "me" than the words that are coming out of your mouth." Beautifully said! Unfortunately, what is really connecting me - I'd actually say locking me - to the experience of "me" is _pain_ and maybe fear, as well (or maybe some sorts of fear are actually pain). I never feel more "me" - and more locked to the "me" - than when I'm sitting in the dentist's chair. Or when I have a strong headache. Other people's pain doesn't really feel like "me" the same way, even though I sometimes do feel some kind of odd physical "mirror pain" (and also some reactive pain or empathy/sympathy, which is another thing than the direct physical "mirror pain") when somebody else is suffering.

From about 17:00 to about 20:15 was VERY GOOD!

Just be. There is literally nothing else you are capable of. You are a being in the process of being. When the process is done it will be all the more valuable.

Am I the only one that believes that this "self is an illusion" philosophy is just idiotic? Who knows. Maybe I am just deceived by my illusionary self.

I’ve listened to Sam talk about this before and I still don’t understand what he’s talking about exactly. I don’t get what he means by “center of consciousness.” I’m not sure that I ever thought there was a center to my consciousness because I don’t even know what that means. Is Sam sure that everyone has this sense of ego he describes before having ego death? Because I kind of think I never had such an idea to begin with. I only have a sense of self to an extent that makes logical sense. For example, Ik that I am a person that exists and Ik that I can’t see what Sam is doing this exact moment because I’m not at the same spot as him, and Ik that I can’t see what’s behind me right now without turning my head because my eyes are on the front of my head and I need my eyes to see anything.

Alex should do a podcast with Swami Sarvapriyananda ❤❤❤ Sam Harris has already done a podcast with him on the topic of Advaita vedanta philosophy of Hinduism ❤️❤️❤️

Following on from the knee pain example, it's no more mysterious that this pain needs to originate in some other part of your body and travel via a continuous nervous pathway across your leg and body to your head and brain in order to be felt as knee pain by "you", than it is for some thoughts to originate from some other person and be communicated across some air to your senses and brain in order to be thought by "you". In the same way that neurons need to communicate to one another in order to complete a thought or feeling, with each neuron appearing distinct and separated like the bodies of different people, and with some firing one way and others another, people are equally just nodes in a grand "mind" that houses them all and allows them to connect up in just the same way. In that sense we are all one. Hallucinogens simply allow you to experience this more presently, presumably by breaking down the boundaries that narrow our minds to focus more acutely on just the most immediate things. That would be what the hippie stereotype of "open your mind" would be referring to. It alleviates the kind of fear that you only need for life-threatening situations.

It's good to see you moving towards spirituality based explorations over the logical fallacies and religious debates. It's better to learn the universal principles that religion has built dogma on top of than the religions themselves.

Alex is so cool he has trained himself to close and open his ears. F*cking legend.

Alex is my version of an Alpha. Knowledge is power. The way he carries himself and speaks I respect and take notes.

Two brilliant minds at their peak. 🇦🇺 😊

Descartes: "Cogito, ergo sum." Sam: "No, that's just an illusion."

Full video when? Eagerly waiting :)

The real Self is "Infinite Blissful Pure Consciousness". That's what we call God in Hinduism. As per Advaita Vedanta Only the Self is real and the world is an illusion in the Self. A person who doesn't study Vedanta is missing out on fulfilling purpose of life.

If the “self” is an illusion, what has the illusion? The “self” is not an illusion, it is memory and feeling. It is a mental construct.