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Sam Harris responds

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts, Q & A on May 23, 2008

It appears that my Buddhist Muslim (Bu-Mu) friend, Shahid, has hit a raw nerve.

In my previous post, I featured the Bu-Mu’s advice to “hard core atheists.” (Notice that he’s singling out only those whom he considers extreme. He’s not generalizing about all atheists.)

Shahid counsels atheist crusaders to transcend their “self-righteousness.” They can do so, he says, through a particular approach to meditation — vipassana, which means to see reality as it is. Once missionary atheists are humbled by vipassana meditation, “intelligent consideration and practical compassion” can be their guide. And that’s bound to make for a more harmonious world, right?

Not so fast, says Sam Harris. He’s the best-selling author of The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation. He’s also someone whom Shahid explicitly names and directly challenges. Today, Sam sent me this spirited response. Call it his Letter to a Buddhist Muslim:

Irshad:

It is obvious that this person has not actually read my work. The entire last chapter of The End of Faith is devoted to deconstructing the “self” and to the benefits of meditation.

I have frequently spoken and written about these subjects (to the consternation of many atheists). For example, read this. I have even organized several vipassana retreats for scientists.

I would especially turn your friend’s attention to the remarks I made at the largest gathering of atheists in the country. The talk is available on YouTube, entitled “The Problem with Atheism.” The last ten minutes or so are devoted to meditation. Here’s the transcript.

I normally would not take the time to respond to a misinformed blog post but I find your friend’s approach to this subject far worse than intellectually lazy. The irony is worth pointing out: I have spent over two years on silent retreats of the sort that he recommends. And yet, I am an even harsher critic of Islam than Dawkins or Hitchens is.

This is not an accident. It is, in fact, very difficult to think of a perspective that makes the contents of the Qur’an seem less wise, useful, necessary, or noble than the perspective of vipassana.

Harmony be damned! Awaiting the Buddhist Muslim’s response…