boundless love

[Shuixiang Weibian] I would like to introduce a book on mindfulness.

The book, Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality without Religion, was written by science popularization author Sam Harris. Harris, whose expertise includes philosophy and neuroscience, is best known for attacking religion and promoting mindfulness. These two Chengdus are exactly reflected in the subtitle of this book.

Today, body-mind movement has become a common practice in the Chinese-speaking world, and this wave can be regarded as another branch of the New Era Movement. The New Age movement flourished in the United States from the 1970s to the 1980s, and many followers at that time were keen to take psychedelics in order to obtain a mysterious experience that transcends the daily life. Harris' first taste of psychedelics when he was majoring in English at Stanford University has since defined his career. Soon he dropped out of school and went to the Himalayas to find a teacher and visit Taoism. Eleven years later, he returned to school, graduating with a Philosophy major at Stanford University and a Ph.D. at the University of California, Los Angeles, and is known as a best-selling author.

At the beginning of the book "Awakening", Harris describes his mysterious experience after his first psychedelic experience. At that time, he was with friends, and the two sat on both sides of the sofa. When the medicine took effect, he instantly awakened to how deeply he loved his friend. That love is the purest kind of love, not involving personal interests, just wanting to do anything to make his friends happy. Different from the literal impression given by psychedelic drugs, his mind was so clear that he even described what it means to be sober for the first time. For the first time, he saw the boundless love that could embrace any stranger without reservation.

Interestingly, he described that the love at that time was not any strange feeling that had never been seen before, but more like a geometric calculation. What he had experienced was no longer ambiguous, and he suddenly understood the essence of love. (to be continued)