My guest is Sam Harris, Ph.D. Sam earned his bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Stanford University and his doctorate (Ph.D.) in neuroscience from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He is the author of multiple best-selling books and is a world-renowned public-facing intellectual on meditation, consciousness, free will, psychedelics and neuroscience. He is also the creator of Waking Up and the host of the "Making Sense" podcast. In this episode, we discuss meditation as a route to understanding “the self” and experiencing consciousness, not just changing one’s conscious state. Sam describes several meditation techniques and their benefits, including how meditation fundamentally changes our worldview and how it can be merged seamlessly into daily life. It can help us overcome universal challenges such as distractibility and persistent, internal dialogue (“chatter”) to allow for deep contentment and pervasive shifts in our awareness, all while acknowledging the more immediate stress-lowering and memory-improving effects of meditation. We also discuss the therapeutic use of psychedelics and the mechanistic similarities between the benefits of a psychedelic journey and long-term meditation practices. And we discuss the rationale behind Sam’s recent decision to close his social media (Twitter) account. This episode should interest anyone wanting to learn more about the higher order functions of the brain, the brain-body connection, consciousness and, of course, meditation and why and how to meditate for maximum benefit.For the full show notes, visit hubermanlab.com.Thank you to our sponsorsAG1: https://athleticgreens.com/hubermanLMNT: https://drinklmnt.com/hubermanlabWaking Up: https://wakingup.com/hubermanMomentous: https://livemomentous.com/hubermanTimestamps

Dr. Sam Harris

Sponsor: LMNT

Sense of Self & Meditation, Dualism of Self

Sense of Self in Brain & Body

Consciousness vs. Contents, Meditation

Interrupting Sense of Self & Attentional Focus, Visual Saccade

Observer & Actor, Default Mode Network & Meditation, Blind Spot

Sponsor: AG1

Mediation & Paths to Understanding Consciousness, Non-Dualistic Experience

Sense of Self throughout Evolution

Sense of Self from Human Development, Language

Internal Dialogue, Distractibility & Mindfulness

Time Perception & Mindfulness, Vipassana Meditation, Resistance & Pain

Consciousness & Sense of Control, Free Will

Authoring Thoughts: Storytelling & Ideas, Free Will

Meditation & the Paradoxical Search for Self

Meditation & Concentration Practice

Mindfulness, “Skylike Mind” & Thoughts

States of Self & Context, Dualistic Experiences

Distraction & Identification of Thoughts, Meditation & “Flow” States

Eyes-Open Meditations, Sense of Self, Visual Cues & Social Interactions

Paths to Meditation, Mindfulness Meditation Step-Functions

Psychedelics, MDMA & Experiences in Consciousness, Religion

Meditation, Psychedelic Journeys & Inner Truths

Psilocybin, Ego-Dissolution & Thought Expansion

Process vs. Achievement of Goals, Fulfillment in Present

Leaving Twitter; Conflict, Life Interruption & Politics

Social Media, Attentional Disruption & Deep Work

Meditation & Sense of Self