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apprehension of not-self and becoming more depth of apprehension of certain ideas that
selfless in the moral sense of the term. more adept meditators have had, but I’ve had
enough brushes with some insights, especially
You suggest that this is one of Buddhism’s while on retreat, to get a sense for what it’s
most remarkable claims: that seeing the like. And I think I can safely say that accepting
truth of things will also make you a good the intellectual arguments is not the same
person. thing as experiencing the truth.

Yes, I think this claim is underappreciated. My hope is that the arguments in Why
Wouldn’t it be amazing if the truth about Buddhism is True—and in particular the
reality naturally converges with your explanations for why natural selection built
happiness and moral truth? When you think the mind to be the way it is—will make
about it, that’s the Buddhist claim. As you see people more inclined to explore these things
things more clearly, you’ll suffer less, and you’ll meditatively. Perhaps people who have never
also be less of a jerk. That’s an incredible claim meditated might be tempted. But I hope
about the very structure of reality. also that people who already meditate and
get some therapeutic benefit out of it, but
In the book, you make both intellectual haven’t really taken the enlightening aspects
arguments and experiential arguments of meditation all that seriously, might now
to support your case. The intellectual be inclined to pursue the practice more
arguments rest primarily on the findings intensively.
of modern psychology and the experiential
arguments come from your personal This article was first published
experience meditating. Can you talk about on GarrisonInstitute.org
the relationship between these different
kinds of evidence? Sam Mowe is the editor of Lineages, a
publication of the Garrison Institute. He
Well, I didn’t want to rely too much on my is a regular contributor to Spirituality &
own reports of my own experiences. I use Health. This interview was first published
them to supplement, and hopefully enrich, in Lineages, a Garrison Institute publication.
the argument I make in the book. But I hope For more information about the Garrison
that the basic argument could be appraised Institute, please visit garrisoninstitute.org.
by someone who’s never meditated. It doesn’t EH
depend on your having had some particular set
of experiences.

It is a really interesting feature of Buddhist
history that, on the one hand, Buddhist
philosophers argue their propositions the
way Western philosophers do and, on the
other hand, they also believe that the truths
can be directly, experientially apprehended.
Because to just buy the intellectual arguments
is definitely not the same thing as, in a sense,
feeling the truth of these things. I mean, of
course I can’t personally say that I’ve had the