Despite how impressive many of my teachers were, they were undoubtedly human and susceptible to the same cultural biases and physical infirmities tha… - Sam Harris

we do our friends no favors by pretending not to notice flaws in their work, especially when those who are not their friends are bound to notice these same flaws.

contemplatives in many traditions claim to experience extraordinary depths of psychological well-being while living in isolation for vast stretches of time.

We live in a world of unimaginable surprises - from the fusion energy that lights the sun to the genetic and evolutionary consequences of this light’s dancing for eons upon the earth - and yet paradise conforms to our most superficial concerns with all the fidelity of a Caribbean cruise. This is wondrously strange. If one didn't know better, one would think that man, in his fear of losing all that he loves, had created heaven, along with its gatekeeper God, in his own image.