Humanist Chaplain, Author Explore the Non-religious Life

Harvard Humanist chaplain Greg M. Epstein discussed how to live a non-religious life with Sam B. Harris, author of “Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion,” in Science Center Hall B Tuesday.

Harris, a leading and controversial figure in the New Atheism movement, has published several books on the topic of atheism. His new book focuses on spirituality and the individual’s responsibility to achieve his or her own happiness.

“I want people to take away that having a spiritual life need not entail believing in anything on insufficient evidence,” Harris said. “It only requires that you observe your experience more closely in the present moment.”

Epstein, also a leader in the New Atheism movement, has published his own book, “Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe.” Toward the end of this book, Epstein focuses on the importance of community for non-religious individuals, the main topic of his next book.

“I think [my own and Harris’s ideas] can be two sides of a coin, how to have a healthy inner life as a non-religious person and how to have a healthy outer life as a non-religious person,” Epstein said. “[Harris is] talking a little more about the inner life, and I’m arguing that in order to have the healthiest possible inner life we also need community.”

During the discussion, Harris went into depth about what he called a source of dissatisfaction in an individual’s life: the idea that only attaining certain goals, such as getting married or getting a better job, will allow true happiness. He said that this mindset is unnecessary and that an individual can learn to be happy in the moment if they can learn to be present in that moment. Based on this idea, Harris promoted meditation as a conduit into living in the moment and led the audience in a couple of minutes of meditation.

“I think the meditation aspect is something that I have been interested in in the past, but haven't had the chance to do, and I do think what he had to say about spirituality as a nonreligious person is something to take away from,” said Erin M. Williams ’15, a member of the Harvard Community of Humanists, Atheists, and Agnostics.

Many HCHAA members came to the event in support of their parent organization, the Humanist Hub. The Humanist Hub at Harvard, which opened this year, works to create a space to address the growing community of agnostic and atheists college students.