This book challenges the very basis of contemporary spirituality and the consumer society that created it. It is a far-reaching investigation of our ideas about life and our spirituality, in which Harrison challenges the notions of enlightenment as a way to happiness, zero-coupon bonds as the way to security, and Stephen Hawking as the final arbiter of scientific reality. It explores what meditation actually is and, more important, what it is not and how it got that way. The book speaks both to the novice and the long-time meditation practitioner, as well as to all of us who care deeply about exploring and expanding our spiritual practices and our livescreated it. It is a far-reaching investigation of our ideas about life and our spirituality, in which Harrison challenges the notions of enlightenment as a way to happiness, zero-coupon bonds as the way to security, and Stephen Hawking as the final arbiter of scientific reality. It explores what meditation actually is and, more important, what it is not and how it got that way. The book speaks both to the novice and the long-time meditation practitioner, as well as to all of us who care deeply about exploring and expanding our spiritual practices and our lives.