Posts on Dan Arel

What is rebirth to the skeptic?

Mon, 13 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

As an atheist falling into Buddhist practice, I’m faced with many of the same questions and beliefs shared by most Buddhist schools of thought, and none is more persistent than the belief in rebirth.

The academic side of me feels a need to know the “truth” of the claim. But the more matured side of me, the blossoming Buddhist, sees now that life can be full of contradictions, even of two truths at once. That’s something the skeptic in me still resists.

My first half-day meditation retreat

Mon, 06 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This past weekend, I attended my first half-day silent meditation retreat. I am not really interested in weeklong retreats, which I think in too many cases are western-centric money grabs (that’s a broad stroke, I know) but also, I have a family and dumping them to go away isn’t in the cards for now.

But a half-day retreat was more than doable, and took place at a local Buddhist temple.

Buddhism gave me ground when I needed it most

Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I have spent the better part of my life as an atheist, and, to be honest, I remain one. When I use the term atheist, I use it in an agnostic sense: I don’t know for a fact that there is no god, but the evidence I have seen leads me to accept that there is no use in believing in one. I have since written a book about godless parenting, being a secular activist in a primarily Christian nation (the U.S.), and spoken on stages around the country about atheism, secularism, and the separation of church and state.

Sam Harris and the mindfulness of hate

Mon, 15 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Sam Harris is a grifter.

There is no other way to put it, even if that is a tough way to start a blog. For the last decade or so, Harris has moved away from his firebrand atheism to selling his mindfulness platform and his book Waking Up, which led to an app and more.

Now, does Harris practice mindfulness? Probably. I can see him meditating and maybe reflecting, and in reality, that’s fine. Even selling his app and books to his audience is fine; to each their own.

A sound bath for skeptics

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Today, at a conference I took part in a sound bath meditation, and found it incredibly relaxing and reduced my stress, anxiety, and even some pain in my back.

However, I don’t necessarily think that the sound both itself accomplished this, and as the every annoying skeptic I am, needed to research after.

What I found was limited scientific data about the effectiveness of a sound bath. One study noted:

“Tibetan singing bowl meditation may be a feasible low-cost low technology intervention for reducing feelings of tension, anxiety, and depression, and increasing spiritual well-being. This meditation type may be especially useful in decreasing tension in individuals who have not previously practiced this form of meditation.”

My journey towards mindfulness

Thu, 21 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I am reading some books right now well out of my normal genre. I think if people who knew me saw my bookshelf right now, they’d think I’d lost my mind.

In the past week, I have purchased, The Joy of Living, Confessions of an Atheist Buddhist, to name two of eight new books, and I just finished The Miracle of Mindfulness.

To start, no, I am not yet another white dude claiming to be Buddhist and walking around with prayer hands to everyone I see. That said, I am looking to many Buddhist practices around mindfulness, greatly inspired by Dan Harris’s book, 10% Happier.