I just had my mind blown.

How?

By reading a book by the 60s era Zen philosopher, Alan Watts. The book is entitled The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are, published in 1966.

I only recently learned of Watts via Maria Popovas blog, Brain Pickings. In fact, ever since I discovered it, Ive learned a great deal from her blog

I highly recommend it!

Why did Watts book blow my mind?

Ill use an example from the book to illustrate

If I asked you what was pictured to the right, you would likely say a circle, correct?

But could it not just as well be a hole in a wall?

Could it not be both?

At the same time?

Because, you see according to Watts, what something is, including you and me, is not defined simply by whats on the inside, but also by what is on the outside.

That is, the surface of my skin is also the edge of the space around it.

Western thought, influenced largely by Christianity, would lead us to believe that we are separate from everything else, including each other.

I am me and you are you and there is a concrete and delineable separation between uscalled space, which is also a separate thing.

In fact, religion would go even further and say that God has separated us into a group he likes and another he doesnt.

Watts would say that to fully describe a human, one must not only look to the actions of the man himself, but also to the environment in which those actions take placeand that environment is the entire universe.

That is, you cannot separate the inside from the outside, because both exist interdependent on the otherthey are one and the same thing.

There is no inside without an outside and vice versa.

Pretty heady stuff, no?

But then I start asking myself, OK Mr. Watts, that might be so, but so what?

What relevance does it have for my present existence, since the entire set up has been devised along the lines of separateness, as delusional and illusional as that might be

Its the world we have to live in.

Well, Watts philosophy kinda dovetails with the whole mindset that I espouse here in The Revolutionary Misfit blog.

That the impetus for impact should stem from our sameness, not our separateness.

That is, not to justthrow money at problems because we have compassion for those poor starving others.

When we help others, we are actually helping ourselves. Because, as Watts alludes, were all really the same thingwe all make up the universe, which makes upus.

Neither can exist without the other.

When I read about all the division that reins in our world and spawns such venomous hatred that shows up in many of the FaceBook posts circulating through my news feed

its both enlightening and hope inspiring to read the words of Alan Watts.

I want to be inspired with a good reason or motive for practicing impact mindfulnessfor being mindful about anyone elses problems other than my own.

At times, I will admit, I think, hey whats the use, or whats the point of it all?

The point is that what might be happening on the other side of the globe to a small child in a tiny African village does affect me

because that happening is part of the universal flow of which I am a component.

Its not a separate event that I can just ignore on my way to more western culture-driven ego inflation.

Were all doing this activity called life together and I believe impact should be about helping ourselves collectively enjoy that mutually experienced process.

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alan watts Archives - Revolutionary Misfit

A prolific orator, writer and philosopher, Alan Watts was one of the first contemporary figures in the early 20th century to bring Eastern Zen philosophy and thought to a large Western audience. He was an instrumental figure in the 1960s counterculture revolution and continued to write and philosophize until his passing in 1973. His lectures and writings today seem to be seeing a resurgence in popularity.

With countless hours of his lectures sprawled online, sampled into dreamy chillwave music and the likeness of his voice even featured as an advanced A.I. in the movie Her, it seems Alan Watts still has a whole lot to tell us.

In our current age of industrialized mass anxiety, students and educators alike are working more grueling and unproductive hours, while at the same time they're still underperforming when compared to more relaxed and productive educational systems, like those in Scandinavia.

Here is an Alan Watts pronouncement that sums up a large part of his philosophical outlook.

"If happiness always depends on something expected in the future, we are chasing a will-o'-the-wisp that ever eludes our grasp, until the future, and ourselves vanish into the abyss of death."

Taking into account some of Watts' philosophy, we can shift our views on the subject of life, learning and education through a more inspired and whimsical viewpoint.

Photo: Frederick Florin/Getty

For the great majority of us, our early lives were defined by the ever-increasing grade scales we progressed through, from elementary school into middle school and so on. These were our internal ranking and status symbols as we barreled through our early life's big biological and mental changes, shifting from one well-placed rung to the next and following our teacher's orders if we wanted to keep up with the already-laid path for becoming a successful member of society.

Alan Watts found this idea a strange and unnatural progression of our early lives, and something that was indicative of a much deeper-seated issue in how we view the nature of change and reality. Watts says:

"Let's take education. What a hoax. You get a little child, you see, and you suck it into a trap and you send it to nursery school. And in nursery school you tell the child 'You are getting ready to go on to kindergarten. And then wow-wee, first grade is coming up, and second grade, and third grade.' You are gradually climbing the ladder towards, towards, going on towards progress. And then when it gets to end of grade school, you say 'high school, now you're really getting going.' Wrong."

Whether we consciously recognize it or not, this expectant progressive nature of reality we foster during our school years is something that becomes an undeniable fabric of the way we live and think. It sticks with us our whole lives.

We're constantly moving forward to some goal that's just out of reachnever within the now, always later or after this or that accomplishment has been reached.

Watts believed that this same logic applies to us once we leave the tiered school system. He goes on to say:

"But on towards business, you are going out into the world and you got your briefcase and your diploma. And then you go to your first sales meeting, and they say 'Now get out there and sell this stuff,' because then you are going on up the ladder in business, and maybe you will get to a good position. And you sell it and then they up your quota.

"And then finally about the year 45 you wake up one morning as vice president of the firm, and you say to yourself looking in the mirror: 'I've arrived. But I feel slightly cheated because I feel just the same as I always felt'"

Jacques Hoist via Flickr

Here Alan Watts touches on a classical bit of Buddhist philosophythe idea that there really isn't in fact anything to strive forward to and desire. Watts ties this aspect into the desire of one-upmanship in the educational system bleeding into our professional lives. This is an example of the unending ennui of materialistic pursuit in some form or the other.

Alan Watts goes on to say:

"Something is missing. I have no longer a future.' 'Uh uh' says the insurance salesman, 'I have a future for you. This policy will enable you to retire in comfort at 65, and you will be able to look forward to that.' And you are delighted. And you buy the policy and at 65 you retire thinking that this is the attainment of the goal of life, except that you have prostate trouble, false teeth and wrinkled skin.

"And you are a materialist. You are a phantom, you are an abstractionist, you are just nowhere, because you never were told, and never realized that eternity is now."

Now rather than falling into a passive nihilism (which is where Buddhist thought can lead) Alan Watts instead argues for being within the here and now. Learn for learning's sake! Eternity is now that is to become fully part of the processwhatever it may beand do not focus on an ever elusive end goal.

Not tying ourselves to the end result is something most people will never understand because it's counter intuitive. This ideal was a central focus of Alan Watts' philosophy.

In the opening chapter of his book The Wisdom of Insecurity, he coined the term "backwards law," of which he says:

"When you try to stay on the surface of the water, you sink; but when you try to sink you float."

This koan of his illustrates that when we put too much pressure on ourselves to meet some ideal or goal in the spectral future, we detract from the working process at hand. It will never be reached because what needs to be done isn't our central focus.

Conversely, by being completely involved in the present, those elusive goals in the future could one day come to fruition. This is where the concept gets muddled for some.

But it can be simply summed up as follows: not looking towards the future will prepare you for it.

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Alan Watts likened compulsory education to the penal system.

Alan Watts felt the educational system failed us by the very way it prepared us to look forward to the rest of our lives. An idealized version he cooked up in his head of what a great educational upbringing would look like can be gleaned from this passage:

"When we bring children into the world, we play awful games with them. Instead of saying, 'How do you do? Welcome to the human race. Now my dear, we are playing some very complicated games, and these are the rules of the game we are playing. I want you to understand them, and when you learn them when you get a little bit older you might be able to think up some better rules, but for now I want you to play by our rules.'

"Instead of being quite direct with our children, we say, 'You are here on probation, and you must understand that. Maybe when you grow up a bit you will be acceptable, but until then you should be seen and not heard. You are a mess, and you have to be educated and schooled until you are human.'"

He even likened the compulsory educational system as having heavy religious undertones.

"'Look you are here on sufferance. You are on probation. You are not a human being yet.' So people feel this right on into old age and figure that the universe is presided by this kind of awful God-the-Father parent."

Much of this still resonates with us today. Alan Watts' sage advice on education just might be the thing we need to revisit if we're to escape the monotonous reality of modern education.

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Alan Watts: Why education (as we know it) is a hoax

Its not about the great person but what ignited the greatness in that person.

Who is Alan Watts for you? I must start off with by saying that the first times I heard his audio lectures they really did good for me. In a way hes responsible for opening up to further references and knowledge, as in hearing a talented man articulating himself and igniting inspiration and some deep realizations. All which strengthened me in all aspects of life. Only years later did I look up more into his biography and found out bits of pieces of who he was. But does that really matter? Even though theres a passion in us to see if something that inspired us, actually was that pure or perfect, according to our own subjective ego-biased belief system, or if it wasnt. The man himself is always detached and separate from the pure wisdom that touches him. Its not about the great person but what ignited the greatness in that person.

There are facts about Alan Watts being an alcoholic, a cheater on his wives and generally that he talked good and inspiring about ideas but didnt walk the talk or let his own talk make him better. He even saidin one of his lectures, that he was an entertainer of ideas and it pays well off. But whats wrong with that? Now, we could take U.G. Krishnamurti as an example of someone who walks the talk and who never took money for opening his mouth, yet people swarmed to him. In both men, as withyourself you can find faults and aspects of faulty character attributes that arentliving up to some image, that once again, is based upon our eventual ego-biased belief system.

If we focus on what ignites the greatness in a person, the messenger becomes irrelevant. Its hard in our culture, that has an inherent way of adoring and focusing on the persona and not the message.

I looked up some discussion about this dualism people find out about Alan Watts I see that some people reevaluate their position on whether or not to continue to like Alan Watts (meaning feeling cheated while listening to the recordings). That is silly if you ask me. First of all, being an alcoholic is bad but its not the worst of crimes. Second, having many marriages and cheating on your beloved one is stupid, disgusting, a lack of maturity, self awareness and respect. But, the women in his life knew what they were into and what kind of man he was, the choice was theirs. The fact he drank a lot later in his life meanshe probably felt much of the past coming back to him or more simply put, thats his own business. Es ist was es ist.

One cannot think he didnt regret it all somehow and the life as a play talk he gave was interesting and inspiring for us, but for him perhaps a way to distance himself from his own immature behavior. To justify or re-rationalize his life choices. There are many wo/men that we can analyze like this. But to what point? Do you know there are saints who actually were mass murderers? Still people pray over them. If we focus on what ignites the greatness in a person, the messenger becomes irrelevant. Its hard in our culture, that has an inherent addictionof adoring and focusing on the persona and not the message. As if knowing more about the messenger will make us understand and embody the message more

Alan Watts was some kind of messenger, he pointed to some aspects that can (if you pursue them for real) change your life for the better. Remember that today and for all future, its only the recordings that are left, besides the books and some video footage. These are of great benefit andwill get many of us mediocre people interested in the real deal teachers and teachings.

A candle light cannot represent the sun.

For a real teacher, for a real school and for a real path; you have to seek out someone totally pure. In the end it has to be that way. If thats what youre after. A person who is enlightened isnt attached to money, lust, love, career, possessions, politics and so on. There are no twoways about it, not even Alan Watts life as a play ideas can consolidate that ultimate fact. A candle light cannot represent the sun. Likewise bad behavior can never be justified, it can be understood, forgiven, forgotten but never justified.

Alan Watts is one example, Carlos Castaneda is another and a more dirtier one. I remember asking a huge fan of Castanedas book about how he felt on the hoax, the whole blatant and tragic hoax of Castanedas lifestyle. He answered that he didnt want to think about it, somewhat evasive. Yet, if you read the first three books, youll get heavily inspired, and that will stick with you for the rest of your life. (The other books and the whole Castaneda thing after that is a waste of time). Thats my take on Castaneda and they did inspire me.

If youre really into freedom then you must learn how to feel free taking the best of things even from the worst of sources whoever or whatever those might be. Thich Nhat Hanh said something like you need manure to grow a beautiful garden. Which is a wonderful way to look at things, embracing it all and seeing the potential from every outcome. Even the problematic sides of yourself and others.

Sometimes just trying something passionately and hard is worth a lot, and even if failure looms around the corner. The effort and actions can bless other people. Here is Alans daughter Anne Watts in an interview about her father and her own work. She kind of demystifies her father, really worth watching. Also, check out this discussion from another blog Alan Watts Revealed and Reconsidered.

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Alan Watts Hoax? Alcoholic? Genius? Guru? Sanjin umii

Reposted from Biocadence Blog

Alan Watts (Jan 6, 1915 Nov 16, 1973) was a philosopher known for opening Western minds to Eastern wisdom. He called himself an entertainer, rather than a guru or teacher, and encouraged a dialogue that is increasingly relevant in the spectrum of current events. Intertwinedwith stunning scholarship, his buoyant humor resounds, linking many of us to the collective unconscious. Today, 101 years after his birth, Im sharing 101 quotes that have deeply impacted my understanding of the human experience. Enjoy!

*Alan Watts was a prolific writer and speaker. I source the specific work for every quote that I can, and include (audio) to reference material sourced from audio lectures found onalanwatts.org and alanwatts.com. Hearing his voice and cadence drives his message to a deeper level; I recommend Alan Watts 101 for short animated videos coupled with some of my favorite talks.

~Compiled by Annie Tichenor, with the help of Mark Watts, Nicolette Schumacher, and Allison Faust

This was originally posted on the Biocadence blog. I reposted the content here to celebrate 101 years of Alan Watts for his birthday.

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101 Alan Watts Quotes - Secular Buddhism

Alan Watts Quotes on Everyday power Blog! No this is the not the entire 3 hour lectureall of which I lovethese are just the quotes! Enjoy!

These Alan Watts quotes were taken from his writing, lectures and notes. Watts was a world-renowned author, speaker, and philosopher, wellknown for interpreting the beliefs of the East with the way we live in the West.

Alan wrote over 25 books and is best known for his bestselling classic, The Way to Zen.

These Alan Watts quotes represent some of his most important philosophies regarding living a successful, happy life. We recommend analyzing these quotes and absorbing their wisdom. We recommend viewing some of his speeches and reading his books. Simply type in Alan Watts Youtube in Google or Alan Watts books. He bridged the east and the west by informing people about some of the Easts best philosophies regarding living and has helped thousands of people improve the quality of their life. When you read Alan Watts quotes, watch his videos or read his books you will be inspired by his views on essential truths about life.

For me, its so powerful how his work with so many ancient texts is still so relevant to todays modern life. Whether youre a teacher, lawyer, secretary or entrepreneur; we can benefit from the wise and powerful words of Alan Watts!

1.) Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone. Alan Watts

Sometimes we just have to let time do its thing. Sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to leave it alone and not put any energy into it.

2.) Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth. Alan Watts

Fire cannot burn fire. Water cannot get itself wet. The thing cannot define the thing. It will always be extremely difficult for us to define ourselves, since we are always changing, learning, experiencing and growing.

3.) What I am really saying is that you dont need to do anything, because if you see yourself in the correct way, you are all as much extraordinary phenomenon of nature as trees, clouds, the patterns in running water, the flickering of fire, the arrangement of the stars, and the form of a galaxy. You are all just like that, and there is nothing wrong with you at all. Alan Watts

All the systems of nature work perfectly. Nothing rushed, nothing judgedbut yet, it all works perfectly. Every single time. You are nature and you work perfectly!

4.) We seldom realize, for example, that our most private thoughts and emotions are not actually our own. For we think in terms of languages and images which we did not invent, but which were given to us by our society. Alan Watts

Many of our thoughts, habits and behaviors arepassed down from our family, society and culture. Before we take ownership of certain traits and thoughts, lets be mindful of what is really ours.

5.) But Ill tell you what hermits realize. If you go off into a far, far forest and get very quiet, youll come to understand that youre connected with everything. Alan Watts

When we turn off the TV, cell phone and other distractions; we can see, feel and hear all the natural life around us. We are a part of that life. Its what we were born into.

6.) If you say that getting the money is the most important thing, youll spend your life completely wasting your time. Youll be doing things you dont like doing in order to go on living, that is to go on doing things you dont like doing, which is stupid. Alan Watts

Dont be afraid to hop off the hamster wheel. If you love what you do and you earn a living with it you are living the dream! If you hate your job and are just in it for the money, it might be time to reevaluate how you spend 40-60 hours of your life a week.

7.) To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. When you swim you dont grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead you relax, and float. Alan Watts

Having faith doesnt mean having control. Having faith means letting go and still believing it will all work out!

8.) Philosophy is mans expression of curiosity about everything and his attempt to make sense of the world primarily through his intellect. Alan Watts

Without a guiding belief of how things work, it becomes difficult to put meaning to things. The meaning we put to things is much more important than the thing itself.

9.) This is the real secret of life to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play. Alan Watts

When we engage deeply in our work, it is no longer work. When we have a singular focus on the present everything is alive, everything is fun.

10.) The menu is not the meal. Alan Watts

Weve all been to restaurants that have an outstanding menu and below average food. Talk is cheap. Dont let your life fall into that trap!

11.) The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance. Alan Watts

Stop trying to figure change out and just go with it! See where it takes you.

12.) You are a function of what the whole universe is doing in the same way that a wave is a function of what the whole ocean is doing. Alan Watts

I love this one. We are all a part of something much bigger than ourselves. Lets live accordingly!

13.) The more a thing tends to be permanent, the more it tends to be lifeless. Alan Watts

Life is constant change. Life is full of ups and downs. Life is always moving. Anything else is dead.

14.) Try to imagine what it will be like to go to sleep and never wake up now try to imagine what it was like to wake up having never gone to sleep. Alan Watts

I really love this one, too! What would life be like if we were asleep, unconscious and a money chasing zombie the whole time? Now, what would life be like, to live consciously, awakeand stay that way!

15.) Things are as they are. Looking out into the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations. Alan Watts

Stop trying to label and judge. Peace is when we are able to accept (and find the beauty in) things the way they are.

16.) A scholar tries to learn something everyday; a student of Buddhism tries to unlearn something daily. Alan Watts

The way of Buddha is to let go.

17.) Problems that remain persistently insoluble should always be suspected as questions asked in the wrong way. Alan Watts

The better the question, the better the answer.

18.) When we attempt to exercise power or control over someone else, we cannot avoid giving that person the very same power or control over us. Alan Watts

When we give someone all that time and energy, we also give them our power.

19.) But the attitude of faith is to let go, and become open to truth, whatever it might turn out to be. Alan Watts

Faith = the art of letting go.

20.) No work or love will flourish out of guilt, fear, or hollowness of heart, just as no valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now. Alan Watts

Everything we want to do right, needs to come from a place of good intentions and close attention to the present.

21.) So then, the relationship of self to other is the complete realization that loving yourself is impossible without loving everything defined as other than yourself.Alan Watts

We can only love ourselves for who we are, when we love ourselves for who we are not.

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Alan Watts Quotes About Life, Love and Dreams That Will ...

Alan Wilson Watts was a British philosopher, writer, and speaker, best known as an interpreter and popularizer of Eastern philosophy for a Western audience.

Below is a list of his top 5 books with some of his greatest quotes scattered throughout the page, enjoy!

InThe Book,Alan Watts provides us with a much-needed answer to the problem of personal identity, distilling and adapting the Hindu philosophy of Vedanta.

At the root of human conflict is our fundamental misunderstanding of who we are. The illusion that we are isolated beings, unconnected to the rest of the universe, has led us to view the outside world with hostility, and has fueled our misuse of technology and our violent and hostile subjugation of the natural world. To help us understand that the self is in fact the root and ground of the universe, Watts has crafted a revelatory primer on what it means to be humanand a mind-opening manual of initiation into the central mystery of existence.

Get it on Amazon

No valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now.

~ ALAN WATTS

In his definitive introduction to Zen Buddhism, Alan Watts explains the principles and practices of this ancient religion to Western readers. With a rare combination of freshness and lucidity, he delves into the origins and history of Zen to explain what it means for the world today with incredible clarity. Watts saw Zen as one of the most precious gifts of Asia to the world, and inThe Way of Zenhe gives this gift to readers everywhere.

Get it on Amazon

The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.

~ ALAN WATTS

Life exists only at this very moment, and in this moment it is infinite and eternal. For the present moment is infinitely small; before we can measure it, it has gone, and yet it exists forever. . . . You may believe yourself out of harmony with life and its eternal Now; but you cannot be, for you are life and exist Now.fromBecome What You Are

In this collection of writings, including nine new chapters never before available in book form, Watts displays the intelligence, playfulness of thought, and simplicity of language that has made him so perennially popular as an interpreter of Eastern thought for Westerners. He draws on a variety of religious traditions, and covers topics such as the challenge of seeing ones life just as it is, the Taoist approach to harmonious living, the limits of language in the face of ineffable spiritual truth, and the psychological symbolism of Christian thought.

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But the attitude of faith is to let go, and become open to truth, whatever it might turn out to be.

~ ALAN WATTS

Six revolutionary essays exploring the relationship between spiritual experience and ordinary lifeand the need for them to coexist within each of us.

With essays on cosmic consciousness (including Alan Watts account of his own ventures into this inward realm); the paradoxes of self-consciousness; LSD and consciousness; and the false opposition of spirit and matter,This Is It and Other Essays on Zen and Spiritual Experienceis a truly mind-opening collection.

Get it on Amazon

Technology is destructive only in the hands of people who do not realize that they are one and the same process as the universe.

~ ALAN WATTS

We live in an age of unprecedented anxiety. Spending all our time trying to anticipate and plan for the future and to lamenting the past, we forget to embrace the here and now. We are so concerned with tomorrow that we forget to enjoy today. Drawing from Eastern philosophy and religion, Alan Watts shows that it is only by acknowledging what we do notand cannotknow that we can learn anything truly worth knowing. InThe Wisdom of Insecurity,he shows us how, in order to lead a fulfilling life, we must embrace the presentand live fully in the now. Featuring an Introduction by Deepak Chopra.

Get it on Amazon

Best of Alan Watts Quotes:

Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth.

~ ALAN WATTS

I have realized that the past and future are real illusions, that they exist in the present, which is what there is and all there is.

~ ALAN WATTS

Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes.

~ ALAN WATTS

Never pretend to a love which you do not actually feel, for love is not ours to command.

~ ALAN WATTS

But the attitude of faith is to let go, and become open to truth, whatever it might turn out to be.

~ ALAN WATTS

You and I are all as much continuous with the physical universe as a wave is continuous with the ocean.

~ ALAN WATTS

But Ill tell you what hermits realize. If you go off into a far, far forest and get very quiet, youll come to understand that youre connected with everything.

~ ALAN WATTS

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5 Best Alan Watts Books Learned Mastery

Alan Watts, probably more than anyone else was a good window on what has been called the intellectual revolution of the sixties when people became more open minded about a lot of issues and just as the some of the counter culture of the sixties began to faze out in the early seventies, he passed away at the top of his game, many of his best lectures were in the last few years of his life. Molyneux is kind of like an amateur version of Allan Watts on a very rudimentary level, however he just does not even remotely posses the knowledge that Alan had about comparative philosophy, science and psychology, to be considered in the same league. Anyway, Alan was a very deep thinking libertarian to put it mildly and it is kind of a joke that the Mises institute and associates are so lame that they have never covered Alan. Then when I heard that Woods is now giving libertarian history lessons, i found it rather nauseating because woods does not know anything about libertarian philosophy beyond the very narrow mises outlook, which does not include issues such as psychology and ecology for example...Alan was not perfect, he drank and took drugs too much and some other things. He also did not understand some things about eastern cultures and he would over generalize about subjects like western psychology to make his points, but he is a great resource. too bad he died so young, but i guess he kind of lived like a tiger and i'm sure there are several lectures that you could find of him talking about that as i recall, that it is better to live a few days as a tiger rather than decades as a sheep or something like that. less

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ALAN WATTS - YouTube

Alan Watts had the rare gift of writing beautifully the un-writable. Watts begins with scholarship and intellect and proceeds with art and eloquence to the frontiers of the spirit. A fascinating entry into the deepest ways of knowing.

L.A. Times

Having most vividly introduced the complexities of Eastern wisdom to the contemporary ideas of the West, British philosopherAlan Wattsis now considered a philosophic legend. He was an author, a poet, a radical thinker, an ex-priest, a mystic, a teacher, and a critic of society. He understood the concept of stepping back from all of the drama we create in life; he understood the cosmic humor of it all. He was devoted to play. For this, he (as well as many others) labeled himself as a spiritual/philosophicalentertainer.

Alan Watts is one of the better-known philosophers in our world today. Admittedly, though, he was an unlikely philosopher. As opposed to manyphilosophersbefore and after him, he demonstrated to many wondering minds across the globe how to construct theirownmeaning out of life.

In Alan Watts 58 years, he was nothing short of prolific he had written countless essays, over 25books, and had recorded nearly 400lectures All of which are still in shockingly high demand. Since delving into the works of Alan Watts has understandably proven to be an overwhelming task for many seekers of knowledge, we are writing this article. It is our hope that, within this article, you get a good taste of where to begin on your Alan Watts expedition we will cover his most favored (since the word best can be biased and quite arbitrary) quotes, lectures, and books.

To intrigue you in the quickest way possible, we will first share with you a few of the most memorable Alan Wattsquotes. Now, for these Alan Watts quotes, we will not elaborate. Why? The beauty of Alan Watts quotes is that each is up for complete individual interpretation and we wouldnt want to risk you not interpreting each quote the way you were meant to.

#1

All that you see out in front of you is how you feel inside your head.

#2You are the Universe experiencing itself.

#4The meaning of life is just to be alive. Its so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic, as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.

#5This is the real secret of life To be completely engaged in what you are doing in the here and now.

#6No one is more dangerously insane than one who is sane all the time.

#7The more a thing tends to be permanent, the more it tends to be lifeless.

Now, as opposed to dedicating hours listening to a single Alan Watts lecture, you can quickly get an idea of his philosophy by watching one of the thousands of Alan Watts YouTube videos out there. These are a better an option if you are just beginning to dive into his philosophies, for they are not only short and to the point, but many people have gone through the work of adding beautiful imagery and even background music to make them even more awe-inspiring.

Here are the top 4 adored Alan Watts YouTube Videos:

You are something that the whole Universe is doing, in the same way that a wave is something that the whole ocean is doing.

Who are you, really? This short lecture explores the very depths ofwho you are. You are everyone, everyone is you. You are the wholeYOU-niverse. Yet, you are the whole Universe soeffortlessly.

If our death could be indefinitely postponed, we would not actually go on postponing it indefinitely.

How do you feel about death? This is an uncomfortable topic for most people fear of death is a terrible and all-too-common disease of our society. However, in this Alan Watts YouTube talk, he confronts death strangely beautifully (alongside tear-jerking movie scenes and music). We need to die so that we can be born again to experience life with the same awe-struck ecstasy in which a child does. Death makes room for others to experience this freshness of life.

It is so important to answer this question: What do I desire?

In life, we tend to get wrapped up and lose sight of what is most important. For that, many people spend their lives doing something they dislike and never get to truly explore their passions. What, then, is the whole purpose?

You have to know how to leave your mind alone. It will quiet itself.

Have you ever been in a vicious cycle of painful thought? Have you ever worried about worrying? Have you ever worried because you worried, because you worried?Thatis a vicious cycle.

We overcomplicate things. We dedicate our lives to avoiding silence to getting away from ourselves. In this Alan Watts lecture, he states, If I think all the time, I wont have anything to think about except thoughts. So in order to have something to think about, there are times when you simply must stop thinking. Now, you may be thinking, That sounds quite impossible! Well, how would I do such a thing? In this video, he explains just that.

Why are humans so often disconnected? Why do we experience so much conflict? Why do we so often misuse our potentially brilliant technology? Why do so many of us feel that humanity is doomed? InThe Book, Alan Watts uses the Hindu philosophy of Vedanta to answer these questions. In doing so, he aims to dissolve our illusion of separateness and weld together what it means to be a soul in a human body a ground-breaking manual of commencement into a new world of existence: a world of knowing who wereallyare.

For many world-altering reasons, this has been one of the most favored Alan Watts books of all time.

In our modern ways of living, we get caught up. We are addicted to distraction. We tend to always have one foot anticipating the future, and the other foot dwelling on the past this causes us to poop on the present. Since the present is all that wereallyhave (really), we should be treating it with far more kindness.In this Alan Watts book,The Wisdom of Insecurity, he utilizes Eastern wisdom to teach us that all of this time spent worrying and bussing our minds with things that arenthere and now, causes us loads of unprecedented anxiety. To free ourselves from this insecurity, we must learn to fullyembrace the present moment.

No one has given us such a concise . . . introduction to the whole history of this Far Eastern development of Buddhist thought as Alan Watts, in the present, highly readable work.Joseph Campbell

The Way of the Zenis a succinct yet thorough and lucid guide to the histories, principles, and practices of Zen Buddhism. As Alan Watts is most well-known for being a pioneer of Eastern thought in the Western world, this book is undoubtedly a masterful work of art. It is highly recommended toanyone, but especially those interested into delving into the worlds andthe ways of ZenBuddhism.

Are you an Alan Watts fan? What is your favorite Alan Watts quote, lecture, or book? Please share with us in the comment section below perhaps add what that quote, lecture, or book means to you; we would love to hear!

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Best Ways To Start Your Journey with Alan Watts - Mindvalley Blog

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Alan Wilson Watts, n le 6 janvier 1915 Chislehurst dans le Kent (Grande-Bretagne) et mort le 16 novembre 1973 Mont Tamalpais en Californie (tats-Unis), est un crivain et confrencier anglo-amricain autodidacte, auteur de vingt-cinq livres et de nombreux articles sur la spiritualit, les religions et philosophies d'Orient et d'Occident (bouddhisme Zen, taosme, christianisme, hindouisme).

Chroniqueur de radio et de tlvision rput en Californie, intress par les nouvelles tendances apparaissant en Occident son poque, il se fit l'aptre d'un certain changement des mentalits quant la socit, la nature, les styles de vie et l'esthtique, et est considr comme l'un des pres de la contre-culture aux tats-Unis. Il est un des personnages des Clochards clestes de Jack Kerouac.

La suppression de la collection Denol/Gonthier avait interrompu la traduction de son uvre en franais, qui reprend chez divers autres diteurs.

Alan Watts, prtre piscopalien, philosophe, crivain et confrencier, migre aux tats-Unis en 1938. Il est initi au bouddhisme zen rinzai en ctoyant Roshi Sokei-an Sasaki pendant trois ans, tudie la thologie et est ordonn prtre en 1945, mais quitte la prtrise en 1950 et rejoint la Californie, o il entre l'Acadmie Amricaine des tudes Asiatiques dont il sera brivement le plus jeune doyen.

Il acquiert d'abord une trs importante notorit et fidlit dans la rgion de San Francisco, grce ses prestations gracieuses la Radio de Berkeley, ses missions de tlvision et ses sminaires en comparatisme religieux. Par ses livres, il acquiert ensuite une renomme internationale dans les milieux philosophiques et du chan/zen comme de la psychologie et de la critique sociale[1]. Il partagera ensuite son temps entre une vieille pniche roue, ancre Sausalito et une grande cabane dans les Monts Tamalpais.

sa naissance et durant sa prime enfance, Chislehurst tait encore une petite communaut essentiellement rurale. Le train tait arriv en 1865, mais le village ne devint une banlieue de Londres qu'aprs la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Le sjour de Napolon III en exil, en assura la notorit mondaine. Bombard en 1915, par erreur de reprage d'un zeppelin en route vers la capitale, le village est surtout connu pour les londoniens qui s'y rfugirent pendant les bombardements, dans les carrires de craies elles servirent aussi de dpts divers d'armes et de munitions.

considrer que les Monts Tamalpais, prs de San Francisco, o meurt Alan Watts, fut galement regard par les Amrindiens comme un lieu mystique, on pourrait dire qu'il est n et mort dans le sacr, ce sens du sacr, dont Mircea Eliade lui reconnaissait comme un pouvoir de divination[2]. Un sens du sacr que les religions cachent plus qu'elles ne rvlent. Sur cette base, le jeune Alan reut ensuite une robuste ducation chrtienne teinte contradictoirement de puritanisme et d'un "savoir" de la Vie Bonne trs picurien. Il put se soustraire rapidement la premire influence pour dvelopper une vision trs dionysiaque de la religion. Trs tt, cette vision joyeuse de la religion fut indissociable chez lui d'un besoin d'imaginaire et de merveilleux directement li une sensibilit cologique directe transmise, par son pre qui lui apprenait le nom des fleurs sauvages comme des papillons, et une esthtique picturale transmise par sa mre. Celle-ci, issue d'une famille missionnaire en Chine, avait hrit d'une petite collection de broderies, lithographies et peintures sur papiers orientales.

Diverses confrences et relations humaines directes le convainquirent de la valeur du bouddhisme, principalement zen; il y fut comme jet lorsqu'il dcouvrit les insuffisances de la vision aristocratique d'un Spengler comme l'chec total des actions pacifistes pourtant clairvoyantes de Dimitri Mitrienovic. Ce dernier fut le seul matre qu'il eut vraiment, auquel il voua un vritable esprit d'enthousiasme et d'obissance. Mais l'chec de celui-ci le fit sortir de tout sens de l'histoire et de tout intrt pour la sphre politique, ses dvoiements, compromissions et lchets.

Ces deux ples de paix, celui de la paix intrieure individuelle, qu'il dcouvrit par ses premires expriences du bouddhisme et taosme de la contemplation Chan/Zen (pour laquelle mditation et compassion sont dj par nature insparables); et celui de la paix entre les peuples, les cultures et les nations ne trouveront leur synthse qu' la lecture de Ren Gunon (1949).

On redcouvre aujourd'hui peu peu son message de philosophe spirituel et libertaire, jeteur de ponts entre Orient et Occident comme de reprsentant minent de la Philosophie prenne, appel aussi cole traditionnelle (trop souvent confondue en Europe avec les intgristes, fondamentalistes et prtendus Chrtiens traditionalistes). La particularit du message est de rendre explicite ce qui est trop souvent en Europe une prtention litisteet occulte. La tradition authentique est simplement un refus de soumission aux standards, normalits et adaptabilits d'intgration du modernisme et d'une mentalit faonne par la raison conomique et l'idologie boursire. La tradition est refus de toute primaut de progrs, par l de toute ide de sens de l'Histoire. Elle s'est illustre dans la jeunesse amricaine de la seconde moiti du XXesicle par divers mots d'ordre parfois provocateurs. Mais, Ren Gunon en tte, des personnalits europennes tels Alain Danielou, Ivan Illich et Jacques Ellul peuvent tre considrs comme des traditionnels et par dfinition un traditionnel est un novateur et un crateur aussi bien qu'un Aldous Huxley, Korzybski, Krishnamurti et Abraham Maslow d'ailleurs amricains de premire gnration pour la plupart, au mme titre qu'Alan Watts lui-mme ou des auteurs d'origine asiatique tels que les japonais Shunryu Suzuki et Nanao, ou les chinois Al Chung-liang Huang et Gia-Fu Feng.

Alan Watts n'apporte strictement aucune ide nouvelle, mais des clefs d'interprtation de textes sacrs comme d'ouvrages anciens ou modernes concernant la philosophie et la religion compare. S'y ajoute un moment une comparaison avec les sciences humaines rcentes.

Entr en 1928 la King's School de Canterbury, il y reoit une ducation cense faire de lui un parfait gentleman britannique. Aux sermons, il prfre les leons pratiques en art du bien vivre du pre d'un de ses camarades de classe, lors d'un voyage sur le continent. Voyage initiatique. Watts gardera jusqu' sa mort un got prononc pour la bonne chre, les vins et alcools fins, les cigares, plaisirs sensuels qui, pour lui, n'entrent pas en conflit avec la qute mystique.

son retour en Angleterre, le jeune Alan lit Lafcadio Hearn qui lui permet de relier la sensibilit de la nature, que son pre avait aid dvelopper en lui, l'esthtique des jardins chinois et japonais, lesquels par la distribution spatiale des pleins et des vides, l'agencement symbolique des Cinq lments (wu xing) sont des leons de mtaphysique (tout comme les glises et cathdrales mdivales sont des leons de thologie). En ce dbut des annes 1930, s'intresser au bouddhisme est inhabituel et incongru. Peu d'ouvrages sont accessibles. Il existe nanmoins Londres une Socit bouddhiste, laquelle l'adolescent s'empresse d'adhrer et qui lui permettra de dcouvrir les textes fondateurs du Chan/Zen fusionnant le taosme et le bouddhisme mahayana, aucune des deux doctrines ne l'emportant sur l'autre[3].

En 1936, il fait la dcouverte capitale des livres de D.T. Suzuki, qu'il rencontre mme lors du Congrs mondial des religions. Il rencontre diverses personnalits telle que Krishnamurti ou la future Ruth Fuller Sasaki[4], de retour du Japon, o elle a visit plusieurs monastres zen en compagnie de sa fille Eleonore Everett. En admiration devant la mre, le jeune Alan (engonc dans son ducation anti-sexuelle[5]) pouse la fille. Ils se marient (chrtiennement) en 1938. Ils s'tablissent New York avec le soutien financier de la belle-mre, alors pouse d'un riche avocat. Ils se rangent sous la houlette de Sokei-an Sasaki, premier matre du Zen Rinzai s'tre install aux tats-Unis de faon permanente et dfinitive.

En 1940, Watts entre dans lglise piscopale, qui admet au sacerdoce des personnes dj maries. Il sera ordonn en 1945. Lglise piscopale est la seule organisation amricaine d'importance avoir conserv une dimension sotrique. Il lui reproche d'ailleurs son manque de mysticisme. Mais ses yeux, les organisations religieuses rivales non seulement ne donnent pas accs l'exprience de Dieu; mais elles l'ignorent, lui prfrant le copain christique (pour reprendre l'expression que les thologiens de l'Institut Catholique de Paris utilisaient dans les annes 1960 et 1970 pour fustiger la censure de toute divine transcendante).

Aumnier de l'Universit Northwestern prs de Chicago, il fascine nombre d'tudiants par son ministre peu conventionnel, mais s'attire la suspicion de panthisme par son insistance sur la naturalit joyeuse de la liturgie comme des bonnes relations humaines, y compris sexuelles. Ses encouragements apports certains de ses tudiants de consommer le mariage avant d'en demander le sacrement officiel scandalise. Beaucoup plus libre que sa consur anglicane (et bien sr romaine) sur divers plan, lglise piscopale demeure fortement imprgne du puritanisme ambiant (ce qui fera dire Watts, que dans ce contexte amricain gnral des annes 1960, une revue comme Playboy fait uvre de salubrit publique).

En 1949, il reconnat sa dette envers la tradition et l'sotrisme en crivant L'Identit Suprme, dont la bibliographie comporte six ouvrages d'Ananda Coomaraswamy et huit de Ren Gunon. Ensuite, son orientation s'unifie et s'affine au contact approfondi de la pense chinoise comme des recherches contemporaines en Sciences Humaines. Alan Watts lui-mme le soulignera dans presque toutes ses prfaces d'ouvrage postrieures 1950, la diffrence Orient-Occident n'est plus gographique mais de culture et civilisation.

En 1950, il quitte lglise, devient un philosophe en libert (free-lance). Il crit La Sagesse de l'Inscurit, en compagnie d'Antonietta, qui deviendra sa seconde femme. Le message essentiel est la rcusation de toute prtention capter et figer Dieu en un concept. L'ensemble de ses exposs dans cet ouvrage est, de l'avis gnral, fortement empreint de l'influence de Krishnamurti. Il est la thologie classique ce que sont les premires confrences de Krishnamurti furent la thosophie. Dieu n'a nulle besoin de soldats pour la dfendre ou en faire la propagande: la foi mme ne requiert aucun objet sinon la confiance de se laisser couler et immerger en Elle. Alors, Elle vous porte!

En 1957, alors g de 42 ans, il publie son livre le plus connu et le plus cit Le Bouddhisme Zen (The Way of Zen), n'hsitant pas introduire des ides provenant de la Smantique Gnrale d'Alfred Korzybski.

En 1958, il publie Amour et Connaissance (Nature, Man and Woman), qui divers gards reprend l'esprit gnral de Bouddhisme Zen l'intention d'un grand public qui ne possderait aucun lment de culture chinoise. En 1958 galement, fait un voyage en Europe accompagn de son pre, rencontre C.J Jung et Karlfried Graf Drckheim psychothrapeute et zniste accompli.

De retour aux tats-Unis, il enregistre deux saisons (1959-1960) pour la tlvision sur la Sagesse Orientale et la Vie Moderne (Eastern Wisdom and Modern Life).

l'invitation de plusieurs psychologues et psychiatres, il exprimente diverses drogues dont il rendra compte dans Joyeuse Cosmologie (1962). Il ne dsavouera jamais cette exprimentation, en tant qu'exprimentation. Les opposants l'usage de drogues psychdliques citent volontiers son tardif Si vous avez reu le message, raccrochez le tlphone, mais d'un autre ct oublient d'ajouter qu'il dit quasiment la mme chose de toute institution religieuse ou philosophique plus accro la lettre qu' l'esprit qu'elle est suppose dlivrer. Le point de vue auquel il s'arrtera est identique celui qu'il adopta pour l'alcool: le problme est avant tout social, toute question de mfaits ou bienfaits individuels mis part. Il cessera de traiter le sujet, sintressant davantage aux nouvelles thories sur la matire dveloppes par les physiciens du XXesicle. En diverses occasions, il met en garde contre un sotrisme qui serait une nouvelle croyance, un espoir de progrs rebours; il indique qu'il est prudent (nous invoquerions aujourd'hui le principe de prcaution) de l'aborder au travers de notre rationalisme occidental.

Son dernier livre, inachev, porte sur le taosme comme introduction la pense chinoise tout entire, avec une post-face de Al Chung-liang Huang (dont il venait de prfacer l'ouvrage sur la danse du tai-chi-chuan).

En 1968, Jacques Mousseau rapporte que les proccupations socio-spirituelles 40 ans auparavant n'ont pas tellement chang: jeter un pont entre pense occidentale et pense orientale, une philosophie occidentale spculative, un chafaudage de thories concernant la nature de l'tre et la nature de la connaissance, uniquement bases sur des mots et une philosophie orientale plus empirique, qui est avant tout une exprience. Son but fondamental est de modifier la conscience de telle sorte que l'individu puisse connatre une exprience de lui-mme diffrente de celle qu'on appelle normale. Une exprience de nous-mme qui ne soit plus dtermine par la culture dans laquelle nous vivons, mais directement par l'exprience vcue de l'existence de nous-mme. Une philosophie nouvelle partir de sentiments nouveaux, de rgles nouvelles, de concepts nouveaux pour dfinir ce que signifie tre en vie, ce que signifie tre un homme. En d'autres termes, nous avons besoin de cesser de nous considrer, ici, comme des trangers dans un monde tranger. Techniquement, on peut dire que lcole Traditionnelle n'est pas un humanisme, particulirement un humanisme la franaise qui rejette d'gale mesure l'animalit (thologie) de l'tre humain et son potentiel de dification (qui s'obtient par grce, selon lglise catholique; par nature, selon les penses orientales). Il existe cinq faons de communiquer avec le monde: cultiver la terre, cuisiner, travailler pour se vtir, avoir un toit o s'abriter et faire l'amour. Autant dire que dans notre univers technologique, nous sommes loin de ces moyens de communication avec le monde matriel[6]

un moment, Alan Watts rsuma sa conception de l'homme d'une manire lapidaire mais trompeuse: organisme-environnement; elle peut s'entendre au sens du tout premier Ministre franais de l'environnement. Les Sciences Humaines dualistes ont en effet la fois fait l'impasse sur la question de l'Inn et de l'Acquis, la similitude de la majorit des comportements animaliers et humains comme de l'existence de Dieu[7] (auquel nous serions organiquement li et qui nous environne de son omniprsence). D'un malade mental, on dit qu'il perd la raison, mais jamais qu'il hallucine en confondant gains en vitesse et gains de temps, qu'il a perdu le sens du Temps, tout comme il a perdu l'usage de ses instincts, de ses cinq sens, de sa capacit de survie, tout aussi bien qu'il a perdu le sens du Bien, du Beau, de l'Empathie, la capacit d'aimer et de servir son prochain.

la mort d'Alan Watts, Pierre Hadot publiait essentiellement ses travaux sur Plotin et n'avait pas encore dcid de rappeler fortement que toute la philosophie antique, avant toute formulation spculative et doctrinale, est un ncessaire changement volontaire de style de vie. Roger-Pol Droit[8] n'avait pas encore dclar que Philosophiquement la dmarche du bouddhisme consiste en une sorte de mouvement de d liaison, de dsobstruction, ce quune expression anglaise comme to clear the way rend assez bien. Il y a l lide de librer le passage, dter les obstacles, plutt que de construire des vrits. Jean-Franois Revel et Matthieu Ricard n'avaient pas fait dialoguer science moderne et religion, Jean Franois Billeter et Franois Jullien n'avaient pas encore eu leur Dispute, etc.

Bien d'autres vnements ouvrant le XXIesicle seraient mentionner, qui entrent en rsonance avec les cls simples, vulgaires, populaires qu'Alan Watts proposait pour que chacun trouve joie et paix, sa voie et sa place au monde sans que celles-ci ne lui soit imposes et formates par l'Organisation Mondiale du Commerce[1],[3].

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