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The Book

Author: Alan Watts

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 1989-08-28

Total Pages: 169

ISBN-13: 0679723005

A revelatory primer on what it means to be human, from "the perfect guide for a course correction in life" (Deepak Chopra)—and a mind-opening manual of initiation into the central mystery of existence. 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 human—and a mind-opening manual of initiation into the central mystery of existence. In The Book, Alan Watts provides us with a much-needed answer to the problem of personal identity, distilling and adapting the Hindu philosophy of Vedanta.

This Is It

Author: Alan Watts

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2011-09-28

Total Pages: 160

ISBN-13: 0307784320

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Six revolutionary essays from "the perfect guide for a course correction in life, away from materialism and its empty promise" (Deepak Chopra), exploring the relationship between spiritual experience and ordinary life—and 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 Experience is a truly mind-opening collection.

Eastern Wisdom, Modern Life

Author: Alan Watts

Publisher: New World Library

Published: 2011-02-08

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 1577319222

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Alan Watts introduced millions of Western readers to Zen and other Eastern philosophies. But he is also recognized as a brilliant commentator on Judeo-Christian traditions, as well as a celebrity philosopher who exemplified the ideas — and lifestyle — of the 1960s counterculture. In this compilation of controversial lectures that Watts delivered at American universities throughout the sixties, he challenges readers to reevaluate Western culture's most hallowed constructs. Watts treads the familiar ground of interpreting Eastern traditions, but he also covers new territory, exploring the counterculture's basis in the ancient tribal and shamanic cultures of Asia, Siberia, and the Americas. In the process, he addresses some of the era's most important questions: What is the nature of reality? How does an individual's relationship to society affect this reality? Filled with Watts's playful, provocative style, the talks show the remarkable scope of a philosopher at his prime, exploring and defining the sixties counterculture as only Alan Watts could.

Become What You Are

Author: Alan Watts

Publisher: Shambhala Publications

Published: 2024-07-16

Total Pages: 145

ISBN-13: 1645472868

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Discover the path to your authentic self and embrace your true identity with these insightful teachings from celebrated author and spiritual luminary Alan Watts. In this collection, 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 one’s 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. Throughout, he shows how our true self is never to be found anywhere other than this very life and this very moment.

Psychotherapy East & West

Author: Alan Watts

Publisher: New World Library

Published: 2017-01-13

Total Pages: 210

ISBN-13: 1608684563

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Before he became a counterculture hero, Alan Watts was known as an incisive scholar of Eastern and Western psychology and philosophy. In this 1961 classic, Watts demonstrates his deep understanding of both Western psychotherapy and the Eastern spiritual philosophies of Buddhism, Taoism, Vedanta, and Yoga. He examined the problem of humans in a seemingly hostile universe in ways that questioned the social norms and illusions that bind and constrict modern humans. Marking a groundbreaking synthesis, Watts asserted that the powerful insights of Freud and Jung, which had, indeed, brought psychiatry close to the edge of liberation, could, if melded with the hitherto secret wisdom of the Eastern traditions, free people from their battles with the self. When psychotherapy merely helps us adjust to social norms, Watts argued, it falls short of true liberation, while Eastern philosophy seeks our natural relation to the cosmos.

Does It Matter?

Author: Alan W. Watts

Publisher: New World Library

Published: 2010-09-07

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13: 9781577318392

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This classic series of essays represents Alan Watts's thinking on the astonishing problems caused by our dysfunctional relationship with the material environment. Here, with characteristic wit, a philosopher best known for his writings and teachings about mysticism and Eastern philosophy gets down to the nitty-gritty problems of economics, technology, clothing, cooking, and housing. Watts argues that we confuse symbol with reality, our ways of describing and measuring the world with the world itself, and thus put ourselves into the absurd situation of preferring money to wealth and eating the menu instead of the dinner. With our attention locked on numbers and concepts, we are increasingly unconscious of nature and of our total dependence on air, water, plants, animals, insects, and bacteria. We have hallucinated the notion that the so-called external world is a cluster of objects separate from ourselves, that we encounter it, that we come into it instead of out of it. Originally published in 1972, Does It Matter? foretells the environmental problems that arise from this mistaken mind-set. Not all of Watts's predictions have come to pass, but his unique insights will change the way you look at the world.

Out of Your Mind

Author: Alan Watts

Publisher: Souvenir Press

Published: 2018-03-01

Total Pages: 192

ISBN-13: 0285644092

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In order to come to your senses, Alan Watts often said, you sometimes need to go out of your mind. Out of Your Mind brings readers, for the first time, six of this legendary thinker's most engaging teachings on how to break through the limits of the rational mind. Offering answers to generations of spiritual seekers, Alan Watts is the voice for all who search for an understanding of their identity and role in the world. For those both new and familiar with Watts, this book invites us to delve into his favourite pathways out of the trap of conventional awareness: discover art of the "controlled accident" - what happens when you stop taking your life so seriously and start enjoying it with complete sincerity. Embrace chaos to discover your deepest purpose. How do we come to believe "the myth of myself" - that we are skin-encapsulated egos separate from the world around us-and how to transcend that illusion? Find the miracle that occurs when we stop taking life so seriously.

Beyond Theology

Author: Alan Watts

Publisher: New World Library

Published: 2022-10-11

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 1608688259

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A radical reinterpretation of Christianity by one of the twentieth century’s leading philosophers Today, Alan Watts is remembered mainly as an eloquent interpreter of Eastern philosophies such as Taoism and Zen Buddhism. Not everyone knows that Watts was also a formidable scholar of Christianity who worked as an Episcopal chaplain early in his career. He eventually left the church to find his own spiritual path, but his time there fueled a burst of literary creativity that culminated in Beyond Theology, originally published in 1964 and now back in print. In this landmark work, Watts asks whether a “rigorous, imperious, and invincibly self-righteous” religion such as Christianity can stay relevant in our modern, multicultural world. To answer that question, he deconstructs Christianity by using concepts borrowed from psychology, linguistics, science, and Eastern philosophy. In the process, he solves difficult problems of theology, traces the impact of Christianity on Western culture, and points the way to a new form of nondualistic spirituality. Playing the role of a philosophical jester, Watts artfully deploys paradoxes, riddles, and gently subversive humor to overturn conventional wisdom. His intention is not to hold sacred things up to ridicule but rather to expand our definition of the sacred. The ultimate aim is to help us see beyond the external trappings of religion — beyond ritual, myth, doctrine, and theology itself — to experience the divine within ourselves.

There Is Never Anything but the Present

Author: Alan Watts

Publisher: Pantheon

Published: 2021-12-07

Total Pages: 128

ISBN-13: 0593316037

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A giftable collection of inspiring, uplifting, and enlightening words of wisdom from one of the most important voices in spirituality and self-help "The perfect guide for a course correction in life." —Deepak Chopra Here is an indispensible treasury of uplifting and enlightening quotations for guidance, support, and spiritual sustenance. In his classic works of philosophy, Alan Watts shared timeless wisdom with readers worldwide. In this book are some of his most thought-provoking words to live by, to reflect upon, and to read for inspiration, knowledge, and growth.

The Wisdom of Insecurity

Author: Alan Watts

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2011-11-16

Total Pages: 112

ISBN-13: 0307809862

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An acclaimed philosopher shows us how—in an age of unprecedented anxiety—we can find fulfillment by embracing the present and living more fully in the now. He is "the perfect guide for a course correction in life" (from the Introduction by Deepak Chopra). The brain can only assume its proper behavior when consciousness is doing what it is designed for: not writhing and whirling to get out of present experience, but being effortlessly aware of it. Alan Watts draws on the wisdom of Eastern philosophy and religion in this timeless and classic guide to living a more fulfilling life. His central insight is more relevant now than ever: when we spend all of our time worrying about the future and lamenting the past, we are unable to enjoy the present moment—the only one we are actually able to inhabit. Watts offers the liberating message that true certitude and security come only from understanding that impermanence and insecurity are the essence of our existence. He highlights the futility of endlessly chasing moving goalposts, whether they consist of financial success, stability, or escape from pain, and shows that it is only by acknowledging what we do not know that we can learn anything truly worth knowing. In The Wisdom of Insecurity, Watts explains complex concepts in beautifully simple terms, making this the kind of book you can return to again and again for comfort and insight in challenging times. “Perhaps the foremost interpreter of Eastern disciplines for the contemporary West, Watts had the rare gift of ‘writing beautifully the unwritable.’” —Los Angeles Times