Read free. The Essential Alan Watts, by Alan Watts, 1977.
Excerpt
From the Foreword by Mark Watts:
In the following chapters the reader will discover a unique perspective of the philosophy of the late Alan Watts, one of the foremost Western interpreters of Eastern thought. The selections included herein are of dual origin in that the first two chapters are essays by Watts, and the following chapters are based upon his spoken word. Starting with “Trickster Guru” and “Speaking Personally” (the essays), this book begins with an autobiographical flavor and continues on to reveal Watts’ insights in their final and most concise form.
To anyone familiar with the Eastern tradition of the guru, the “Trickster Guru” will strike a familiar note. Perhaps the most personal article ever written by Alan Watts, “Trickster” examines the myth of the guru from the outside in. Readers, teachers and “gurus” alike will find his treatment most humorous and forgiving. The rascal guru is revealed in due course as an ironically virtuous character. In “Speaking Personally.” Watts muses about his own life, and in fact mentions his then-forthcoming autobiography, referring to it as “Coincidence of Opposites.” The title was later changed to In My Own Way, a further play on his seminar entitled “Being In the Way.”
The chapters “Ego,” “Cosmic Drama” “The More It Changes” “Work as Play” and “Time” were derived from The Essential Lectures of Alan Watts, a series of video programs recorded by Watts in 1971, two years before his death. Thus they reflect the culmination of his lifelong inquiry into the basic philosophical questions facing mankind. By the early seventies Watts had gathered a wide following, and he endeavored to present his ideas with the utmost simplicity so that they would be comprehensible to everyone. Watts called this practice “avoiding spookery,” which loosely translated meant not using words or mystical concepts which might be unfamiliar, and thus confusing.
The remaining chapters, “The Individual as Man/World,” “Oriental ‘Omnipotence,” and “Psychotherapy and Easter Religion” are public lectures delivered to general and professional audiences. These talks were selected by Watts from hundreds of hours of recordings for publication in various journals and periodicals.
Introductory Pages
Related Posts
Paths to Power
Rational Living
stephensgospel.com
Future Is Now
Quotes from Stephen Gaskin
