Alan W. WattsBesprekingen

The philosopher and scholar probes the concepts underlying meditation as it applies to a number of Eastern religions including Taoism, Buddhism and the Krishna sect of Hinduism.

Alan Wilson Watts was a British philosopher, writer and speaker, who held both a Master's in Theology and a Doctorate of Divinity. Famous for his research on comparative religion, he was best known as an interpreter and popularizer of Asian philosophies for a Western audience. He wrote over 25 books and numerous articles on subjects such as personal identity, the true nature of reality, higher consciousness, the meaning of life, concepts and images of God and the non-material pursuit of happiness. In his books he relates his experience to scientific knowledge and to the teachings of Eastern and Western religion and philosophy.

Quick Review: Finished this book with my heart racing and my mind feeling as if the universe were expanding into infinity and my self was riding it, knowing exactly my part in the whole. I'll never see the world the same way again.

Inspiring....

In recent years, I've slowly transitioned from someone who was apathetic (if not a bit antagonistic) towards religion in my younger years to a more complicated place. I still wouldn't call myself a believer in any sense, but maybe it's a fact of aging that you notice how certain religious ideas are just *right* in a way that their secular equivalents just can't match. I think the last 10 or so years in the West have presented lots of challenges to the Good Ole Fashioned Liberal Mindset (GOFLM) that I and many of my ilk had previously ascribed to, as much as we may have denied that affiliation. At some point, humanity will have to come to terms with the fact that we can't know everything, and that actually, we shouldn't. I think the greatest block that the religious mindset sets out for this kind of person is that there are some insurmountable limits on life and society, and no matter how much "progress" we have, we won't over come them.
The Zen tradition offers lots of interesting ideas to someone caught at this intellectual crossroads. Whereas other religions might try to scare or threaten people into accepting their version of the limits on progress, Zen has no such aspirations. It encourages not only submission to the limits, but a kind of ecstatic appreciation of the beauty that comes from realizing the pitiful extent of which our attempts to control the world actually goes. The GOFLM has brought some freedom for some oppressed people, and has liberated the modern mind from much of the pointless self-flagellation that people in the past used to subject themselves to simply for being different. This "liberation" however has also done much to bound us up in ropes of our own weaving - we are so "conscious" of what we think is making us tick, and so beholden to the manipulative cries to "be ourselves" that we don't even realize that we are obsessing over a phantom.
Zen teaches us to stop spreading our ego out into the diaphanous wraith that tuggings of the world are constants trying to turn us into. When you clear the air of the smog of the past and the haze of the future, you realize that we've all become prisoners of time. I can't imagine what the writers and thinkers that formulated Zen a thousand years ago would think of the way the world has become even more obsessed with time, where so much is built upon clock-ins and clock-outs, chiming alarms, projections and analysis. Zen calls on us to recognize not only that we've become prisoners of time, but also that the prison is completely of our own making, and that with some reflection, it just might be possible to stroll right out of the cell without anyone to stop you.
This line of thinking is, of course, at odds with the reality of how our world is set up in 2023. One thing that makes this book special is the extensive space that Watts spends explaining how the precursors of Zen influenced it, especially Daoism. I remember reading the Dao De Jing in high school and feeling conflicted about a part where Lao Zi talks about how one should deal with an invading army. Lay down your arms, it says, don't resist. The Dao is moving and it is pointless to fight against it. This can feel like the kind of fatalism that comes packed into so many traditions of religious thought, a passivity anathema to the modern mind which is told that it is capable of anything. And yet to fight back is to propagate the violence that is counter to the goal that people actually want: peace. Zen might say that the injustices of the world today, which would seem to be a huge barrier to the kind of liberation from suffering that is its goal, are the result of everyone simply doing too much. To fight against what you see as wrong is also doing too much, just as those who are committing the wrongdoing are doing too much. The idea of a struggle is merely another endless chain of contingency, reliant to its core on false concepts of past and future that are lashing us to the wheel of suffering.
One cool thing about Zen that Watts devotes a whole chapter to is that unlike other religions, to be into the aesthetics of Zen is effectively to be into Zen itself. To ponder a work of a Zen master is to lean towards satori, to ape the Zen lifestyle is to be its most genuine practitioner. Thus, the Zen tradition again sets itself apart from other religious traditions that through ideas of conversion or faith merely bind themselves up in the cage of identity that brings us so much pain.

I don't know who this book is for, but it's not me. It felt like the same 4 sentences about how the past and future don't matter and avoiding the "divided mind" repeated with a splash of eastern religions thrown in.

In sum: Live in the moment.

Simple, beginner level information about certain western mental models. Good intro to works of Alan Watts

Groundbreaking!

I can't express how much I love this book: “How is it possible that a being with such sensitive jewels as the eyes, such enchanted musical instruments as the ears, and such fabulous arabesque of nerves as the brain can experience itself anything less than a god.”

It was a quick read. Due to the material's age, I did not find anything that I haven't already come across elsewhere. The disdain for prohibition and the knowledge that it simply does not work plainly put as it was, to me, was a point of interest. Politicians (at least in this country) are so far behind this currently that a book from the late 1960s is still somewhat relevant. Of course, most of those mummies were around then too: I should call them all ghouls from now on. Do I recommend this one? Not really, you could probably find something more up-to-date along the same lines.

A difficult book to be understood and not underrated, for it develops a reflection on the meaning of "I" and "me" which criticizes many roots of Western thought. A very useful read.

Este libro significa una inversión radical del pensamiento ordinario sobre la búsqueda de la seguridad. El autor plantea la pregunta: ¿cómo vivir en un mundo de inseguridad, en un mundo privado del consuelo de las tradicionales creencias religiosas? Y la respuesta la encuentra en la ley de la retrocesión: los seres humanos sufren y perecen debido a los esfuerzos mismos que hacen por no sufrir y por no perecer.

Alan Watts approach is engaging, humorous and always enlightening. I will read this again and again. This edition has great photography as well.

An interesting collection of essays by the famed introducer of Zen to the west, Alan Watts. Some of the essays are as timeless as ever, such as his thoughts on the non-duality of mankind and nature, while others have dated poorly since its publication in the early-1970s, such as his beliefs in the potential of psychedelic drugs or techno-optimism. It's not a book for a first time Alan Watts reader, but is a good addition for anyone familiar with his previous works.

LibraryThing Review:
Interesting even for someone who already knows a bit about Zen from other authors, with its description of the historical influence of Tao (and Confucianism) on the philosophy, and giving the reader a good idea of its paradoxicality. Perhaps the book could expatiate a bit on how it's understood and practised by common people, not just monks &c.


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 in The Way of Zen he gives this gift to readers everywhere.

I have to say, I'm quite a fan of Alan Watts, but this was absolutely painful to get through. I found this book to be 95% of random rambling about spirituality, Zen and religion and only about 5% actually interesting to read. There is zero structure here, and I often felt he got lost in his own arguments and forgot what he actually wanted to say or transmit.
THIS IS IT, it definitely is, but what is it? Unfortunately, one of the worst books I've ever read. Sorry, Alan, but I still like you! ;)½

9788447347490

'Nëse hapim sytë dhe shohim qartë, bëhet e kuptueshme se nuk ekziston asnjë kohë tjetër përveç momentit të tanishëm'
Një eksplorim i thellë i origjinës dhe historisë së Budizmit Zen, nga studiuesi pionier, Alan Watts. Me një kombinim të rralle të origjinalitetit dhe kthjelltësisë, Watts zbulon parimet kyçe të praktikës Zen dhe se si mund të revolucionarizojë jetën tonë të përditshme.
No reviews

The Two Hands of God is a fascinating exploration and expisition of the myths of polarity, those crucial symbolic relationships such as light and darkness, good and evil, which illustrate the inner unity of opposites. It is a rich source of the themes that have made Alan W. Watts one of the most popular of contemporary philosophers. Those themes, centering on the idea that explicit oppostion conceals implicit unity, are superbly illustrated here by a treasury of stories and myths from Chinese, Indian, Egyptian, Iranian, and Early Christian sources, and by twenty-three photographic plates to which detailed explications are supplied. The first section of the book deals with the inner unity of opposites as shown in Taoist, Buddhist, and Hindu myths and images. The second introduces the Middle eastern myths of the conflict of good and evil. The third follows the disappearance of this inner unity to its extreme in ultimate dualism, especially as indicated in the Christian mythology of Satan and hell. The concluding section, 'dismemberment Remembered,' describes the restoration of opposites to their eternally implicit union in myths dealing with the creation of the world , the generaton of offspring, and other themes. Alan W. Watts, one of the most influential philosophers and teachers of our time, is the author of many books, among them This Is It and The Book, both available from Collier Books. Contents List of Plates List of line drawings Preface Introduction One the primordial pair Two The cosmic dance Three The two brothers Four Ultimate dualism Five Dismemberment remembered Notes on the plates Bibliographical references Index

Alan Watts takes us from the origins of Buddhism to its practice, pointing the way beyond the duality of our separate egos to the meaning and method of enightenment. He traces the Indian beginnings of Buddhism, explains the basic terms and teachings, and looks at the radical techniques of Mahayana Buddhists, including Zen and the Tibetan traditions.

Alan Watts was born in England in 1915. He wrote his first book, The Spirit of Zen, in 1935 and went on to write more than twenty others including The Way of Zen. Dr. Watts was an Episcopalian priest, professor, graduate-school dean and research fellow of Harvard University. Although he died in 1973, he is one of the most accessible philosophers of our time, whose work continues to be a source of wisdom and inspiration for new generations of readers.

'It's easy to see why...his influence remains strong, not only in the Buddhist sanghas mushrooming across America, but throughout popular culture...'-The New York Times

'Although his famous voice and happy laughter are missing now, his penetrating vision remains, and his lectures become brilliant prose in book form.'-Publihsers Weekly

Contents

Introduction
The journey from India
The middle way
Religion of no-religion
Buddhism as dialogue
Wisdom of the mountains
Transcending duality

These ruminations, assembled in the form of a journal and here published in paperback for the first itme, are written at Alan Watts' retreat in the foothills of Mount Tamalpais, California. Many current themes are discussed, including meditation, nature, established religion, race relations, karma and reincarnation, astrology and tantric yoga, and the nature of ecstasy, but the underlying motif is the art of feeling out and following the watercourse way of nature, known in Chinese as the Tao. Watts suggests a way of contemplative meditation in which we temporarily stop naming and classifying all that we experience, and simply feel it as it is.

'Although the general thrust of the material is philosophical, there is a wide variance in approach and subject...The mature Watts has a genius for expressing things Oriental and ecumenical in a way that is economical and precise, yet interesting and often amusing.'-Library Journal

Contents

Preface
The water
And the mountain
The watercourse way
Flowing with the Tao
The future of ecstasy
The reality of reincarnation
Implications of karma
Spectrum of love
Black and/or white
Consider the lilies
What on earth are we doing?
Incantation of the stars
Was Jesus a freak?
What shall we do with the Church?
Do you smell?
On the tantra
The art of contemplation
The zero-one amazement
Protogenesis

I reread this January 2021. It is a must read for anyone drawn to religion, politics, or philosophy. It is a book I should try to revisit, at least in part, every year.

> Babelio : https://www.babelio.com/livres/Watts-La-Philosophie-du-Tao/66369

> LA PHILOSOPHIE DU TAO, Alan Watts, Traduit de l'américain par Blandine Roques - Ed. du Rocher. — Qu'est-ce que le Tao ? Que sont le yin et le yang ? Concepts essentiels de la philosophie orientale, ils fondent une vision du monde comme "organisme" et "environnement", à l'opposé de notre vision utilitariste. L'équilibre de l'être dans l'univers, le respect de la nature et l'écologie, le bonheur et l'harmonie individuels, la force du détachement, tous ces principes sont déjà présents depuis des millénaires dans la culture orientale.
Dans ces huit conférences inédites prononcées entre 1960 et 1973, Alan Watts démontre la modernité du Tao, son apport critique essentiel pour nos sociétés technicisées, dont le rationalisme excessif doit être corrigé. Dans un incessant échange entre l'Orient millénaire et l'Occident moderne, le penseur érudit et iconoclaste répertorie tout ce que la philosophie du Tao peut nous apporter et prône le "métissage" des deux visions du monde.
—Infos Yoga, (27), Mars/Avril 2000, (p. 37)

A lucid and refreshing book.

> Babelio : https://www.babelio.com/livres/Watts-Beat-Zen-Square-Zen-et-Zen/1031077

> Le mystère de la vie n'est pas un problème à résoudre.
Mais une réalité dont on doit faire l'expérience.
Si on interrompt un processus on ne peut pas le comprendre.
Pour le comprendre il nous faut cheminer avec lui. L'embrasser.
Progresser à ses côté. … ; (Source),
In: Dune (2021) Film de Denis Villeneuve

I have absolutely no recollection of when or where I obtained this book. After finishing my previous book I was unsure what to pick next but I had a leaning towards something non-fiction and philosophical. I keep my Religious and Spiritual books all on one shelf and my eye was instantly drawn to this book.

I first came across Alan Watts many years ago on the internet in the way of audio lectures and talks. Watts has a very interesting past in that he studied Buddhist, specifically Zen Buddhist and then trained and became a Christian priest for a number of years. The result of this is that Watts has an outlook on life which is a blend of Christian theology, Asian philosophy, and the history of both. Due to the level of his training and studying his philosophy can be a little impenetrable at times but he also has a great knack of explaining things in a simple to understand manner. What is Zen? is quite a small book, about 120 pages and is a collection of some talks he gave later in his life while living in Sausalito, California.

I enjoyed the book and as usual with this kind of writing there were certain passages which I found really illuminating. This is a decent introduction to Zen but probably not the best place for someone with no prior knowledge of Buddhist to start. There are places where it gets very intellectual and at these points it can get a little hard to follow which I found a little disappointing, I don't know if that says something about me or not. For someone wanting a good place to start I would heartily recommend Buddhism Without Beliefs by Stephen Batchelor. Overall I liked this book and I found it a worthwhile read.