 "A great trip if you're open to it." | 2009-11-08 |
| - Reviewed By byrd52 |
Not having read Alan Watts before, but cognizant that he was a major guru of the 1960's, I was prepared for a hippie, psychedelic version of truth. But I was surprised and pleased to find that Watts expounded his ideas in a manner that was very down-to-earth, but yet had the backing of scholarship.
The first couple of chapters, in which Watts analyzes the condition of modern Western society, are dated by some of his illustrations, but the principles involved are still timely. The major problem of modern civilization is a rampant materialism, fueled by an unbalanced egotism and an inability to live in the present moment. We are victimized by the 'double-bind', a condition of self-conflict which arises in response to the old dogmas and rules of 'should', oughtn't, 'must', etc. Watts says our behavior should be based on knowledge instead of commandments and prohibitions.
Starting with the question of what sort of book would he like to be able to give to today's youngster's as a guide to life, Watts rejects the traditional sacred writings as being too rigid to provide meaningful guidance in a dramatically changing world. Watts asserts that there is a meaningful way of viewing the world, but that it has been ignored by the philosophers of the West, and is not easy to access.
Watts harks back to the Hindu philosophy of Vedanta for guidance to a meaningful conception of life. In what I thought was a clear easy-to-follow exposition, he demolishes the sacrosanct Western idea of individuality, in the sense of each person being a separate spirit poured into a bag of skin. He introduces the concept that each person is a focal point for the manifestation of 'IT', the cosmic consciousness, or God, or whatever name you want to assign to the great unknowable Unity which composes the entire universe.
At about the third chapter I really began to resonate with this book, and was swept up with this vision of a cosmic entity who was alone; so that in order to know itself, IT became the universe, and evolved consciousness in the higher animals so that IT could search for itself through the awareness of it's creatures, who were in reality not separate entities, but focal points and expressions of IT. This is really a far-out and staggering concept for those of us who had a conventional Western upbringing. I thought Watts brought this argument off very well, without hyperbole, and with many pertinent and persuasive analogies and metaphors, as well as references to sayings of various thinkers.
In summing up, Watts deals with the question of "Well, so what if it's all true? What good is it ?" I think he provides a quite adequate answer, which I will let you read for yourself.
Am I personally convinced that Watts found the secret meaning of life? The fact that I rated the book 4 stars instead of 5 should give you a clue. But it was an exhilarating read which I am happy to file away in my memory banks as a valuable bit of vision which contributes to and expands my overall world-view. |
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 "Alan Watts Freakin Rules" | 2008-11-16 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3I2BMK2VWBBXC |
| This book was excellent. One of my professors saw my interest in Eastern Philosophy and recommended Watts to me, but I had no idea I would dig it this much. I definately recommend this book as a pretty easy introduction to Alan Watts or even to Eastern Philosophy in general. He propounds his thoughts very lucidly and in a way that should be easy for most people to understand. He really does seem to have written it, as he indicates, as a book to be given to young people who are in that stage of questioning things; but I see it as having value for people of any age. Good stuff! |
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| "A near perfect entry into non-dual mysticism" | 2008-05-01 |
| - Reviewed By rtipe48 |
This is a distillation of the sublime wisdom of fifties and sixties writer on Vedanda, Zen, and psychotherapy in a proto-integral non dual Zen way. This is a perfect, succint glide past constructed and limited ego. Five stars.
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| "Mans' place in the world" | 2008-03-28 |
| - Reviewed By raymond3881 |
In his pursuit of science man emphasizes the difference between things: this is not that. This approach has created the technological world in which we live, but the very same mind set has created a culture in which man feels cut off from the world, isolated in the eternal 'I', lonely and at odds with those around us. "You are not me", we say. But in this book Watts wants to teach us a different way of looking at the problem. Things do not exist in separate categories of, for example, 'right' and wrong. Rather the world is a set of continuums and polarities which are basic to our understanding. Right and wrong are interdependent and we can't understand one without knowledge of the other. Also, we are not divided off from the world, but intimately linked to the environment. In a witty scenario Watts explores the inter-relationship between an ant in a hole in the ground and you, via your own kitchen. You and I share certain qualities, though of course we may have different degrees of them.
This book is, at its heart, Watts' take on the philosophy of Indian, Verdic (Hindu) literature. As usual it is very accessible reading and is filled with witty descriptions and arguments that lead you to think more deeply about life. I read the book several months ago and am still taking on board some of his apparently simple arguments. I found, however, that I agreed with Watts through his long chains of arguments only to balk at his final conclusion. This happened repeatedly. Specifically I cannot agree that man is a total microcosm of the macrocosm, that we are a unique, yet complete, expression of Brahma, God, Absolute Meaning, or whatever you choose to describe the ultimate 'It' as. This is just too much metaphysics and theology for me. It must be remembered that Watts is an ex-Anglican minister and I think his background shows here. I also wished that Watts had spent much more time defining modern man's current predicament as I feel that this is where he is at his very best. For example I loved the first half of his earlier book The Wisdom of Insecurity for that very reason. Of course your understanding of the world may be very different to mine, so you may like the book better than I did. I certainly didn't dislike it, but I do not feel that it is his best.
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| "Revolutionary and Radical" | 2008-01-26 |
| - Reviewed By User: ACSQOHZ47X6BF |
There are many many books available today written about the non-dual philosophy or perspective. At the time this book was written, the old nonduality traditions like Zen, Dzogchen and Taoism were well-known but cloaked in the mystery of Asian or Eastern religions or philosophies. Alan Watts was one of the first to take this revolutionary and radical perspective to the West.
Alan Watts writes from a clear understanding of the nature of reality - he does this in a way that slowly lures us from our conditioned and programmed thought process into a more open and accepting stance.
He points to the fact that the illusion of "ME" being a separate entity held prisoner within a bag of skin and bones is merely a mistake in perception, a false belief given to us by unknowing and similarly-illusioned parents. He uses concepts and illustrations to guide us past the mind, past the overlay of conceptual belief, into a pure STOP, a cease of the mind, in which the true nature of beingness can be known.
The traditional Eastern philosophies were always viewed as just that - Eastern and "separate" philosophies, which applied to "those of that faith" but was not much more than a passing curiosity of those in the West. When this book came out, it was an introduction to Advaita Vedanta, a Western slant on the Eastern teachings. It talked about things which were taboo in the west, hence the title "The Book on the Taboo against knowing what you are."
And why is it Taboo? It's taboo because there is a Truth shining through the words, a freedom of being which underlies ALL religious beliefs, a seeing/knowing which is ever-present and prior to the mind and it's attempts to run away from the Truth. And who wants their long-held and treasured beliefs to be questioned?
Who really wants to know that they truly do not exist? |
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| "The Carl Sagan of Nonduality" | 2007-12-27 |
| - Reviewed By jerry4865 |
In 1966, Alan Watts published a book near the end of which he introduced the word "nonduality" to a mainstream audience: "The unity, or inseparability, of one and many is ... referred to in Vedanta philosophy as `non-duality' (advaita) to distinguish it from simple uniformity." The Book is important for anyone who wants to understand nonduality. The topics it covers are wider ranging than what's seen in the current crop of more direct and lean books on nonduality. He riffs on God, Christmas morning, American values, spirituality, Dads, religion, social change, philosophy, death. He calls in Blake, Bohm, Schrodinger, a gang of philosophers, a cut of Zen. Did I mention Santa Claus? Yeah, I think I did.
Alan Watts was the Carl Sagan of nonduality. That is, he spoke eloquently, plainly, quotably, and memorably about the essential truth of his sphere of interest, which could be called nonduality, truth, IT, That, or This, or Who You Are.
In the first few pages, Watts informs the reader a new perspective is about to come down: "We do not need a new religion or a new bible. We need a new experience - a new feeling of what it is to be `I.'"
Then he gets into it and in paragraph after paragraph of explanation and example, Watts lays down the nondual perspective: "...what we call `things' are no more than glimpses of a unified process. Certainly, this process has distinct features which catch our attention, but we must remember that distinction is not separation."
Watts' tone of voice is like that of any guru: "If you ask me how to get beyond the ego-feeling, I shall ask you why you want to get there. If you give me the honest answer, which is that your ego will feel better in the `higher spiritual status' of self-transcendence, you will thus realize that you - as ego - are a fake."
Because of the quality of explanation, I would say The Book is an important and excellent book to add to your study of nonduality. I do think there are moments when Watts enjoys hearing his own voice, but I enjoyed hearing it too.
Jerry Katz
One: Essential Writings on Nonduality |
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