There are hundreds of philosophers that have walked this world, and many that still do. Alan Watts was one of these great philosophers who was born in 1915 and died in 1973. He was known as an “interpreter of Eastern philosophies for the West”. (Mountain Center, N.D.). “We identify in our experience a differentiation between what we do and what happens to us.” – Alan Watts. (BrainyQuote, 2001).
From Alan’s early childhood, he was believed to be headstrong, imaginative, and talkative. It was believed that his mother’s religious family had a great impact on shaping Alan’s religious side. In his early years, he was sent to boarding schools to receive academic and religious training. Once he was in his teen years, he got an opportunity to travel France with a wealthy Epicurean, Francis Croshaw. It was Croshaw’s Buddhist beliefs that influenced Alan. Eventually Alan chooses Buddhism over Anglican Christianity and became a member of London Buddhist Lodge. In 1931, when Alan turned sixteen, he became the secretary of the organisation. It was during these years when he learned several styles of mediation. (Feira, 2007). After completing secondary school, he started working in a painting house and later in a bank. In his free time, he was involved with the activities of Buddhist Lodge. “Watts widely studied philosophy, history, psychology, psychiatry and Eastern wisdom. His involvement with the Buddhist Lodge gave him many opportunities for personal growth.” (Famous People, N.D.)
“His life and work reflects an astonishing adventure: he was an editor, Anglican priest, graduate dean, broadcaster, author, lecturer, and entertainer. He had fascinations for archery, calligraphy, cooking, chanting, and dancing, and still was completely comfortable hiking alone in the wilderness.” (Mountain Center, N.D.). Alan created many essays and spoke many lectures to help inspire people, and teach them of western cultures from his own experience. He did not just focus on Buddhism, but many different beliefs. Some of which would normally be against western culture.
Alan’s lecture Self and Other was about “the problem of personal identity, man's relationship to the universe, and all the things that are connected with that.” (Alan Watts, Self and Other.). He talks about how our culture has changed to where we allow guilt; and with this guilt we overcompensate. Alan describes how, as a culture we believe oneself is one’s own body, but Watts believes this is just a hallucination; that the environment around you is connected to who you are, and your “inner tubing”. (Alan Watts, Self and Other). In Taoism, they believe that all events are to be interconnected, that the harmonious interaction of all things is referred to as the Tao. (Class Notes, 2011). Alan goes into detail about the connection with the subway, power system, and sewer system in New York City and how all of this connects us to oneself.
In one of Alan’s quotes he says, “But I'll tell you what hermits realize. If you go off into a far, far forest and get very quiet, you'll come to understand that you're connected with everything.”- (BrainyQuote, 2001). This once again describes the interconnection with nature and us. This is what I would describe as the Tao or the Way. When he speaks of getting “very quiet” he is speaking of a sense of being without thought. I would describe this as Wu Wei; action without action or without thinking.
Another one of his quotes; “There has to be a state where cling stops. Only than is when faith starts. People who believe in god don’t have any faith because they want something to hold onto. Real faith is when you do not hold on to anything anymore.” – Alan Watts (Audio Recording, N.D.) directly relates to Buddhism. I see this as Nirvana; “a state of bliss and utter detachment.” (Class Notes b, 2011).
One of Alan Watt’s most interesting philosophies is what most western cultures would disagree with. Alan uses psychedelic drugs to have “mystical” experiences in “cosmic consciousness”. Western culture has a fascination “with the value and virtue of man as an individual, self-determining, responsible ego, controlling himself and his world by the power of conscious effort and will. Nothing, then, could be more repugnant to this cultural tradition than the notion of spiritual or psychological growth through the use of drugs.” (Alan Watts, 1968). Alan’s essay The Psychedelic Experience talks about his experiences on LSD-25 and cannabis. With his research he broke down his experiences into four dominant characteristics. This first characteristic is a slowing down of time. Watts explains that one’s concept of time changes and the concern of the future decreases; the only concern is for the moment. Example: relaxation and luxurious study of colors in a glass of water. (Alan Watts,1968). This characteristic describes the sense of without thought we learn from Taoism. Our culture is always focused on the future and life as a whole rather than taking in the moment without thought and just being.
The second characteristic is awareness of polarity. Alan describes this as the “realization that states, things, and events that we ordinarily call opposite are interdependent like back and front.” He also shares more complicated examples like solid and space, figure and background. “Our normal sensation of relationship to the outside world is that sometimes I push it, and sometimes it pushes me.” Alan describes how we need our environment and how our environment needs us. (Alan Watts, 1968). This is exactly like yin and yang; two opposing but inseparable forces. Together they create a balance, and create order, and without each other is chaos. (Class Notes, 2011).
The third characteristic is awareness of relativity, which is a lot like the second. Alan describes a “link in an infinite hierarchy of processes and beings”. He uses the example of a poor man who worries about money while a rich man worries about their health. He says “the worry is the same, but the difference is in its substance or dimension... we are all in fact one being, doing the same thing in as many different ways as possible.” (Alan Watts, 1968). Alan describes the realization of everything being interconnected, even the objects of images we take for granted in everyday life.
Finally is the fourth characteristic; awareness of eternal energy. Alan describes this awareness as a “kind of waking trance” that he experiences. The eternal energy is a form of intense white light and a clear realisation that all existence is a single energy. This is like the story of the hub of a wheel. The hub is nothing but it holds everything together. This eternal energy can also be called the Way; it is also the hub of a wheel. (Class Notes, 2011).
Alan Watts has many great essays and lectures that are all very inspirational. He has a great understanding of many western cultures, and explains them through his own experiences and thoughts. Alan has many more ideologies, audio recordings, books, and even animations out there. He is a very inspirational person, with many people learning from his teachings. There is even talk of a future film about Alan Watts, in the making.
References
Alan Watts. (1968). Psychedelics and Religious Experience. Retrieved from:
http://deoxy.org/w_psyrel.htm
Alan Watts. (N.D.). Self and Other. Retrieved from: http://deoxy.org/w_self.htm
Brainy Quote. (2001). Alan Watts Quotes. Retrieved from:
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/alanwatts252970.html
Class Notes. (2011). The Chinese Sages. Retrieved from:
http://lms.saultcollege.ca/webct/urw/lc2039116001.tp0/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct
Class Notes. B. (2011). Buddhism. Retrieved from:
http://lms.saultcollege.ca/webct/urw/lc2039116001.tp0/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct
Famous People. (N.D.) Alan Watts. Retrieved from:
http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/alan-watts-159.php
Feira, Quinta. (2007). Alan Watts. Retrieved from:
http://metamorficus.blogspot.com/2007/12/alan-watts.html
Mountain Center. (N.D). The Alan Watts Story. Retrieved from:
