The Bizarre Life of Alan Watts

but our whole culture our whole civilization in so far as it is involved with time and living only for a future is nuts it's not all here we are not awake we are not completely alive now the bizarre life of Alan Watts Alan Watts born in England and living most of his life in the United States was a writer speaker and philosopher what was best known for making Japanese Chinese and Indian spiritual traditions in the form of Buddhism taoism and Hinduism entertainingly accessible to wide and popular audience throughout the world Alan Watts also played a pivotal and Central role in the spiritual Revolution That Shook the religious status quo of the United States during the 1960s this change in the religious consciousness of the US brought to the American public ancient teachings from Hinduism Buddhism Sufism esoteric Christianity and other mystical religious traditions this spiritual Revolution changed the United States in ways that are still felt today yoga meditation chanting vegetarian diets non-violent protests therapies of all kinds feminism equal rights herbal and alternative medicines and treatments and much much more were all first introduced to Americans in the 1960s and were products of the spiritual Revolution you can't transform yourself you can't make yourself sane you can't make yourself loving you can't make yourself unselfish [Applause] and yet it's absolutely necessary that we be that way for many spiritual seekers in the United States and other parts of the Western World Alan Watts was their trusted guide through this incredible spiritual change Edwards treaty disease unfamiliar and sometimes extremely unfamiliar religious Traditions paths and practices in a very readable and accessible writing style the LA Times newspaper said of Alan Watts perhaps the foremost interpreter of Eastern disciplines for the Contemporary West Alan Watts had the rare gift of writing beautifully the unrightable Watts begins with scholarship and intellect and proceeds with art and eloquence to the frontiers of the spirit a fascinating entry into the deepest ways of knowing from the beginning of the 2000s Alan Watts was rediscovered as his lectures and talks became available on YouTube and across the internet today his is perhaps more popular and well known than ever awesome to really understand the spiritual revolution of the 1960s in the United States in which Alan Watts played such an important part we need to go back to 1893. 1893 was the year that the first parliament of world religions was held in Chicago this first parliament of world religions was an attempt to create a dialogue between the different faiths throughout the world the speakers came from all over the globe they came from Buddhism Hinduism Islam Jainism Christianity and many other faiths of those many speakers two speakers stood out from the rest those two speakers would not only lay the groundwork for the spiritual life and evolution of Alan Watts but also for the later spiritual revolution of the 1960s they were an Indian Hindu monk Swami Vivekananda and soyan shaku a Zen Buddhist monk now considered the founder of Zayn Buddhism in America in a powerful and commanding voice addressed the parliament with the words and the crowd burst into a standing ovation which lasted for two minutes Swami Vivekananda was sent to America by his spiritual Master the legendary Indian Saint and sage ramakrishna and it would be this speech that would initiate the American vedanta Society of America and awaken an interest in Hinduism for many Americans from the turn of the century numerous branches of the vedanta society opened Across America but the most well-known Branch was probably the vedanta temple in Hollywood which was opened in 1938 Alan Watts would visit the vedanta temple in Hollywood many times from the 1940s onwards on many occasions getting into profound discussions on the nature of spiritual life and practice with the habit of the temple Swami prabhavananda the other speaker who would indirectly be an influence on Alan Watts was the Zen Buddhist monk so Yin shaku it was soyen shaku who after returning to Japan from the U.S would direct his student the Zen Buddhist practitioner and Scholar d.t Suzuki to travel to America and teach Zen DT Suzuki lectured and wrote about Zen for almost 70 years in the 1940s When Alan Watts first arrived in America from England he was an Anglican priest with a master's degree in theology who also had a passion for Asian thought and culture Alan Watts first book The Spirit of Zen was influenced by DT Suzuki when he met him in London just before he traveled to the United States once in the U.S Watts became a chaplain at Northwestern University near Chicago and stays there all through World War II however when the war ended Watts moved to the West Coast and taught at the school of Asian studies in San Francisco it was during this time that he also joined the Los Angeles vedanta Society visited the Hollywood vedanta Temple and met Swami prabhavananda [Music] Watts kept writing too during this time he produced two important books the way of Zen and Psychotherapy East and West it was these two books that began to greatly expand watt's reputation the way of Zen traces the origins of Zen Buddhism is a synthesis of taoism and Buddhism it also urges that Western philosophy is severely limited by its adherence to logic while Eastern philosophy transcends these logical boundaries Psychotherapy East and West is still considered today one of the most important books about the differences between Western Psychotherapy and Eastern spiritual practices these books had and continue to have a profound effect on their readers but it was in 1953 when Waltz began talks on a radio station in Berkeley California that he began to attract large numbers of interested and regular listeners world's popularity steadily grew from this point onwards until by the 1960s he was a central figure in the alternative culture movement of the times Alan Watts however during his life struggled with demons that would eventually kill him however as Watts Fame grew so did his drinking Watts had always been a heavy smoker but now he began to drink up to a liter of gin a day as well by the early 1970s friends of Watts had become very concerned about his drinking and feared that it had developed into full-blown alcoholism on returning to his cabin in Northern California on 16th of November 1973. that morning Alan Watts was found deceased Wards would die of alcoholism at the relatively young age of 58 years old in mysterious circumstances that remained fully unexplained to this day Waltz had been treated for a heart condition however before any autopsy or even an examination by a doctor could be performed Alan Watts's body was taken to a nearby Beach and cremated Alan Watts was discovered deceased at 6am and by 8 30 am his body had been cremated with half his ashes already scattered on the beach and the other half buried underneath his nearby library the speed at which all this was done inspired many conspiracy theories however what some marqu Watts explained that his father was aware of his impending death and had meticulously planned what was to happen after he died regardless Watts left this planet a much better place Walt's Central philosophy can be summed up thus drawing on Hinduism taoism pantheism and model science Watts understood the universe as engaged in a cosmic play of Hide and Seek in other words God or the whole had split itself into many many parts and was in the process of rediscovering itself the godhead intentionally forgets itself so as to play the game of rediscovery Watts therefore believed that our egos are a myth and are in fact temporary and contingent expressions of the whole people say you can't change human nature overnight you're asking us to give up the EGO and that's the most difficult of all things to do actually it isn't because the ego doesn't exist in many of the books that he wrote in his lifetime Waltz also expressed his Keen interest in the patterns that occur in nature and which are repeated as a micro and macro scales Watts believed that these patterns are also repeated and reflected in humankind's history of civilizations through his books and lectures what's influenced many writers artists intellectuals and others around the globe when the Zen Buddhist teacher shunri of Suzuki students criticized Alan Watts by commenting that we used to think he was profound until we found the real thing shunriu Suzuki turned to them and said forcefully you completely missed the point about Alan Watts you should notice what he has done he's a great bodhisattva of himself Alan Watts said in his autobiography in my own way I am a sedentary and contemplative character an intellectual abrahman a Mystic and also somewhat of a disreputable Epicurean who has three wives seven children and five grandchildren however many readers and listeners of Alan Watts writing and talks agree with the writer Elsa gidlow when she says Alan Watts writings and recorded talks still Shimmer with a profound and galvanizing lucidity foreign [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Asangoham

Views: 785,474

Keywords: alan watts, spirituality, zen, buddhism, vedanta, hinduism, alan watts lecture, alan watts meditation, alan watts speech, alan watts life, vedanta ny, alan watts zen

Id: T6lRcGxH-Mc

Length: 12min 26sec (746 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 03 2022