Alan Watts Being in the Way

Ep. 37 – Reality, Art and Illusion

Inviting listeners to question the nature of reality, consciousness, and perception, Alan Watts explores the limits of what the mind can truly know.This series is brought to you by the Alan Watts Organization and Ram Dass’ Love Serve Remember Foundation. Visit Alanwatts.org for full talks from Alan Watts.Today’s episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/alan and get on your way to being your best self.This time on Being in the Way, Alan Watts explains:Solipsism and how it subtly shapes modern human consciousnessThe philosophical case for idealism and the nature of reality as mind-dependentRelativity and how things exist for the purpose of other thingsThe mind as a mirror and the illusion of an objective, external viewpointConsidering how the spiritual world affects the material worldThe enduring philosophical question: What exists when no one is observing?The Four Buddhist Inconceivables and the limits of conceptual thought"Being is always being for something; it is, in other words, relational. The sun is light for eyes. Eyes are organs of vision for a mind. If there are no eyes, the sun gives forth no light. If there are no nerve ends it gives forth no heat. If there are no muscles, nothing is heavy.” –Alan WattsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ep. 36 – Seeing through The Net

In this new, technological age, Alan Watts explains how seeing reality via only one perspective can lead to a fragmented view of the world; instead, he encourages listeners to adopt both the analytical and the organic. This series is brought to you by the Alan Watts Organization and Ram Dass’ Love Serve Remember Foundation. Visit Alanwatts.org for full talks from Alan Watts.Today’s episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/alan and get on your way to being your best self.In this episode, Alan Watts dives into:Living in an age of technology in a culture obsessed with rational control How someone can easily be obstructed by their own cautiousnessThe problem of human ecology and how one should best relate to their environmentConsidering what our idea of heaven is and what desires we truly want The western model of the universe (intellectual, architectural, mechanical) Reductive thinking: seeing the world through a net and making everything into a comprehensible, geometrical unitThe fundamental difference between a mechanism and an organism How understanding the world through only conscious attention can lead to seeing everything as parts rather than the whole pictureCombining the academic, analytical mind with the organic, ‘gooey’ mind “Go to the science of medicine. You get a specialist who really understands the function of the gall bladder. He studied gall bladders ad infinitum, and he really thinks he knows all about it. But, whenever he looks at a human being, he sees them in terms of the gall bladder.” – Alan WattsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ep. 35 – Dreaming the World

Diving into the cosmic drama of reality, Alan Watts describes the world as a divine dream which is poetic, playful, and only sometimes serious.Being in the Way is brought to you by the Alan Watts Organization and Ram Dass’ Love Serve Remember Foundation. Visit Alanwatts.org for full talks from Alan Watts.On this episode of Being in the Way, Alan Watts:Exploring how we get caught in the cosmic game and drama of lifeSeeing the universe as the playful expression of divine energyQuestioning identity: the tension between acting and simply being.Confronting the spiritual taboo of realizing the self as God—tat tvam asi.Indirect awareness of the networks and systems in the physical world Music and the pure delight in complex orders of soundEmbracing the paradox of existence as poetic, musical, and playful, while still being serious.Considering all of the senses as forms of one, larger sense of touchThe oneness of up and down, black and white, being and non-being Complexities of human culture that arise out of duality Today's podcast is sponsored by Betterhelp & Dharma Seed:Being in the Way is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/alan and get on your way to being your best self.Join Krishna Das, the most well-known voice of Bhakti chanting (Kirtan) in the West, and David Nichtern - a senior Buddhist teacher, founder of Dharma Moon, guitarist in Krishna Das’ band, and producer of several of his albums - for a warm and engaging conversation about these two paths, their shared roots, and how they intersect in contemporary spiritual practice. Learn more about this FREE online gathering - THE HEART & MIND OF PRACTICE: BUDDHISM & BHAKTI"The real taboo is 'that art thou'. You, lurking behind the mask of being an impermanent human person, are really responsible for the whole thing. If anybody claims that in our culture, we put them straight away into an asylum. That is the very hallmark of insanity. But, in India, if someone suddenly wakes up one morning and says 'My goodness, I'm God', everybody says, instead of you're crazy or blasphemous, they say 'Congratulations, at last you've found out'". – Alan WattsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ep. 34 – Confucianism vs. Taoism

Breaking free from cause-and-effect and the formal ideas of Confucianism, Alan Watts describes mutual arising as the key idea of the Tao.Today’s episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/alan and get on your way to being your best self.This time on Being in the Way, Alan Watts describes:Chinese philosophies of Taoism and ConfucianismOur roles in social life and Confucianism as the way for people involved in the worldTaoism as the way for those who do not prescribe to formal patternsHow the Taoist goes with nature rather than against natureIdeologies of God as a ruler or a lord versus the Taoist perspectiveExperiences in terms of their polar experience (loud vs. soft)Mutual arising as they key idea of the TaoMan as being within nature rather than dominating itHow Taoism gets rid of karma without challenging itThe Chinese philosophy of timeSensing the flow of the present and flow of the TaoThis series is brought to you by the Alan Watts Organization and Ram Dass’ Love Serve Remember Foundation. Visit Alanwatts.org for full talks from Alan Watts.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ep. 33 – Zen Reconsidered

Re-familiarizing us with Zen traditions, Alan Watts inspires listeners to move beyond going through the motions of practice.Today’s episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/alan and get on your way to being your best self.In this episode of Being in the Way, Alan Watts explains:Our lack of awareness of the basic structure of the worldThe world itself as meaningless (non-symbolic)Realizing fundamental energy and Zen as the religion of no religionThe metaphysical in terms of the everydayThe composition of Zen practiceHow westerners are bothered by ritual and splendorHow Buddhism has degenerated over the yearsA re-familiarization with Buddhism for modernityThis series is brought to you by the Alan Watts Organization and Ram Dass’ Love Serve Remember Foundation. Visit Alanwatts.org for full talks from Alan Watts.“There is this tremendous problem, unless the Buddhist tradition is to go down the drain completely, of re-familiarizing the Japanese with what it’s all about. Over the years it has degenerated into going through the motions and into being something which is just a kind of magic.” – Alan WattsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.