Alan Watts: What is the self?
Self defined not as individual ego, but the whole universe.
04 April, 2019
- Alan Watts believed that we can comprehend a greater sense of the self.
- The self is not alienated from the universe, but a part of the whole process.
- Scientists have conceptualized a similar idea that sounds like it's straight out of the Indian Vedanta.
<p>Western cultures rooted in scientific thinking and reductionist philosophies have always flirted with the tempting holism of the East. It was during the 1950s and '60s that these philosophies finally burst through the dividing cultural membrane and finally became a permanent fixture in our culture. Alan Watts was one such philosopher and lecturer of the time that is largely responsible for this popularization of Eastern spiritual ideas. </p><p>Whether it was on the way we <a href="https://bigthink.com/personal-growth/alan-watts-education" target="_self">view education</a> or <a href="https://bigthink.com/personal-growth/philosopher-alan-watts-on-the-difference-between-money-and-wealth" target="_self">money</a> — Watts masterfully weaved a synthesis of <a href="https://bigthink.com/personal-growth/alan-watts-books" target="_self">ancient Eastern philosophy</a> to contend with and understand our chaotic mode of modern life. </p><p>One such topic that he touched upon at length was the idea of the self. Many great philosophers have pondered on this great question — what is the self? It is within this sphere of questioning that Watts proposed that all roads of inquiry lead to one central idea, even if they're not aware of it. That the self is an illusion, all is inseparable and part of a continuous wave of existence from beginning to end and back again. </p><blockquote><em>... the prevalent sensation of oneself as a separate ego enclosed in a bag of skin is a hallucination which accords neither with Western science nor with the experimental philosophy-religions of the East.</em></blockquote>
Alan Watts and the self
<p>Alan Watts touched upon this subject at length in a talk titled "Self and Other." Watts believed that we could shed the illusion of self and other through simple comprehension. No need for any difficult yoga meditations or even mind-shattering psychedelics. </p><p>It is plain to see that in our modern civilization many people lack meaning. As the scientific method has unraveled old mysteries and religions have lost their hold on ontological truth, there is no longer a binding authority to look toward for guidance on the nature of reality. </p><p><a href="https://bigthink.com/mind-brain/existentialism-books" target="_self">Great existentialist thinkers </a>heralded this onslaught of meaning in the past two centuries. Science offers us no solace with its nihilistic undertones of blind chance and our supposed infinitesimal place in an infinite and indifferent universe. But the very act of our being is testament to the fact that we are more than a separate entity that is a stranger to this universe, but the whole meaning and process of it. As Watts once mused about the future, "It's going to become basic common sense that you are not some alien being who confronts an external world that is not you, but that almost every intelligent person will have the feeling of being an activity of the entire universe."</p><p>There is a prevailing concept endemic to modern cosmology that proposes that life is some kind of cosmic accident. That it's a rarity, an aberration or seen in a sometimes more positive light — a miracle. </p><p>Now in the Eastern view and especially in the view that Watts espouses, everything has led up to this point, but not in some kind of planned monarchical clockwork godlike guidance. It simply has come to be. All of the universal processes — from gravitational pulls from one galaxy to the next down to the starlight of our sun to the multiplicitous iterations of conscious life — are one interconnected process and, in a sense, one being. </p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"You see, if you become aware of the fact that you are all of your own body, and that the beating of your heart is not just something that happens to you, but something you're doing, then you become aware also in the same moment and at the same time that you're not only beating your heart, but that you are shining the sun."</p><p>We come to realize then that self cannot be defined. That we are interdependent on others to define ourselves socially, physically, and spiritually just as we are also the sum total of our environment, genetic makeup, and all matter-bound activities in the universe right down to the beginning of existence. </p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"In other words, let's suppose that those cosmologists and astronomers are right who believe that this universe started out with an original Big Bang, which flung all those galaxies out into space. It's a continuous energy system. The energy which is now manifested as your body is the same energy which was there in the beginning. If anything at all is old, this hand is as old as anything there is. Incredibly ancient. I mean, the energy keeps changing shapes, doing all sorts of things, but there it all is."</p><p>Watts philosophical argument is compelling when integrated into our current understanding of the universe. Some modern day scientists are even conceding the point that was made thousands of years ago by early Hindu and Buddhist philosophies.</p>Scientific theory on universal consciousness
<p>For instance, the late scientist and philosopher John Archibald Wheeler remarked that every single piece of matter contained consciousness, which he believed made up a proto-consciousness field. The theory eventually was called "participatory anthropic principle," which explains how the human observer is a fundamental part of the process. He stated, "We are participators in bringing into being not only the near and here but the far away and long ago."</p><p>Some modern day scientists are taking this one step forward in the only way they know how and thinking about <a href="https://bigthink.com/philip-perry/the-universe-may-be-conscious-prominent-scientists-state" target="_self">testing for observational evidence</a> of consciousness transmitted through a quantum vacuum. Another name for this phenomenon is called <a href="https://bigthink.com/robby-berman/are-we-all-multiple-personalities-of-universal-consciousness" target="_self">panpsychism.</a></p><p>Perhaps we are the Brahmin who has forget itself. As the ancient Hindu scriptures once believed that we are the soul breath of Atman. The self as the cosmos and the cosmos as the self to experience itself. </p>
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7 essential Eastern philosophy books
Discover the holistic and all-encompassing philosophies of the ancient East.
18 March, 2019
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- Taoist philosophy teaches its adherents the paradoxical action of non-action.
- Over three thousand years ago, the I Ching conceptualized binary code and influenced major asian religions
- Ram Dass and Herman Hesse synthesized western scientific and philosophic views with traditional eastern religions to inform their teachings.
<p>All cultures in the world have sought to develop an understanding of themselves, their realities and seek deeper truths. While the scientific and reductionist worldview of European thought has labored to formulate and postulate on the world, a divergence of thought also flourished throughout the East with a more holistic view of existence. These ideals and differing thoughts have certainly pollinated and crossed one another throughout the years. Today, the old dichotomy and division of Eastern and Western thought has largely dissolved or converged. In the past century or so, these views of the world were more alienated from one another. </p><p>In a more seemingly rapid paced world without sanctuary or peace of mind, it's time we return to these books on Eastern philosophy. Discover what has been lost and what can be found again.</p><h1>Tao Te Ching</h1><div class="rm-shortcode amazon-assets-widget" data-rm-shortcode-id="2N2LR21552693953" contenteditable="false">
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<p>This influential and widely known Chinese text is attributed to the great sage Lao Tzu. Short and whimsical, the <em></em>"Tao Te Ching" reads more like folky Aesop's fables than fundamental religious doctrine. It's a slim book and a quick read, but leaves behind new profundities <a href="https://bigthink.com/personal-growth/eastern-philosophy-and-mental-health" target="_self">on the nature of being</a> and reality. Stephen Mitchell's poetic translation keeps the wisdom intact. </p><p>Considered the foundational text for Taoism, the <em></em>"Tao Te Ching"<em></em> leads its reader into a newfound, harmonious way of existing in the world. Taoism is the paradoxical concept of non-action or "doing not-doing". Mitchell writes in the introduction that: "The game plays the game; the poem writes the poem; we can't tell the dancer from the dance."</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Fill your bowl to the brim<br>and it will spill.<br>Keep sharpening your knife<br>and it will blunt.<br>Chase after money and security<br>and your heart will never unclench.<br>Care about people's approval<br>and you will be their prisoner. Do your work, then step back.<br>The only path to serenity." </p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">– Lao Tzu<br></p><h1>The Analects</h1><div class="rm-shortcode amazon-assets-widget" data-rm-shortcode-id="OG96PT1552693953" contenteditable="false">
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<p>"The Analects" are a collection of Confucius' sayings after the fact; they were written sometime after his death in 497 BCE. Confucius' goal was to create and uphold the ideal vision of what a man should be. He wanted to perfect one's moral character and develop the methods toward pursuing such a grand goal. </p><p>Drawing from many different ancient Chinese texts and philosophies already in existence, the philosophy or religion of Confucianism has gone through many iterations. It shares a similarity with Christianity and the works of Socrates as both these philosophies and religions had the words of their leaders written after their deaths by their devotees. </p><p>One of the great classics of world literature, "The Analects" have to be read firsthand to be truly understood. </p><p style="margin-left: 20px;"><em></em>"Not to discuss with a man worthy of conversation is to waste the man. To discuss with a man not worthy of conversation is to waste words. The wise waste neither men nor words." – Confucius, "The Analects"<em></em></p><h1>The I Ching</h1><div class="rm-shortcode amazon-assets-widget" data-rm-shortcode-id="XQEBMJ1552693953" contenteditable="false">
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<p>"The I Ching" has had an immense influence on the world. It's influenced Chinese thought for thousands of years and radically changed notions of mathematics and psychology in the West within the past few centuries. As the basis for binary code and a <a href="https://bigthink.com/surprising-science/what-is-the-book-of-changes-i-ching" target="_self">whole slew of other interesting phenomenon</a>, "The I Ching" is one of the oldest efforts to try to reconcile the human mind into the greater cosmic scheme of things. </p><p>Richard Wilhelm's translation is the definitive book on "The I Ching", serving as both a reference, commentary and faithful rendition of the original text. The book can be used in a number of ways, and it stands as both the source for Confucianist and Taoist philosophy. </p><h1>The Bhagavad Gita</h1><div class="rm-shortcode amazon-assets-widget" data-rm-shortcode-id="QN9UEQ1552693953" contenteditable="false">
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<p>Nowhere is there a more full picture of the rich spiritual realm and world of the Hindu faith. Considered to be a masterpiece of Sanskrit poetry, "The Bhagavad Gita" is one of our best sources for ancient Hinduism. It's part of a larger epic called "Mahabharata", but stands alone as a cornerstone of the religion.</p><p>The story describes a battle between two great armies as the god Krishna comes down mid-battle to enlighten the warrior Arjuna. The epic is non-linear and a long running philosophical treatise on the notions of freedom, understanding, meaning of life and the nature of reality. Concepts of the cyclical nature of time and cosmic oneness of the universe are all expressed in this book.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"The nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception, and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed." – "The Bhagavad Gita"</p><h1>Siddhartha</h1><div class="rm-shortcode amazon-assets-widget" data-rm-shortcode-id="RYAXK01552693953" contenteditable="false">
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<p>Herman Hesse's classic has resonated with countless generations and remains an inspiring novel. The story is written in simple verse and follows a wealthy Indian Brahmin as he leaves a life of privilege and religiosity to try to find true spiritual fulfillment. Hesse's treatment of the religious enlightenment is diverse as he weaves into classical Eastern thought, Jungian psychology and existentialism. </p><p>Siddhartha leaves home with his friend Govinda and journeys through the many iterations of enlightenment seeking. He is not confined to any piety or guru worship as he joins the ascetics, follows the Buddha and even rejects him before going on to become a rich man and experience the pleasures of the world. Soon he understands that all experience is provisional and dependent on himself. Only the individual can find their own enlightenment. </p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Words do not express thoughts very well. they always become a little different immediately after they are expressed, a little distorted, a little foolish. And yet it also pleases me and seems right that what is of value and wisdom to one man seems nonsense to another." – Herman Hesse, "Siddhartha"</p><h1>Be Here Now </h1><div class="rm-shortcode amazon-assets-widget" data-rm-shortcode-id="03751Y1552693953" contenteditable="false">
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<p>This is the recounting of a lifetime of experience and spiritual seeking from the man who would begin his journey as Dr. Richard Alpert and transcend into Baba Ram Dass. Both a biography, exploration of mysticism and period piece of the 1960s counterculture, "Be Here Now"<em></em> is a riveting and unconventional book. It's a book to be experienced. There are many illustrations and wonderful poetic distillations of the many religions of the world. </p><p>Ram Dass has a simple message and that is to live in the present moment. </p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Early in the journey you wonder how long the journey will take and whether you will make it in this lifetime. Later you will see that where you are going is HERE and you will arrive NOW... so you stop asking." – Baba Ram Dass, "Be Here Now"</p><h1>The Way of Zen </h1><div class="rm-shortcode amazon-assets-widget" data-rm-shortcode-id="Y7R5UK1552693953" contenteditable="false">
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<p>Alan Watts wrote and lectured on Zen Buddhism for much of his life. He had an incredible way of explaining its practices and principles to early curious Western readers in the mid-20th century. Watts considered Zen to be "one of the most precious gifts of Asia to the world." He wrote:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Since opposed principles, or ideologies, are irreconcilable, wars fought over principle will be wars of mutual annihilation. But wars fought for simple greed will be far less destructive, because the aggressor will be careful not to destroy what he is fighting to capture. Reasonable – that is, human – men will always be capable of compromise, but men who have dehumanized themselves by becoming the blind worshipers of an idea or an ideal are fanatics whose devotion to abstractions makes them the enemies of life." Alan Watts, "The Way of Zen"</p><p>Watts explains the concept of Zen as far as he can take it before that switch clicks and you're in on the cosmic laugh. Although Zen is one branch of Buddhism, it is more concerned with the ideals of spontaneous action and thought. Emptiness, detachment from desire and even renouncing the idea of enlightenment are all tenets of Zen that Watts lays out in a playful and profound way. </p>
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How Taoist philosophy deals with the concept of anxiety
Perpetual worry doesn't have to be your default mindset.
13 March, 2019
- Anxiety doesn't exist for someone who has a life lived in the present.
- Our concerns for a spectral future fuel anxiety.
- Taoist philosophy teaches us a new way of living.
<p>Varying degrees of anxiety awash over millions. Whether it's stress from the workplace, fretting for a future that never comes or getting tangled in the ceaseless political drama of the day. At the root of this issue is the constant need to live for the future and it is here where our anxiety stems from.</p><p>One of the solutions for anxiety, and other assorted mental ailments, set forth by Taoists is the idea of mindfulness or being within the present moment. It is from within this philosophy which <a href="https://bigthink.com/personal-growth/alan-watts-and-the-art-of-meditation" target="_self">emerges the art of meditation.</a> The concept of presence flows throughout the Eastern idea of being within the now. It's been repeated so many times that the words often read as platitude and banality. But the concept cannot be overlooked because it is the missing key toward living a fulfilling life devoid of angst and anxiety. </p><p>Here's how Taoist philosophy rids us of anxiety.<span></span></p>
Taoism takes us back to what is real
<p>Our insistence on staying secure in a fluid and metamorphic world is an absurd concept when you get down to the bottom of it. Change is ever constant. The future doesn't exist. These adages are all ignored. And as they will be continually ignored by the masses in perpetuity — then it will come as no surprise that the concept of anxiety will stay with us.</p><p>Though, decide not to ignore this timeless wisdom and one will find a new way to live freely without anxiety. One of the great translators of Taoist ideas, Alan Watts, codified this way of living in his seminal work: <em>The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for An Age of Anxiety. </em></p><p>In this book, Watts argues that our primary way we delude ourselves from the present moment is by leaving the body and retreating behind our minds. The boiling pot of countless worries, thinking, categorizing and calculating space where anxieties and thoughts pouring over thoughts remove us from any truth of the real moment at hand. This is where Watts states that "the 'primary consciousness,' the basic mind which knows reality rather than ideas about it, does not know the future." In other words, our thinking facilities are divorced from the actuality of experience. </p><p>Our more methodical thinking processes on the other hand creates memories, which we use for making predictions on what is to come. These predictions prove to be relatively accurate and we begin to rely on them. The future begins to take on as Watts says, "a high degree of reality — so high that the present loses its value." </p><blockquote><em>But the future is still not here, and cannot become a part of experienced reality until it is present. Since what we know of the future is made up of purely abstract and logical elements — inferences, guesses, deductions — it cannot be eaten, felt, smelled, seen, heard, or otherwise enjoyed. </em></blockquote><p>Rephrasing the way we think about future events then is one such way that the Taoist philosophy does away with anxiety. It's really that simple. But as practice or non-practice, it is something that our modern civilization lacks. After all, the anxiety riddled addict is probably already thinking, "What are we to do!" </p><blockquote><em>To pursue it is to pursue a constantly retreating phantom, and the faster you chase it, the faster it runs ahead. This is why all the affairs of civilization are rushed, why hardly anyone enjoys what he has, and is forever seeking more and more.</em></blockquote>Applying the concept of wu-wei
<p>Laozi's <em>Tao Te Ching</em> is a small book filled with immeasurable wisdom. It has instructed us on the basis of Taoism. From within this book comes an interesting concept called wu-wei, which literally means "without exertion." There are plenty of famous aphorisms from this text that explain this concept fully. </p><blockquote><em>If you try to change it, you will ruin it. Try to hold it, and you will lose it.</em></blockquote><p>Wu-wei is the act of not going against the natural rhythms of the present, while learning to get out of your own way. Again, meditation and a silencing of the over analytic mind is what wu-wei proposes to offer us. It is also within this way that we begin to see what Buddhism, Tao, yoga and other assorted religions of the Ancient East offer us — a renewed psychology of the mind.</p>Psychotherapy as philosophy in the Ancient East
<p>There are many similarities between <a href="https://bigthink.com/culture-religion/similar-ideas-between-buddhism-and-western-psychology" target="_self">Eastern philosophical ways of life and Western psychotherapy</a>. Both deal with the concern of changing our consciousness for the betterment of humanity and availing us of negative ailments such as anxiety. Although, where they converge is within their categorization of what is considered a well-suited and enlightened individual. Alan Watts put it as: </p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"The psychotherapist has, for the most part, been interested in changing the consciousness of peculiarly disturbed individuals. The disciplines of Buddhism and Taoism are, however, concerned with changing the consciousness of normal, socially adjusted people."</p><p>Modern Western approaches to mental well-being largely focus on the symptoms and not the root causes. The mechanization of mental health treatment often muddies the water even further. Contrast this to the way that Ancient Eastern religions have approached self-care for thousands of years. Through the act of meditation, breathing exercises, and a yogic life, those who are adept at centering themselves "in the now" are continually living in a state of self-directed care. </p><p>These approaches to emotional distress and anxious turmoil recognize that the issue stems from the delusion of self and future — two ironclad concepts we, in the West, still hold very close to our identity in our culture. From this renewed Taoist perspective, we become the arbiters and shrinks of our own psychology. When worries about scenarios that may never manifest are substituted with grounded, thoughtful deliberations, we regain a sense of potent agency. </p><p>This all said, it seems that an integrative Taoist philosophy may, indeed, reduce anxiety when followed by an individual.</p>
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Alan Watts quotes that will change your perspective on life
Unwind the mind with these thought-provoking Alan Watts quotes.
13 March, 2019
Photo courtesy of the Alan Watts Foundation
- Quotes on the immediacy of experience and life.
- Learn a Zen Koan or two and scramble rationalist thought.
- Ponder on the meaning of life with Alan Watts.
<p>To this day, Alan Watts's impactful and wise words circulate through the culture. We find them in the <a href="https://bigthink.com/personal-growth/alan-watts-books" target="_self">many books he left behind</a>, countless lectures and pop-culture references galore. Renowned scholar and teacher, <a href="https://bigthink.com/personal-growth/how-to-find-your-own-truth-according-to-joseph-campbell-alan-watts" target="_self">Joseph Campbell once said of him</a>: </p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"The pomposities of prodigious learning could be undone by him with a turn of phrase. One stood before him, disarmed — and laughed at what had just been oneself."</p><p>While it is no easy feat to distill the many whimsical phrases and knowledge Watts left behind, these quotes attempt to paint a broad picture of the Eastern scholar and philosopher-entertainer. </p><p>Here are some of the best Alan Watts quotes.<span></span></p>
Alan Watts and Zen philosophy
<p>What is Zen? Better to ask what isn't Zen. Watts was one of a kind when it came to articulating what cannot be said. The ineffable comes down to an Earthly speakable form when Watts wanted to probe into the peculiarities of paradox. </p><blockquote><em>Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth.</em></blockquote><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Zen… does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes."</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"I prefer not to translate the word Tao at all because to us Tao is a sort of nonsense syllable, indicating the mystery that we can never understand — the unity that underlies the opposites."</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"A proper exposition of Zen should tease us out of thought, and leave the mind like an open window instead of a panel of stained glass."</p><blockquote><em>Nirvana is right where you are, provided that you don't object to it.</em></blockquote>Alan Watts on God
<p>Having obtained both a master's degree in theology and becoming an Episcopal priest, Watts had a thoroughly rounded Christian education on the concept of God. With his boundless knowledge of Eastern traditions, mysticism and ancient history — Watts had a refreshingly comparative and unique take on the word and concept.</p><blockquote><em>Buddhism has in it no idea of there being a moral law laid down by some kind of cosmic lawgiver.</em></blockquote><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"So in this idea, then, everybody is fundamentally the ultimate reality. Not God in a politically kingly sense, but God in the sense of being the self, the deep-down basic whatever there is. And you're all that, only you're pretending you're not. And it's perfectly O.K. to pretend you're not, to be perfectly convinced, because this is the whole notion of drama."</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"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."</p><blockquote><em>Few of us have ever met an angel, and probably would not recognize it if we saw one, and our images of an impersonal or suprapersonal God are hopelessly subhuman — Jell-O, featureless light, homogenized space, or a whopping jolt of electricity.</em></blockquote>Alan Watts on the meaning of life
<p>Watts wasn't afraid to tackle one of the great philosophical questions that has faced all of humankind since time immemorial. He answers it with irreverent wit and a life-affirming answer that'll swing the worst of nihilists among us.</p> <blockquote><em>The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.</em></blockquote> <p style="margin-left: 20px;">"The physical universe is basically playful. There's no necessity for it whatsoever. It isn't going anywhere; that is to say, it doesn't have a destination that it ought to arrive at. But it is best understood by analogy to music, because music as an art form is essentially playful."</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px;">"What happens if you know that there is nothing you can do to be better? It's kind of a relief isn't it? You say 'Well, now what do I do?' When you are freed from being out to improve yourself, your own nature will begin to take over."</p> <blockquote><em>I have realized that the past and future are real illusions, that they exist in the present, which is what there is and all there is.</em></blockquote>Alan Watts on Love
<p>Love ranks up there with the other mysteries of life. There are many degrees of love that we float and flounder through each day. Whether it's the whirlwind romantic kind, the love of god, country or self – Alan Watts sets the record straight.</p> <blockquote><em>There is no formula for generating the authentic warmth of love. It cannot be copied. You cannot talk yourself into it or rouse it by straining at the emotions or by dedicating yourself solemnly to the service of mankind. </em></blockquote> <p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Everyone has love, but it can only come out when he is convinced of the impossibility and the frustration of trying to love himself. This conviction will not come through condemnations, through hating oneself, through calling self love bad names in the universe. It comes only in the awareness that one has no self to love."</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px;">"The greater part of human activity is designed to make permanent those experiences and joys which are only lovable because they are changing."</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px;">"And so when the essential idea of love is lost there comes talk of fidelity. Actually, the only possible basis for two beings, male and female, to relate to each other is to grant each other total freedom."</p> <blockquote><em>No work or love will flourish out of guilt, fear, or hollowness of heart, just as no valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now."</em></blockquote>Alan Watts and humankind
<p>Humans are an interesting and humorous species. Watts loved to riff and pick apart the hypocrisy and idiocy endemic to culture and mankind's perception of itself. Whether it was ripping apart the <a href="https://bigthink.com/personal-growth/alan-watts-education" target="_self">nonsensical education system</a> or<a href="https://bigthink.com/personal-growth/alan-watts-and-the-art-of-meditation" target="_self"> ersatz self-help meditation</a> — Watts was an expert in the takedown of such mendacity.</p><blockquote><em>We seldom realize, for example, that our most private thoughts and emotions are not actually our own. For we think in terms of languages and images which we did not invent, but which were given to us by our society.</em></blockquote><p style="margin-left: 20px;"><em></em>"When you tell a girl how beautiful she is, she will say, 'Now isn't that just like a man! All you men think about is bodies. O.K., so I'm beautiful, but I got my body from my parents and it was just luck. I prefer to be admired for myself, not my chassis.' Poor little chauffeur! All she is saying is that she has lost touch with her own astonishing wisdom and ingenuity, and wants to be admired for some trivial tricks that she can perform with her conscious attention. And we are all in the same situation, having dissociated ourselves from our bodies and from the whole network of forces in which bodies can come to birth and live."</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"This is not a materialistic civilization at all. It is a civilization devoted to the hatred and destruction of material, its conversion into junk and poison gas. And therefore, one of the most sacred missions to be imposed upon those who would be liberated from this culture is that they shall love material, that they shall love color, that they shall dress beautifully, that they shall cook well, that they shall live in lovely houses, and that they shall preserve the face of nature." </p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"The word 'person' comes from the latin word 'persona' which referred to the masks worn by actors in which sound would come through. The 'person' is the mask — the role you're playing. And all of your friends and relations and teachers are busy telling you who you are and what your role in life is."</p><blockquote><em>We cannot be more sensitive to pleasure without being more sensitive to pain.</em></blockquote>
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How to find your own truth, according to Alan Watts and Joseph Campbell
Finding your own truth without a guiding mythical worldview.
20 February, 2019
- Joseph Campbell's monomyth as a guide to finding one's self.
- Alan Watts explores the notion of symbolically returning to the forest.
- How to set ones own meaning in a world of confusion and chaos.
<p>Joseph Campbell's life work covered a wide range of the communal human experience. Campbell explored the various mythologies of our planet and managed to elucidate on the common threads between them all. He's popularly known for coining the concept of the hero's journey, or monomyth, which is a narrative cycle that is found to some degree in all great legends and stories around the world. </p><p>This topic of discussion in an influential television series with journalist Bill Moyers brought Campbell's idea further into the mainstream posthumously in the latter half of the 20th century. </p><p>From this idea stems one of Campbell's greater points about the universality of experience and need to find your own truth or, as his famous saying goes, to "<a href="https://bigthink.com/culture-religion/who-is-joseph-campbell" target="_self">follow your bliss.</a>"</p><p>Campbell's ability to fuse comparative mythologies into one comprehensive world spanning myth can serve as the basis for discovering one's own personal truth. Human patterns repeat themselves over timescales far and wide. Once you can come to terms with the multifarious iterations of these universal stories, Campbell believed that you need to leave ideology behind once you've learned from it.</p><p>Alan Watts, had a similar sentiment to this idea, a contemporary and friend to Campbell — Watts explored the implications inherent to Campbell's view when exploring his early work of <em>Return to the Forest.</em></p><h1><em></em>Return to the Forest</h1><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
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<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Alan Watts - Return to the Forest</small>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Alan Watts Foundation </small>
</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"You enter the forest at the darkest point, where there is no path. Where there is a way or path, it is someone else's path. You are not on your own path. If you follow someone else's way, you are not going to realize your potential." — Joseph Campbell</p><p>In <em>Return to the Forest, </em>Campbell explored what it meant to the individual and society when these common myths and systems begin to break down. In this chaos, when there is no central guiding myth, celestial authority or truth to guide us — what will become of the individual seeking meaning or their own truth? </p><p>Watts believed that the fundamental force guiding civilizations together has been one not only of mutually shared communication in a common language, but a common viewpoint of the world and even common types of sensuous experience. But such is the nature of change that through major cultural shifts, dynamics of technological change or ways of viewing the world, these foundational pillars of civilization begin to erode. Left in its wake is chaos and confusion. </p><blockquote><em>Social cosmologies, views of the world held in common by society tend to break up. </em></blockquote><p>Watts went on to say that the relativistic world of modern thought that Westerners live in, one that is largely bereft of one unifying worldview leads people to become interested in other and former attempts to reconcile the mysteries of living and the universe. For example, in Watts' time and our own, the exploration of ancient Eastern religions, occult schools of thought, and shamanism. </p><p>However, in similar Campbell monomyth fashion, even this idea of going it alone, without an overarching myth to live by, has arguably been done before. Watts explores and explains the rich ideas of shamanism in agrarian culture around the world, and how metaphorically we need to drop out back into the forest if we're to find ourselves. </p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"More and more each one of us is thrown on to our own resources. This seems to me an excellent state of affairs. So that in a symbolic sense we are back in the forest like the hunter of old who has nobody around him to tell him how to feel or how he ought to use his senses. He therefore must make his own exploration and find out for himself." </p><p>Watts and Campbell believed that due to the uncertainty of our times and confusion inherent in modern thought, which offers us no secure and comfortable singular view of the universe — we are forced to confront and find truth for ourselves from the universe. We are all now as Watts put it: </p><blockquote><em>All alone together whistling in the dark. </em> </blockquote><p>In a sense, much of Campbell's work dealt with remedying these past mythological works to probe deeper into just what common truths lurks beneath all individual human psyche and communal beliefs. Or as he Campbell once quipped in <em>The Hero with a Thousand Faces: </em> "Mythology, in other words, is psychology misread as biography, history, and cosmology."</p><p>Now to the point of finding one's self or finding personal truth. Campbell believes that these myths and stories can become guide posts. But just what is your own personal truth? Well that's for you and only you to find out and experience. </p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"These are the kinds of experiences that cannot be transmitted, which for their very nature are something one finds out for themselves. If they could be explained or transmitted they couldn't be the very thing which they are intended to be. Our discoveries of something authentic, genuine, first hand and part of one's universe, cannot be codified and be factored into social communication." — Alan Watts </p><h1>Campbell & Watts' exemplified living their own way </h1><div class="rm-shortcode amazon-assets-widget" data-rm-shortcode-id="DNJ6S21550154492" contenteditable="false">
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<p>Both Joseph Campbell and Alan Watts lived a life on the fringes of their own meaning. Taking a cosmic and comprehensive look at the world-views around them, they developed both a sobering and at once wonderful view of the cosmologies of humankind. A statement made about Watts could be applied to Campbell as well:</p><p>"The pomposities of prodigious learning could be undone by him with a turn of phrase. One stood before him, disarmed — and laughed at what had just been oneself."</p><p>Together, their wisdom today still stands as a spectral guide to finding one's own truth.</p>
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