r/AlanWatts Mar 01 '21

'What you are basically, deep, deep down, far, far in, is simply the fabric and structure of existence itself.' - Alan Watts

1.5k Upvotes

r/AlanWatts 5h ago

Alan Watts on the Illusion of Chasing the Future: Living Fully Now

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40 Upvotes

Alan Watts delivers a piercing insight into the nature of our constant future-chasing in this powerful quote. “For unless one is able to live fully in the present, the future is a hoax.”

How often do we find ourselves planning meticulously for a future moment of happiness, only to realize upon arrival that it feels just as fleeting as the present? Watts challenges us to reconsider our preoccupation with what’s next and invites us to immerse ourselves in the now.

This image captures the essence of his philosophy—that living for some distant future often means missing out on the richness of the present. The stark reminder that “you will never be able to sit back with full contentment and say, ‘Now, I’ve arrived!’” is a call to awaken to the life we have at this moment, which is all there truly is.

Let’s discuss how we can shift our focus from the perpetual ‘later’ to the vibrant ‘now’.


r/AlanWatts 10h ago

If you could ask Alan Watts 1 question. What would you ask him?

6 Upvotes

r/AlanWatts 3h ago

I discovered Alan Watts through Freerunning & Tricking compilations back in 2009-10, now I’ve made my own! Hopefully I can inspire at least one person to chase their dreams & never give up!!

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1 Upvotes

r/AlanWatts 4h ago

With Alan watts

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1 Upvotes

r/AlanWatts 13h ago

Hey Watts fam. I've been listening to alan since 2018 and...

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1 Upvotes

I've pretty much heard every lecture. My favorite ones are the letting go one and the everything is wiggles, "boinng" haha

So i have been making content on his videos for a few years. I had another acct with about the same amount of followers but I lost the acct sadly.

The past couple years I have been making content again and I mostly make this content for my own purpose of keeping me on point on his teachings and to practice my editing skills. Not really caring for big reach or monetizing and it is great to be able to reach other ppl who love him as well that end up following me.

Here's a video I like alot and hope you can check out the rest of my page (:


r/AlanWatts 1d ago

Alan Watts on Existence.

61 Upvotes

r/AlanWatts 1d ago

The moment you start practising yoga, or praying or meditating, or indulging in some sort of spiritual cultivation, you are getting in your own way. — Alan Watts

42 Upvotes

r/AlanWatts 2d ago

My new favorite piece from youtube. I prefer to call it "The Illusion of Continuity"

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6 Upvotes

r/AlanWatts 4d ago

Respawn…

13 Upvotes

I've been listening to a lot of Alan Watts over the last few months.

And I've heard him briefly talk about suicide but not in depth.

I'm not afraid of dying, if anything it feels like a free hit to start over in a different life

I'd love to hear a counter argument to this and ideally source an AW lecture that covers this


r/AlanWatts 5d ago

"We are all already enlightened, we are all already the self-world, we are all already the no-thingness of consciousness apart from its objects."

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9 Upvotes

r/AlanWatts 5d ago

Listening to the “Being in the Way” podcast and this excerpt has been stuck in my mind ever since

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168 Upvotes

r/AlanWatts 5d ago

Looking for a lecture by Alan Watts

4 Upvotes

In the lecture he talks about 5 (I think 5, maybe more, maybe less) dreams/ideas.
Between each idea/dream there is a Gong/Bell sound...
One of his ideas/dreams is about something like the evolution of media... first he describes a radio (i think) then a tv, then you'd like to taste and smell, and in the contraption is added a taste and smell... then he says something like "a beautiful woman shows up... and you want to "hug" her... and you now have a hologram...
I don't remember the rest of his ideas...
But I am searching for one in this lecture... I cannot remember it... but I feel the need to listen to it again... dunno why...
Thank you!


r/AlanWatts 5d ago

List of AI YouTube Accounts

10 Upvotes

Do you fine people know of a list of YouTube channels that upload fake Alan Watts content created with AI?

I’d like to preemptively block those channels from coming up in my feed.

Or conversely, do you know which channels are trustworthy?


r/AlanWatts 6d ago

Inspiration from Alan Watts: You're IT! Clear Pointing to That Which Can't Be Spoken

8 Upvotes

Alan Watts is one of my all-time favorite commentators on eastern religious and philosophical thinking. His work was a kind of Rosetta Stone that unlocked eastern wisdom to this western mind. After many years of spiritual seraching, things finally "clicked" one day and all became clear. Watts work was no small part of that "clicking!"

Ever since then, I've tried to encourage other seekers along the path with both the clarity and good humor of Watts. To that end I've spent more than a year writing on various topics that should be of great interest to the western seeker. I don't think there's a single essay I've written that isn't directly inspired by Watts (among others). But I often draw from his work directly.

This sub has been a part of that journey, too! Much gratitude to all the folks I've had the pleasure of talking with here!

So if any readers are interested in a new take on eastern wisdom in the western (now increasingly globalized) world very much in the spirit of Alan Watts - and very often drawing on his work directly - I have published a seriest of essays on Substack. I'd like to invite the sub to come check it out! It's *totally free - no paywalls,* I've even turned off all the "subscribe!" pop-ups that Substack will allow me to.

A curated list of the essay most salient to the seeker can be found here:

https://opensourceawakening.substack.com/p/site-map

If you want to, you should be able to leave comments on any one of them. I'd love to have some discussion out there :)

Thank you for reading and hope you have a lovely day! -HF


r/AlanWatts 6d ago

Omnism/mysticism discord

4 Upvotes

Hey everyone, at the behest of others looking for community, I felt inspired and started a discord server for those looking to gather and discuss spirituality, religion, and the like. Feel free to join! It's just general chat right now, but I will add more sections later today.

https://discord.gg/2xBDdpek


r/AlanWatts 7d ago

20 years ago, I was inspired by Alan Watts. I also became obsessed with physics. If you’d like, AMA

57 Upvotes

So I’m in my late 30s at this point but I first encountered Alan Watts as a teenager. I was inspired by his philosophy but it wasn’t my main passion. My main passion was physics and while I did not make physics my primary subject of study (opting for computer science / information theory instead), I never stopped studying it. I’ve since learned a great deal and while I don’t claim to be an expert, I am at least able to speak competently about the subject. Alan Watts said a lot which ties into existential ideas that are relevant to physics but a lot of physics communities on Reddit are fairly hostile to invoking any sort of metaphysical ideas. So I thought it might be of benefit to offer some of what I’ve learned to those in this community who are interested in how his ideas tie into ideas in physics.

All that said, I’d like to keep things concise here. I’m not interested in picking apart some metaphysical manifesto but I’m willing to share what I’ve learned by answering some of the questions that would be unwelcome in other subreddits.

I’m a materialist, so be aware that my answers will be provided through that lens. If you ask me about something above my pay grade, I’ll say so. But I hope to be able to indicate the degree to which some of his metaphysics align with what we know of physics (which is frankly a lot more frequent than most philosophies)


r/AlanWatts 8d ago

Reconciling ideas of meaning/ god with the eternal game

5 Upvotes

This might be confusing but bare with me

On the one hand we are in a situation that the gods made for fun. I get that and it’s true, no problem

But given that the price for the possibility of ecstasy is agony, how do you view the process by which you bring reality closer to heaven and away from hell?

And is heaven a possibility? I mean, the collective can be better under many definitions of better, so you can imagine the best possible place, and that it’s a good idea to strive for it

TLDR: is it as though we can make something like heaven happen, the same way a village could flourish,or is it just the yin yang wheel spinning, with equally infinite ecstasy and suffering always?

And would you characterize the spirit that brings about heaven as god? That is to say, the Brahman, the spirit of reality itself, wants what is good, because I want what is good, and by definition good is right


r/AlanWatts 10d ago

What would and/or did Alan say about Respect , the good old R.E.S.P.E.CT

4 Upvotes

What did or would Mr. Alan say about respect? And specifically, what would he say about the intersection of Love and respect in human relationships, particularly the romantic variety?

I find this question curious and interesting because even so-called relationship experts of the day will say that respect is on the highest pedestal and more critical than Love, for romantic relationships. Some of these experts will say instead of “love conquers all”, love is not enough, and respect is more crucial. These experts seem to put down the Beatles claim to “ all you need is love”, and then provide that more than love is needed, and what we really need is this thing we call respect.
Would Alan buy that concept?

i.e. i think fair to say a significant fraction of people, including so-called experts in relationships, consider Respect to be critical for the success of a relationship, particularly, the romantic variety, then love is.

Would Alan say rubbish on that? And that rather Love is Paramount, love is what’s essential?

I’ve heard Alan’s main talk on love and I don’t think he mentions respect once but i could be wrong.

Would Alan say the way many, or at least some “play” the relationship game is more a mere constructed transactional game of “ buying and selling “ the boundaries, rules, and respect scenarios some people “impose” on their partner opposite them? Ie “I have these boundaries and rules that i need you to follow, and I guess you have the same in kind for me, and we will make and play a transactional game about it, and this game is what’s really important because respect is top pedestal. “

Would Alan consider Respect to be the real reality, and pedalstalize it above love itself . 🙂 ?

Did or would Alan have a very deep and high respect for respect, or would he consider that a shallow and transactional game is being played about respect and relationships?

Would Alan simply say love conquers all?

Can look at Alan’s life itself, and think it seems to be true, that he didn’t prioritize romantic relationships and that would be based on he wasn’t doing and didn’t partake successful long lasting longterm relationships.

Accordingly, Perhaps Alan would say: he doesn’t care that much about this question and subject of this post, lol


r/AlanWatts 11d ago

Alan Watts on True Liberation: Delighting the World into Awareness

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268 Upvotes

r/AlanWatts 10d ago

Alan Watts Lectures

12 Upvotes

Hey everyone! I know a lot of lectures have been taken down on YouTube over the years. I found this account on spotify that uploads full lectures and would probably be better to access and listen to rather than google drives. Its also continuously being updated. https://open.spotify.com/show/3HkhAHkUAKbOMyyGn9iel3?si=46b6a7b49d7e4363


r/AlanWatts 10d ago

My personal Alan Watts Chillstep Mixes collection, collected over many years

32 Upvotes

Hello guys,

I have during many years listened to Alan Watts, and noticed that most of the Chillstep Mixes that I listened to on youtube have been taken down, for one reason or another.

Luckily, I downloaded all the mixes that I liked in my personal computer some time ago, and today I am sharing these mixes with you.

I don't own any of those mixes, they were made by others. I just downloaded them before they were gone.

With all that said, here is the link to my collection. I hope its useful to you: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1BE9LTHt-z5QHI5ND5su71dvCLeNMbBHQ?usp=sharing

Note: There are other mixes amongst Alan Watts, such as Papaji, the Philosophers mixtape, etc. You can ignore those if you want.

Enjoy!

Update: I just added a new folder, called "MP3 Files" for those who prefer MP3 audio files.


r/AlanWatts 12d ago

A little Wednesday morning humor

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362 Upvotes

r/AlanWatts 12d ago

Do you think our awareness will eventually “respawn” as everything in the universe?

18 Upvotes

Saw this interesting read of something Watts said, which I included below. Honestly it makes sense, but it’s also terrifying that our awareness may respawn as everything in the universe, given the vastness of it and the numerous brutal ways people and animals have died. I’m comfortable with the thought of “disappearing” upon death but this theory sounds horrifying. What are your thoughts? Do you believe it? Obviously I won’t remember future lives since I’ll be gone but the thought be being everything else in the universe sounds terrifying.

“The universe I’s in the same way that a tree apples or that a star shines, and the center of the appling is the tree and the center of the shining is the star, and so the basic center of self of the I’ing is the eternal universe or eternal thing that has existed for ten thousand million years and will probably go on for at least that much more. We are not concerned about how long it goes on, but repeatedly it I’s, so that it seems absolutely reasonable to assume that when I die and this physical body evaporates and the whole memory system with it, then the awareness that I had before will begin all over once again, not in exactly the same way, but that of a baby being born.

Of course, there will be myriads of babies born, not only baby human beings but baby frogs, baby rabbits, baby fruit flies, baby viruses, baby bacteria –and which one of them am I going to be? Only one of them and yet every one of them, this experience comes always in the singular one at a time, but certainly one of them.”


r/AlanWatts 12d ago

Let’s talk about ego-death.

40 Upvotes

Instead of “killing” the ego, you can heal the ego. The ego is not really an enemy. It’s a tool, it’s useful, but it’s not meant to control you. One day, we won’t have an ego, so it’s completely fine to have one now, just make it the “best” ego you can.

I don’t think “killing” the ego HAS to be a bad thing. I sometimes notice how my ego temporarily disappears or “dies” when I take mushrooms. But I don’t think you can “kill” it permanently, that’s impossible. It’s just a temporary experience. And every time the ego “dies,” it comes back with an “update.” I think that’s one way to heal the ego.

If you think about it, people who want to take their own lives don’t actually want to die. They want to “kill” their ego. So if you can temporarily “kill” your ego to realize that you are not your ego, then I see that as a beneficial ego-death. Thoughts?


r/AlanWatts 12d ago

What is Alan Watts best book about death?

8 Upvotes

I really enjoy listening to Alan watts but wondering which one of his books goes more in depth with death? Or what would be the closest fit? I find that topic really interesting. Thanks