Alan Watts is mainly thought of as a presenter of Eastern Religion sto a Western Audience (Buddhism, Taoism, etc). As a member of the LDS Faith, often I am (wrongfully, I admit) paranoid to pro-atheist media (videos, articles, etc). Stumbling on one a video of a talk of his, I originally thought that that's what it was. But as I listened, I began to realize that, even though it defied traditional Western thought in a revisionist manner, it was religious. Not Christian, mind you, but extremely enlightening. Listening to this man's talks has brought a new type of thought to my mind and thinking (or at least given a name and reality to something already there.)
Also, Alan Watts died of alcohol poisoning, and had used hallucinogenic drugs in his lifetime, leading to a first impression of an 'unrighteous', 'immoral' person (perhaps one that had gone astray). But as I thought about it, I began to realize that this man has done much more good, at least for me, than most of the general authorities of the LDS Church (that may just be my relative lack of obsession over the Church compared to this). It really changed my opinion over what 'good' and 'doing good' is.
This is a (rather long) video of Watts talking about the nature of time. One of the main themes in everything he presents is that our perception of the world as made up of separate 'things' is flawed and that everything is just part of a whole. Don't be daunted by the video length (I would be). You can skip around if you want to.
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3 comments:
Whoa, I've never thought of life like that before. Very interesting. I didn't any negative atheist feelings from it though, just interesting philosiphy.
I've kind of thought similar things about time though. Like, if Napolean had no Waterloo, would there be no Hitler? Or, If Carl Marx hadn't tought of Communism, Would Mao? Or if there had been no Regean, would there be an America?
You disappoint me. I was expecting at least some sort of response from you by now. No further insight on this subject perhaps?
I don't really think of it as much in terms of history as much as I think about it as time in general.
It reminds me of another quote by Alan Watts:
"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."
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