Eastern Wisdom, Modern Life

Author: Alan Watts
Publisher: New World Library
ISBN: 1577311809
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 258

Book Description
Alan Watts introduced millions of Western readers to Zen and other Eastern philosophies. But he is also recognized as a brilliant commentator on Judeo-Christian traditions, as well as a celebrity philosopher who exemplified the ideas — and lifestyle — of the 1960s counterculture. In this compilation of controversial lectures that Watts delivered at American universities throughout the sixties, he challenges readers to reevaluate Western culture's most hallowed constructs. Watts treads the familiar ground of interpreting Eastern traditions, but he also covers new territory, exploring the counterculture's basis in the ancient tribal and shamanic cultures of Asia, Siberia, and the Americas. In the process, he addresses some of the era's most important questions: What is the nature of reality? How does an individual's relationship to society affect this reality? Filled with Watts's playful, provocative style, the talks show the remarkable scope of a philosopher at his prime, exploring and defining the sixties counterculture as only Alan Watts could.

Eastern Wisdom, Modern Life

Author: Alan Watts
Publisher: New World Library
ISBN: 1577319222
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 258

The Meaning of Happiness

Author: Alan Watts
Publisher: New World Library
ISBN: 1608685403
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 282

Book Description
Deep down, most people think that happiness comes from having or doing something. Here, in Alan Watts’s groundbreaking second book (originally published in 1940), he offers a more challenging thesis: authentic happiness comes from embracing life as a whole in all its contradictions and paradoxes, an attitude that Watts calls the "way of acceptance." Drawing on Eastern philosophy, Western mysticism, and analytic psychology, Watts demonstrates that happiness comes from accepting both the outer world around us and the inner world inside us — the unconscious mind, with its irrational desires, lurking beyond the awareness of the ego. Although written early in his career, The Meaning of Happiness displays the hallmarks of his mature style: the crystal-clear writing, the homespun analogies, the dry wit, and the breadth of knowledge that made Alan Watts one of the most influential philosophers of his generation.

Buddhist Biology

Author: David P. Barash
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199985561
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 217

Book Description
Compares teachings of Buddhism with principles of modern biology, revealing many significant points of compatibility.

The Wisdom of Insecurity

Author: Alan Watts
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307809862
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 112

Book Description
An acclaimed philosopher shows us how—in an age of unprecedented anxiety—we can find fulfillment by embracing the present and living more fully in the now. He is "the perfect guide for a course correction in life" (from the Introduction by Deepak Chopra). The brain can only assume its proper behavior when consciousness is doing what it is designed for: not writhing and whirling to get out of present experience, but being effortlessly aware of it. Alan Watts draws on the wisdom of Eastern philosophy and religion in this timeless and classic guide to living a more fulfilling life. His central insight is more relevant now than ever: when we spend all of our time worrying about the future and lamenting the past, we are unable to enjoy the present moment—the only one we are actually able to inhabit. Watts offers the liberating message that true certitude and security come only from understanding that impermanence and insecurity are the essence of our existence. He highlights the futility of endlessly chasing moving goalposts, whether they consist of financial success, stability, or escape from pain, and shows that it is only by acknowledging what we do not know that we can learn anything truly worth knowing. In The Wisdom of Insecurity, Watts explains complex concepts in beautifully simple terms, making this the kind of book you can return to again and again for comfort and insight in challenging times. “Perhaps the foremost interpreter of Eastern disciplines for the contemporary West, Watts had the rare gift of ‘writing beautifully the unwritable.’” —Los Angeles Times

Psychotherapy East & West

Author: Alan Watts
Publisher: New World Library
ISBN: 1608684563
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 210

Book Description
Before he became a counterculture hero, Alan Watts was known as an incisive scholar of Eastern and Western psychology and philosophy. In this 1961 classic, Watts demonstrates his deep understanding of both Western psychotherapy and the Eastern spiritual philosophies of Buddhism, Taoism, Vedanta, and Yoga. He examined the problem of humans in a seemingly hostile universe in ways that questioned the social norms and illusions that bind and constrict modern humans. Marking a groundbreaking synthesis, Watts asserted that the powerful insights of Freud and Jung, which had, indeed, brought psychiatry close to the edge of liberation, could, if melded with the hitherto secret wisdom of the Eastern traditions, free people from their battles with the self. When psychotherapy merely helps us adjust to social norms, Watts argued, it falls short of true liberation, while Eastern philosophy seeks our natural relation to the cosmos.

Light from the East

Author: Harry Oldmeadow
Publisher: World Wisdom, Inc
ISBN: 1933316225
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 362

Book Description
This is a collection of writings about the spiritual meeting of East and West in the modern world including articles by the Dalai Lama, Huston Smith, Frithjof Schuon, Thomas Merton, Titus Burckhardt, Ananda Coomaraswamy, Diana Eck, Gary Snyder and Aldous Huxley. Highlighting aspects of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism that have proved most attractive to Western seekers, it explores the similarities and differences between Eastern and Western traditions while emphasizing respect amongst the adherents of different faiths.

Ancient Wisdom, Modern Kitchen

Author: Yuan Wang
Publisher: Da Capo Lifelong Books
ISBN: 0738214051
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 363

Book Description
Award-Winner in the Cookbooks: International category of the 2010 International Book Awards Ancient Wisdom, Modern Kitchen reveals how easy it is to tap into the 3,000-year-old secrets of the Eastern healing arts. This entertaining and easy-to-use book provides scores of delicious recipes, anecdotes about various herbs and foods, and all you need to know about acquiring ingredients—even if you don’t know the difference between a lotus seed and the lotus position. Highlighting “superfoods,” such as goji berries, as well as more familiar ingredients like ginger, garlic, and mint, Ancient Wisdom, Modern Kitchen includes indispensible information: • An overview of traditional Chinese medicine, herbs, and food therapy • Details on 100 healthy Asian ingredients • Healing recipes for common health concerns, including fatigue, menopause, high cholesterol, weight control, and diabetes

Become What You Are

Author: Alan Watts
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 1645472868
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 145

Book Description
Discover the path to your authentic self and embrace your true identity with these insightful teachings from celebrated author and spiritual luminary Alan Watts. In this collection, Watts displays the intelligence, playfulness of thought, and simplicity of language that has made him so perennially popular as an interpreter of Eastern thought for Westerners. He draws on a variety of religious traditions and covers topics such as the challenge of seeing one’s life “just as it is,” the Taoist approach to harmonious living, the limits of language in the face of ineffable spiritual truth, and the psychological symbolism of Christian thought. Throughout, he shows how our true self is never to be found anywhere other than this very life and this very moment.

Taoism

Author: Alan Watts
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780804832649
Category : Taoism
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Like the other volumes in the acclaimed Love of Wisdom Library from Tuttle, Taoism: Way Beyond Seeking compiles lectures delivered by Alan Watts between 1968 and 1973. Essays include The Philosophy of the Tao, Being in the Way, and Landscape, Soundscape. In Taoism, Watts offers the possibility that an ancient oriental way of being in touch with the true nature of nature might guide a technological culture toward reunification with the rest of the planet.