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Alan Watts reveals the harmony of embracing our human role while also recognizing that we are the entire cosmos. 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 the Being in the Way podcast, Alan Watts discusses: Remembering our inherent oneness with all thingsLiving on two levels at once: the relative world and the ultimate realityUnderstanding life as a “controlled accident” and learning to play our social roles on demandPretending not to notice the fundamental light of existence Seeing life’s most serious predicaments as part of a cosmic gameRecognizing how our fascination with details can cause us to lose sight of the bigger pictureEngaging fully in the game of life while recognizing our true natureThis 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. "Deep down, who are you? That’s the thing that’s been forgotten. That’s the underside of the tapestry, the thing that’s been left out because what we are carefully taught to ignore is that every one of us, fundamentally, deep, deep inside, is an act of, function of, performance of, manifestation of the works, the whole blinking cosmos with all its galaxies.” –Alan Watts See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dismantling the illusion of separation, Alan Watts shares how recognizing our fundamental unity with the universe transforms the way we live, perceive, and prepare for death. Help us celebrate 10 years of Be Here Now Network and support the next chapter of Ram Dass Here and Now. Gifts are matched dollar for dollar through June 30. Learn more and give here: BHNN 10th Birthday Fundraiser 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 week on Being in the Way, Alan Watts lectures on: Playing hide and seek with our true selvesHow your body knows that you are one with the universeSeeing things versus noticing thingsThe yoga of preparing for death  The partial view that the ego keeps us trapped in The continuous energy of our bodiesDissolving the distinction between voluntary and involuntary behavior The transaction between the individual and the world 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. “Doesn’t it really astonish you that you are this fantastically complex thing and that you’re doing all of this and you never had any education in how to do it? You never learned, but you’re this miracle. From a strictly physical, scientific standpoint, this organism is a continuous energy with everything else that’s going on. If I am my foot, I am the sun. Only, we’ve got this little partial view. We’ve got the idea that ‘I’m just something in this body’, the ego, that’s a joke.” –Alan Watts See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Moving beyond the imagined boundary of form, Alan Watts explores the idea that humanity is a microcosm of the universe and that the two are inseparable.  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 discusses: Considering whether being part of a whole means that we are the wholeThe radial structure of humanity, Earth, and all beingsRecognizing that skin is not the boundary of manHow foreign the inner workings of the human body seem to humannessThe nature of the mind, likened to the nature of spaceThe illusion of an individual operating from himself Blending together materialism and mysticism, not getting too stuck in one or the other 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. “Any other way of looking at things is kind of schizoid. It looks at human beings as if they arrived in this world like a bunch of birds on the branches of a barren tree. They just got settled there, they don’t belong, a sense of being strangers and pilgrims from another domain altogether. Well, where is this other domain, and how does it relate to this one?” –Alan Watts See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Alan Watts explores the inseparable dance between structure and formlessness, revealing why the universe can never be fully captured by words alone. 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 outlines: Two distinct schools of thought: those who focus on structure, and those who focus on what Watts calls ‘goo’How fixating on practicality is like knowing all the words to a song without ever truly hearing the musicThe difference between a scientific perspective and a spiritual perspective Why structure and formlessness are inseparable aspects of the same cosmic processUnderstanding that the universe cannot be explained with words aloneThis 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. "What is it? What is this universe? What is an atom? What is energy? The only answer that would really please me wouldn't be an ordinary answer, because it wouldn't be in words." –Alan Watts See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 Watts See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 Watts See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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 Watts See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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.

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 Watts See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Focusing on cosmic balance, Alan Watts outlines the fundamentals of Taoism and how to skillfully interfere with our environment. Find the full Zen and the Art of the Controlled Accident series of talks at play.alanwatts.org. 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 shares a lecture on: The philosophy of TaoismTaoism as the flow of things / the course of natureThe pervasive illusion of separateness and seeing it within our languageHow we only experience the world bit-by-bitA transformation of our everyday consciousness into onenessHow we are all indestructible beyond the egoLife as a game of yin and yang, crests and troughsThe fundamental idea of mutual arisingHow everything we do interferes with our environmentLearning how to interfere skillfullyThis 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. “We are not ordinarily aware of how we’re aware, and as a result of that, we don’t understand our connection with the world, and we don’t understand what our real self is. We get anxious; we’re afraid that death may be the end of us. This is, of course, the purest superstition, because everybody is indestructible.” – Alan Watts See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Explaining the delicate balance of religiousness, Alan Watts lectures on the principle of leaving no trace. “Religion of No Religion” is part of the Japan Tour 1965 series of talks that you can listen to in full over at the Alan Watts Streaming Channel 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 explains: How the highest kind of a Buddha is like an ordinary personImitation and how all religious comments about life become clichesThe way of the enlightened man as the track of a bird in the skyZen Buddhism and the dance between metaphysical and ordinaryBalance and compatibility between universality and the particularsThe problem with being too spiritual or too worldlyThe connection of all events in the universe, past, present, and futureHow everything in the universe depends upon each otherThis 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. “All religion, all religious comments about life, eventually become cliches. That’s why religion always is falling apart and becoming a certain kind of going through the motions, a kind of imitation of attitudes.” – Alan Watts See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In a lecture on symbolic reality versus real reality, Alan Watts explains the importance of total sensory awareness and looking at our motivations. "Symbolic Reality vs. Real Reality" is part of Flow, a three-part session in the TAO for NOW series of talks that you can listen to in full over at the Alan Watts Streaming Channel 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 discusses: Being aware of all sensory inputs while meditatingAllowing oneself ‘to be’ in a non-conceptual wayConfusing the world of symbols for realityThe limits to what we can enjoy in a material senseThe uselessness of guiltMoney, tithes, and western religion versus gurusWhy our motivation and intention mattersExperiencing life naked and directlyThe Taoist approach to letting go of your body-mindUsing all five of our senses to witness our surroundingsThis 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. “The point is to be wide, wide awake and aware of your total sensory input without confusing it with the symbolic world of words and concepts so that you experience life naked and directly. Experience YOU naked and directly, without having in your head the concept of who you are a a role player, as a personality, as an ego.” – Alan Watts See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Join us on a journey of contemplation and enlightenment in this captivating introduction to Taoism. Discover the profound wisdom of Taoist philosophy with Alan Watts as he invites us to embrace the course of nature. Through insightful exploration, he delves into the timeless significance of Yin and Yang, illustrating their inseparable connection and guiding us toward a deeper understanding of harmony and balance in existence. Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/alan In this episode, Alan Watts speaks about: Ancient Chinese philosophiesHow social institutions are mistaken for the real worldThe self, Confucianism, and the roles we play in lifeTaoism and the basic energy of the universeTao as the force of natureHow space and solid are two facets of one realityYang and Yin, positive and negative, male and femaleConscious dying and preparing to let goActing in accordance with natureThis 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. “It is the inner connection, or rather the inseparability of Yang and Yin, which is what is meant by Tao. That’s why Tao cannot be explained. The reason again if I may put it in another way is that all thinking is classification. It’s asking ‘is you is or is you aint’. Is it this or is it that. After all, if you want to say something is inside it requires an outside. You can’t have an inside without an outside or an outside without an inside.” – Alan Watts See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Taking a trip through the constructs of form and labeling, Alan Watts philosophizes about the limits of language. This series is brought to you by the Alan Watts Organization and Ram Dass’ Love Serve Remember Foundation. Visit play.alanwatts.org for full talks from Alan Watts. Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/alan This time on Being in the Way, Alan Watts philosophizes about: Unexamined systems of belief underneath languageIdeas that are built into our common senseThe substance of form, pattern, and organizationThe profound mystery of matterLimitations in trying to use language to define the ineffable‘Matter’ as a root word for many thingsChinese views of natureWhy verbs do not necessarily need subjectsBeing at peace with ourselves in a world of formRecognizing the universe as a process“When we divide the world into operations and agents, doers and doings, then we ask such silly questions as ‘who knows, who does it, what does it?’ When the what that is supposed to do it is the same as the doing. You could very easily see that the whole process of the universe may be understood as process, nobody is doing it.” – Alan Watts See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In celebration of the waters that bring life to all things, Alan Watts reflects on the separation between human civilization and the natural world. This series is brought to you by the Alan Watts Organization and Ram Dass’ Love Serve Remember Foundation. Visit play.alanwatts.org for full talks from Alan Watts. Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/alan In this unique and experimental recording, Alan Watts discusses: The beauty of life on the waters in Sausalito, CaliforniaThe rhythms of natureTime and timelessnessThe transformation of one form into anotherThe separation of man from the natural worldObjecting and Objectifying the worldIdentity and being able to know knowingThe spacious environment of the ocean“Although the rhythm of the waves beats a kind of time, it’s not clock or calendar time, it has no urgency. It’s timeless time, because I know I am listening to a rhythm which has been just the same for millions of years.” – Alan Watts See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.