Take a deep dive into the collected recordings of Alan Watts with Alan’s son, Mark Watts.
Being in the Way is a podcast series that explores the Alan Watts Archive’s 100-hour tape collection - including recordings not heard in 40 years. We will meet some of the people being influenced by the works of Alan Watts today and learn a little of the history behind how these remarkable recordings were made.
Mark and his guests offer reflections on Alan’s ideas— ideas that were radically innovative and groundbreaking in the sixties and seventies, and yet seem to have come of age today.
Being in the Way is brought to you by the Alan Watts Organization, in partnership with Ram Dass' Be Here Now Network.
Check out all of the Alan Watts Organization's offerings at alanwatts.org.
Last refreshed: ⓘ
Follow this podcast in the Metacast mobile app to refresh it and see new episodes.
Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more
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 whole The radial structure of humanity, Earth, and all beings Recognizing that skin is ...
Alan Watts explores the ancient philosophical debate between those who focus on structure and those who embrace 'goo' or formlessness. He illustrates how these opposing views manifest in science, spirituality, and daily life, arguing that reality is an inseparable, dynamic interplay of both. Watts concludes that fundamental questions like 'What is it?' often evaporate when deeply considered, with the ultimate answer lying beyond words, in direct experience.
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 explain...
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 b...
Alan Watts delves into the concept of reality as a cosmic drama or divine dream, contrasting the Western view of life's seriousness with the Hindu concept of 'Leela' (play). He challenges the "double bind" of obligation and the "taboo" of realizing one's self as God, presenting a God who "does" rather than "knows how." Watts argues that existence, like music, is a purposeless, beautiful play where apparent dualities are inseparable, inviting us to embrace this paradox with lightness and laughter.
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 Confucianism Our roles in social life and Confucianism as the way for people involved in the world Taoism as the way for those who...
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 world The world itself as meaningless (non-symbolic) Realizing fundamental energy and Zen as the religion of no religion ...
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 Taoism Taoism as the flow of things / the course ...
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 person Imita...
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 ...
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 y...
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: Unexa...
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 re...
Using wisdom from Eastern philosophies, Alan Watts explains why Westerners should let go of any preconceived notions of God. 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. This Alan Watts lecture features a discussion on: Comparative studies on religion The absurdity of Christian imperialism Superiority and lack of faith The difference between faith and belief Blasphemy and those who c...
Bringing awareness to ecstatic grace, Alan Watts enlightens us on the sexual archetypes formed by religion. Two cultural icons. Two unique perspectives... One understanding of the presence of the way. Ram Dass' Love Serve Remember Foundation and the Alan Watts Organization invite you to open your mind, open your heart, and tap into the living truth of Alan Watts and Ram Dass. Learn more about this special 4-week Virtual Course: " The Presence of the Way: The Dharma of Alan Watts and Ram Dass" To...
This time on the Being in the Way Podcast, Alan Watts delves into questions of identity, purpose and buying into the ‘Myth of Myself’. 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 explores: The question of our own identity and our place in the world Myths of the self handed down through history Viewing ourselves and the world with a “floodlight consciousness” –...
Picking up from our last episode, Alan elucidates faith versus belief, and how our individual existence is connected with the totality of the universe. Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/ alan From his houseboat in Sausalito, CA, Alan Watts explores: The two great myths which underly our Western sense of identity: the Judeo-Christian myth of an overly intelligent universe founded by a...
Delving into the historically complicated human relationship to divinity, Alan Watts describes the trap of separateness. 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 explores: The sensation of our own existence Jewish Christian mythology Identifying with the tribe Universal law and the roots of justice Freud and the energies of the psyche Man as a product of na...
Offering us the possibility of waking up, Alan Watts contemplates the joyous cosmology that we are God playing the roles of ordinary people. 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 explores: If there could be a theory of the world that justifies and makes worthwhile the difficulties and suffering that we undergo The contemplation that an infinite omnipoten...
Sifting down behind the cultural myth of man as separate, Alan explores how we are all actually Earth, the Universe, and the Big Bang. In this episode of Being in the Way , Alan takes us on a journey from childhood to adulthood, highlighting how we are trained into separation from a young age, and forced to focus on the never-arriving “future,” rather than being present in the moment. Through this lens, he further spelunks the “hoax of man” and offers insight into how this sense of ego identity ...
In this unique episode of Being in the Way , Alan Watts offers tribute to the life, humor, magic and ‘nonsense wisdom’ of writer, G. K. Chesterton. 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 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. “I read G.K. Chesterton’s works very ca...
Exploring modern culture as actually anti-materialistic, Alan tackles matters of sedentariness, sensuousness, isolation, work, play, God, and sexuality. Host, Mark Watts, returns to introduce another thought-provoking talk from his father, Alan Watts. In this powerful lecture—one of his earlier field recordings, entitled ‘The Unpreachable Religion,’—Alan turns our common idea of modern materialism on its head. Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month ...
Alan Watts pulls back the veil of ‘the human game,’ digging into language, ethics, finding balance, and the art of the controlled accident. 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, Mark Watts introduces Alan Watts in ‘Learning the Human Game’ – originally recorded at a seminar at the University of Michigan. In this lecture, Alan explores the connection between languag...
Contemplating the coincidence of opposites within the 'human game,' Alan ponders the simple yet thought-provoking question: is existence serious? 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 of Being in the Way, Mark introduces a lecture from his father Alan Watts called 'Coincidence of Opposites' – the first talk in a seminar called 'Learning the Human Game,' given in 196...
Timothy Leary, Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, & Allen Cohen join Alan Watts on his houseboat to discuss change, the evolution of society, and the practicality of 'dropping out.' 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 of Being in the Way , Mark Watts introduces a truly legendary discussion featuring his father Alan Watts, Timothy Leary, Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, ...
In this recording from 1972, Alan Watts lectures on mystical vision via art, aesthetics, and Buddhist and Daoist philosophy. 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 series is made in partnership with the Alan Watts Organization. Discover the official Alan Watts archive at alanwatts.org “You and I have all conspired with ourselves to pretend that we are not really God, but of cou...
Binding contrast into paradox, Alan takes us on a journey through the psychology of mystical experience in relation to life and death, followed by a jaunt through the power of nothingness. In this episode of Being in the Way , Mark Watts opens the door to the vault, introducing two rare recordings from his father, Alan Watts. The first lecture, entitled Psychology of Mystical Experience, stems from March 5th, 1972 at San Jose State exploring the paradox of life and death. Recorded on Alan's infa...
This time on the Being in the Way podcast, Alan Watts explores the concepts of identity and consciousness, looking at the role we play in the greater 'Cosmic Drama'. Before the talk from Alan, we invite you to listen to an insightful conversation between Mark Watts and his guest, Cory Allen, about getting in touch with the core ideas of Alan Watts’ teachings. Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: bette...
Ram Dass joins Alan for a look at the tools that the Bhagavad Gita offers us to face life's challenges head-on. 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 series is made in partnership with the Alan Watts Organization. Discover the official Alan Watts archive at alanwatts.org See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#...
Alan Watts explores the 'veil of thoughts' in money, civilization & progress; before shifting gears to the 'divine madness' of marriage & falling in love. 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 series is made in partnership with the Alan Watts Organization. Discover the official Alan Watts archive at alanwatts.org “If you say that getting the money is the most important...