The purpose, meaning of life (Alan Watts)

There's a small Cat in a tall Hat, and that's that.

Discover Alan Watts' profound insight into the Western illusion of meaning and the freedom found in Eastern surrendering to life’s mystery. In this powerful lecture from his 1959 TV series Eastern Wisdom and Modern Life, Watts explains why our desperate "search" for purpose can often lead us AWAY from true peace.

What is shoshin or "beginner's mind"?

Embrace the present, let go of control, and understand why [the sense of] nonsense might just be the key to enlightenment.

In 1958, Watts toured parts of Europe with his father, meeting the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung and the German psychotherapist Karlfried Graf Dürckheim [29]. Upon returning to California and the Bay Area in the United States, Watts recorded two seasons of a TV series (1959–1960) for KQED public television in San Francisco, Eastern Wisdom and Modern Life [30]. More

• Nothing makes sense…and that’s the point | Alan Watts (Simply Art - Inspire) "Sense of Nonsense"

• He explained it this past Sunday on KPFK FM's Buddhist Radio on Sunday mornings:
• Alan Watts Sunday, August 31, 2025, 8:00 am
• Pacifica Free Speech Radio, online archives (KPFK 90.7 FM)
• Original calligraphy painting by Yoko Collin | Japanese art on paper | Gai Shan Kaizen "Improvement"
• The Cat in the Hat (Dr. Seuss); Mr. Krabs (SpongeBob SquarePants); Alan Watts (alanwatts.org), 1960; CC Liu and Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly