Alan Watts: Sudden Enlightenment (video)

Alan Watts; Seth Auberon, Pat Macpherson, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly

Circle, O, Zen "empty" spot!

As some New Age con artists posing as "gurus" continue to get richer and gain more followers by mixing nonsense woowoo with genuine spiritual teachings of the East, Alan Watts is a breath of fresh air and sincerity.

Watt is interpreting the East for Western audiences. He may not always hit the mark with his examples, but he understands. Wisdom Quarterly would not talk about him if he were so off. It is because he is so frequently on that we love him, the great "spiritual entertainer."

In this clip from his early TV show, he explains what that whole "void" (shunyata) thing, the yin and the yang, is about. It's hard for our heavily conditioned minds to piece together and remember.



What does "awakening" mean? It doesn't have anything to do with saying Namaste ("The light in me honors the light in you") to others or finding significance in noticing the clock when it's 11:11 or thinking that the movement of planets in the solar system affects our moods and sets our personality at birth...

We can steer this ship by our actions (karma) of subtle thought, middling word, and gross deed. And the many results of those actions will influence our lives much more, even resulting in sudden enlightenment.