Alan Watts on meditation in Buddhism (audio)

Alan Watts (Archive.KPFK.org, Pacifica Radio); Dhr. Seven, Ananda M., Wisdom Quarterly

British-American Alan Watts teaches Buddhism to Westerners from California in the 1960s

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What is "reality," Alan?

This morning's Alan Watts episode (Sunday, Dec. 3, 2017, 8:00-8:30 AM on KPFK) was astoundingly good.

This show that Watts is one of the few to have correctly grasped the Dharma. He was an early adopter among Westerners, who studied with D.K. Suzuki. Moreover, he had the rare power -- as a "spiritual entertainer" not a priest or guru -- to effectively teach his subtle understanding of Buddhism, Zen, Taoism, and Christianity.

 

Too much thinking gets in the way. People who think too much have only thoughts to think about.

To listen FREE for the next 59 days, go to archive.kpfk.org and search for Alan Watts, Dec. 3

 

Just focus on one thing and LET GO.

What Watts is saying decades ago is so prescient as to lead many to think he was saying it this very morning. (Watts passed away many years ago, but his show lives on exclusively at Los Angeles Pacifica Radio, KPFK 90.7 FM).

Thanks to Roy of Hollywood Tuckman ("Something's Happening"), Los Angeles (and anyone streaming the station online worldwide) still gets to hear Watts twice a week, Sunday mornings and Thursday nights (after midnight, which is technically early Friday mornings).

Meditation?

Yogic dhyana in Sanskrit from India is jhana (in Pali, the exclusively Buddhist language) is zen in Japan, chan in China. It is "meditation," literally "absorption," "right concentration," the Noble Eightfold Path factor that precedes "right mindfulness."

What is reality? It is not words and symbols and therefore cannot be expressed in words and symbols. It is just this [he then bangs gong or singing bowl]. We can arrive at reality by zen/jhana, by absorption in meditation. Listen

• Practice what Watts taught, L.A., Thursday 7:00-8:30 PM