Voice of Zen Buddhism Alan Watts wrong?

(Buddha's Wisdom) Was Alan Watts wrong about Buddhism? The truth behind the "Voice of Zen"

• When Buddhism met Taoism: The hidden birth of Zen

Alan Watts: Zen means jhana (absorption, dhyana) - Zen (Tao) of effortlessness, soft power

Becoming interested in Zen: Alan Watts - Alan Watts: wu wei, with the Way (Taoist)

How can I effortlessly go with the flow?

Wu wei (無為, 无为, wúwéi) is a concept from ancient pre-Buddhist Chinese philosophy that literally means "not-acting" or "non-doing," variously interpreted and translated as "noninterference," "action-lessness," "inaction," or "effortless action" [1, 2].

In Taoism, it denotes the nature of Tao, meaning that while Tao (the Way, Path, or flow of nature, acting in accordance with the natural course of things), is the source of all existence and the manifestation of all phenomena, its intrinsic formless essence is that it acts or moves in a silent, invisible, ineffable, often-unnoticed manner that may even seem motionless and effortless [3, 4, 5, 6, 7].

It's all a matter of seeing the Suchness!

Accordingly, Taoists (and subsequently Zen Buddhist practitioners) aspire to live their lives in alignment with such a harmonious state of free flowing and unforced activity. In a political context, it also refers to an ideal form or principle of spontaneous and non-aggressive form of governing [8]. More

Zen Reconsidered: It's all "Suchness"

(Alan Watts) Zen Reconsidered: Suchness (full lecture by Alan Watts on Buddhism)

• 50 years without Alan Watts: A timeless echo in today’s culture (The Brussels Times, 2023)

What is "suchness"?

What is Suchness? All is Suchness.

Tathātā (Sanskrit तथाता, Pali tathatā) is a Buddhist term variously translated as "Suchness," "Thusness," "True Thusness," or "True Suchness," referring to the Ultimate Reality, the intrinsic and essential nature of all existence, free of dualistic thinking, conceptualization, subject–object distinctions [1].

It is formless, uncreated, eternal, perfect, unchanging, indestructible, and is the true nature of all phenomena. It represents the genuine reality of existence, which transcends physical forms, physical senses, and intellectual comprehension, indicating a profound insight into the nature of things as they truly are [2, 3, 4].

Tathātā has a large number of synonyms found in different Buddhist schools, traditions, and scriptures, such as:

• Emptiness (śūnyatā 空),
• Reality Realm (bhūta-koṭi 實際、實相),
• True Suchness (bhūta-tathatā 真如),
• Dharma Nature (Dharmatā 法爾、法然、法性),
• Dharma Realm (Dharma-dhātu 法界),
• Dharma Body (Dharma-kāya 法身),
• Nirvana (Nirvāṇa 涅槃),
• Vajra (金剛),
• Actionlessness (無爲),
• Dharma Intrinsic Nature (Dharma-svabhāva 法自性、法自然),
• Buddha-nature (Buddhatā, Buddha-svabhāva 佛性),
• Tathagata-Treasure (Tathāgata-garbha 如來藏),
• The True Reality of all phenomena (sarva-dharma-tathatā 諸法實相), and so on [3, 5, 6].

Although it is a significant concept in Mahayana Buddhism, it is also used in the Theravada tradition [7, 8]. More

The Life of Zen with Alan Watts - “Do what you like doing [rather than for money]”

Alan Watts on Buddhism and the word "Buddha" - Alan Watts, Who is the Buddha?

What to do? Go with the flow

Queens of the Stone Age "Go With the Flow" (live on Leno in 2003)

• Queens of the Stone Age – "Go with the Flow" lyrics