Alan Watts: Psych of Mystical Experience

One implies the other, a yin to every yang

Alan Watts has earned a reputation as one of the foremost interpreters of Eastern philosophies for the West beginning at age 16 in England.

That was when he wrote an essay for the journal of the Buddhist Lodge in London and began to develop an audience of millions who have been enriched through his books, recordings, TV, radio, and public lectures.

In all, Watts wrote more than 25 books and recorded hundreds of lectures and seminars, all building toward a personal philosophy that he shares in complete candor and joy with his readers and listeners throughout the world.

His overall works have presented a model of individuality and self-expression that can be matched by few philosophers. Pacifica Los Angeles (KPFK.org) continues to air Watts on Sunday mornings and during Something's Happening at midnight on Thursday nights overnight to Friday.

Some sources for Alan Watts' tapes and information:

• Pacifica Radio Archives (800) 735-0230
• pacificaradioarchives.org
• Electronic University (415) 460-0825
• alanwatts.org
• wisdomquarterly.com

World's smartest person wrote a book (video)

Toby Hendy/Tibees, July 16, 2022; Pat Macpherson, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

World's smartest person wrote this one mysterious book

(Tibees) The Animate and the Inanimate (PDF from sidis.net) is an interesting book available as a physical book (amazon.com).

The Animate and... (sidis.net)

The child prodigy William James Sidis' father, Boris Sidis, together with the famous psychologist/philosopher William James, developed the idea that people only use 10% of their brains, a small fraction of their full mental potential.

William Sidis had a high IQ and chose to live a private and independent life (almost like a Buddhist ascetic), which some saw as a waste of his potential. This video aims to show that he continued to be a lifelong learner and thinker.

The Animate and the Inanimate is one book he wrote under his own name (as he authored others with pseudonyms). It tackles interesting ideas in physics and the reversibility of the second law of thermodynamics.

Some images and articles from sidis.net. Support Tibees with a monthly donation on Patreon and receive a gift: patreon.com/Tibees or buy her a coffee (one-off donation) at ko-fi.com/tibees, website: tobyhendy.com, tiktok.com/@tibees, twitter.com/TobyHendy. Second channel: youtube.com/channel/UCOZE... The first 1,000 people to use the link will get a one-month free trial of Skillshare: skl.sh/tibees07221. Subscribe to my channel to see more videos like this: youtube.com/user/tibees.

Sharon Salzberg: "The 8 Train"

Sharon Salzberg: Buddhism and Art -- "The 8 Train" (Beliefnet 7/13/09)

Sharon is one of three Buddhist lineage mentors for Beliefnet's Interdependence Project. She is also awesome and one of the foremost Buddhist meditation teachers in America (Ethan Nichtern).

The 8 Train

William James said, "My experience is what I agree to attend to. Only those items which I notice shape my mind." I spent some time this afternoon at a gallery in lower Manhattan (Art in General), to see an exhibit called "The 8 Train" created by Josh Melnick.

Josh took a Vision Research camera, ordinarily used in scientific studies requiring high speed motion analysis, into the New York City subway and shot individual portraits. In the gallery space, two seconds of real time footage is extended to several minutes on the screen. It was a fantastic exercise in attention and compassion. First I was struck by the fact that... More>>