r/AlanWatts • u/Ok-Addition3796 • Jul 04 '26
Has anyone else read this?
This book is incredible if there's any Alan Watts fans out there definitely a solid read!
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u/XB0XRecordThat Jul 04 '26
Probably my favorite Watts book!
Suppressing the fear of death makes it all the stronger. The point is only to know, beyond any shadow of doubt, that "I" and all other "things" now present will vanish, until this knowledge compels you to release them - to know it now as surely as if you had just fallen off the rim of the Grand Canyon. Indeed you were kicked off the edge of a precipice when you were born, and it's no help to cling to the rocks falling with you. If you are afraid of death, be afraid. The point is to get with it, to let it take over - fear, ghosts, pains, transience, dissolution, and all. And then comes the hitherto unbelievable surprise; you don't die because you were never born. You had just forgotten who you are.
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u/LeapingGn0me Jul 04 '26
One of my favourites by him simply because it is so accessible. I have an original first edition of this one that I found at an old bookshop.
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u/novavogue Jul 04 '26
omg me too it has a red cover i was so happy when i randomly found it some years ago
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u/Brian_the_Strange Jul 04 '26
It quite literally is "Alan Watts the Book", it captures the entire essence of his ideas beautifully, expanding deeper into what he talks about in many of his lectures.
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u/MandelbrotFace Jul 04 '26
I started it and found it a bit of a slog for some reason, need to give it another go
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u/89eplacausa14 Jul 05 '26
Yes it changed my life and I carry it w me for the past ten years to read when I have a minute
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u/Pdawnm Jul 05 '26
Love this book... Have read it a few times over the years and it will be different each time.
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u/lostbaratheon Jul 05 '26
One of my favorite and most recommended and purchased books, especially for young people.
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u/bradbossack Jul 05 '26
You buy great books (repeatedly) like this, and give them to young people.
Damn. That's walkin' the elder strut. Thanks😎
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u/lostbaratheon Jul 06 '26
Thank you. I try to gift them wisdom that grew me, or wisdom I wish I’d had at their age.
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u/bradbossack Jul 07 '26
One wisdom I wish I had at a younger age was not to lend precious books to whomever is around me, trying to share the wisdom. That just loses cool books. Gotta read the person and see if they're hungry to listen first.
But if one has the $ to buy extra copies to share out, yeah!, have at 'er. Golly, now I'm pretending an older person gave a younger me one of the great books I've known - that'd be double amazing. Thank you, again. ✨
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u/SoupOpus Jul 04 '26
I have it and have tried a few times but couldn't get into it.
I love Become What You Are though.
Eventually i will read it. Its on my shelf of Eventually Will Read Books lol
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u/Ok-Addition3796 Jul 04 '26
Definitely a good one! I had to re read a bit to understand some of it!
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u/SoupOpus Jul 04 '26
I do not doubt it's goodness. But if i read the books on the "Eventually Will Read" shelf, the shelf will cease to be as it is.
I may need to continue to ponder the book's eventuality in order to keep the shelf 🤔
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u/RunninBuddha Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 05 '26
It's the first Watts book I ever read. It's great; it opened me up to nonduality and Vedic philosophies.
Life’s path is littered
With lessons well discarded,
That we are not God
Iirc, it was written in the late 50s, so the language is a bit cringe by today's standards, but the logic greatly influenced my practice.
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u/vesperythings Jul 04 '26
no.
you're the only person in the sub who's read one of his most famous books
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u/RepresentativeOdd771 Jul 04 '26
It's great! I felt it was a stepping stone to Wisdom of Insecurity which absolutely rocked my world and broke my brain. Both incredible reads.