In His Own WayNovember 15, 2008 "Tao: the Watercourse Way", Alan Watts' last, unfinished book, may be his best. It's hard for us to imagine the starched, repressed, either/or America of the 1950's; hard to know whether to look back with nostalgia or horror. But no doubt that was a world that badly needed to get in touch with its Yin side, and Alan Watts helped with that as much as anybody. He and D.T. Suzuki between them doublehandedly introduced America to "Eastern Religions" (oddly so-called since Asia is to the West of America.)
Watts was happiest with the easygoing world of Taoism. You feel that his ideal was a carefree drunken Romantic poet like Li Po, often identified as a Taoist Immortal: this would have a great influence on the stereotype of the beatnik, and later the hippie.
Two intuitions lay at the heart of Watts' philosophy. One was pure Protestant, encountered by Martin Luther before him: what we might call "the paradox of effort." The harder you try to be good or virtuous, to reach transcendence or Enlightenment, the further you fall short. It's like being told to "Act natural." The moment you consciously Try to be natural, all naturalness vanishes.
The other might be called "the fallacy of dualism". Contraries like dark and light, good and evil, man and woman, are not at war, but need each other and define each other. If we take this to its conclusion, we find that all separations and barriers are creations of our own minds. Distinct, isolated objects do not exist, everything shades into something else, and so the Universe is One: not shapelessly One like some vast ocean of custard, but One through continuous interplay, interchange, merging, transaction, transformation.
So if Taoism hadn't existed it would have been necessary for Alan Watts to invent it: but the concepts of Non-Effort and the Harmony of Opposites were all there waiting for him. This book is a poetic evocation of Taoism rather than a detailed account of its rituals or spiritual practices. No doubt more recent scholarship, and a flood of translations, have left it behind; but it's still a good place to begin exploring.
I had to buy it again!October 3, 2008 I am what you would call a spiritual seeker. I've delved into many different faith traditions. I became interested in Taoism when I was about 15. It was the first philosophy I ever looked into. Since then I've moved on but this book was instrumental in my understanding of the Tao.
I have lent this book to a few of my more "serious" friends and they didn't like it. But I still love Alan Watts wry sense of humor and erudite understanding of the essentials of Taoist practice. I actually lent this book and never got it back, but I liked it so much I had to buy another copy!
The book itself is broken into five sections. Alan even goes so far as to describe the pronunciation of the Wade-Giles system of Chinese.
The introduction talks about the origins of Chinese language and basic Chinese attitudes. He then goes on to explain four of the main tenets of philosophical Taoism, namely Yin-Yang Polarity, Tao, Wu-Wei (Non-Action), and Te (Virtue).
And as an added bonus Al Chung-liang Huang adds his "grass style" Chinese calligraphy of phrases from the book!
This book has shown me how to go in with the whirl and out with the swirl, as Alan so aptly puts it. I would recommend it to anyone interested in Taoism that wants a good Western view of it.
Other books by Watts I'd recommend are "Cloud-hidden Whereabouts Unknown" and "The Wisdom of Insecurity." He definitely has the feel of it--I think others can get it too with his easy-going style.
An excellent introduction, and more, on ZenFebruary 22, 2008 An excellent introduction, and more, on Zen. I've read several books on Zen, and Alan Watts' book was the easiest for me to understand. If you have found Zen difficult, I suggest that you try this book. The illustrations by Al Chung-liang Huang are beautiful and expressive of Zen.
Tao The Water Course WayDecember 8, 2007 This was the first book on Taoism that I ever read 30 years ago and it blew me away. I connected so much with this book the Tao. I strongly support this book in a big way.
The MasterOctober 6, 2007 Great book, true to Alan Watts' spirit and style. A perfect choice for a westerner interested in eastern concepts, as are all of Alan's books and lectures. If you've never read Alan Watts, you're missing out on one of the brilliant minds of our time.
