Read The Wisdom of Insecurity A Message for an Age of Anxiety Alan W Watts 8601300190136 Books
Download As PDF : The Wisdom of Insecurity A Message for an Age of Anxiety Alan W Watts 8601300190136 Books
We live in an age of unprecedented anxiety. Spending all our time trying to anticipate and plan for the future and to lamenting the past, we forget to embrace the here and now. We are so concerned with tomorrow that we forget to enjoy today. Drawing from Eastern philosophy and religion, Alan Watts shows that it is only by acknowledging what we do not—and cannot—know that we can learn anything truly worth knowing. In The Wisdom of Insecurity, he shows us how, in order to lead a fulfilling life, we must embrace the present—and live fully in the now. Featuring an Introduction by Deepak Chopra.
Read The Wisdom of Insecurity A Message for an Age of Anxiety Alan W Watts 8601300190136 Books
"I particularly love Watts when he was still a deeply thinking Christian. But all his books are great, especially for those of us who are interested in the real life of the spirit, but don't want to 'be' a Buddhist, a Christian or join anything."
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The Wisdom of Insecurity A Message for an Age of Anxiety Alan W Watts 8601300190136 Books Reviews :
The Wisdom of Insecurity A Message for an Age of Anxiety Alan W Watts 8601300190136 Books Reviews
- I know that had Alan Watts been live, and had he seen the title of this review, he would have possible stomped his foot on the ground or even slapped me into my senses while saying "BUT THAT'S NOT THE POINT."
And I understand why he would say that. I understood (albeit not perfectly) the message that he is trying to pass on. Watts is the most Eastern Westerner I know. His philosophies, particularly in this book, can lead into a metaphysical web that could leave you stuck indefinitely. At this same time, if you peel back the philosophical layers, which he helps you do at times, you will notice that the message, at its core, is always simple. He is begging the reader not to eliminate the ego, but to come to a full realization, a hyper awareness of sorts, that there is NO ego - that the ego, or the "I," is simply a figment of imagination. There is no method to achieve this hyper-awareness, no guide, no set of instructions, but only this imperative "Look!"
I may be just a tad bit too simplistic to fully grasp the significance of this, but I believe that at times I caught a glimpse of the implications of Watt's message. To live perfectly in the moment, to understand that the experience and the "experiencer" are one in the same just as a wave is not part of the ocean, but is the ocean, all of it - I can begin to fathom how one would be able to shed so much pretense and predispositions. Or not, I don't know.
My personal opinion is that there are gems in this book, but as it is with all things, anything in excess is harmful. This book sells Eastern thought in its entirety, and I believe that no, Alan Watt's does not have the answer to the meaning of life (which he would probably agree to me saying) and I don't think you'll find in this book all the answers to your questions. It is a refreshing read though, at least it was for me. I really had to break down my mind, my prejudices, my perceptions and realize that my reality is truly the product of my own mind - and that I can change that, if I want to.
In any case, a worthy read, but definitely not a book if you're looking for "10 Ways to Reduce Anxiety." It is rather an exhortation to awareness. - This is a delightfully fresh and direct book from Watts. I have been reading him on and off for the past 35+ years and this seems to me to be something of a breakthrough for/from him, really expressing a very clear experience of being in the moment. It is easy to read (large print, simple words), but the meaning is deep and profound, and he says it all in a way that is both clearly simple and yet playfully fresh. And he does this without a lot of cultural baggage (East or West), so making it especially powerful and approachable for modern readers (yet also remarkable in that he wrote this in 1951).
Over and over he points out what is real (what we all know), and yet indescribable;
"What is true and positive is too real and too living to be described, and to try to describe it is like putting red paint on a red rose." (p.76)
"Indeed, every experience is in this sense new, and at every moment in our lives we are in the midst of the new and unknown. At this point you receive the experience without resisting it or naming it, and the whole sense of conflict between "I" and the present reality vanishes." (p.94)
"The meaning of freedom can never be grasped by the divided mind. If I feel separate from my experience, and from the world, freedom will seem to be the extent to which I can push the world around, and fate the extent to which the world pushes me around. But to the whole mind there is no contrast of "I" and the world. There is just one process acting, and it does everything that happens.... No one fates and no one is being fated." (p. 122)
And the way he finishes the book is perhaps best of all;
"Discovering this the mind becomes whole; the split between I and me, man and the world, the ideal and the real, comes to an end. Paranoia, the mind beside itself, becomes metanoia, the mind with itself and so free from itself. Free from clutching at themselves the hands can handle; free from looking at themselves the eyes can see; free from trying to understand itself thought can think. In such feeling, seeing, and thinking life requires no future to complete itself nor explanation to justify itself. In this moment it is finished." (p. 152)
And he could just as easily have said, in this moment it begins. - Maybe the single best Alan Watts book. If you get this book, and really get "It", and you will know if you really got "It", your search for "It" will be finished. For you will have realized that you are "It". Always have been, always will be.
- Not sure how one can give a bad review to a book. If you did not like a book, it just means YOU did not like a book, it doesn't mean a book is bad. So... I did not like this book, because I just do not like and do not agree with ideas that author expressed in this book. It was neither inspirational, not educational for me. That, unfortunately, was the worst book I read last year. I saw no benefits in reading it. But... I know people who would love it, therefore, it was unregretfully gifted to a co-workers. Although book is not expensive, you may want to read some extracts from it, if you can find, before purchasing
- I particularly love Watts when he was still a deeply thinking Christian. But all his books are great, especially for those of us who are interested in the real life of the spirit, but don't want to 'be' a Buddhist, a Christian or join anything.
- Alan Watts writes a wonderful view of life. Touching on the understandings of Christianity and Zen Buddhism and how they approach the understanding of human life. Of particular interest to me was the philosophy of I and Me. Thinking about thinking is so fun too..... A book that is wonderful to understand nature and appreciate adventure in life inspirational. Dance like no one is watching and enjoy this book a wonderful read dont think too hard on it and its a fun insighful beautiful book some real key thoughts on leading a beautiful life.
