Life
Alan Watts was born in Chislehurst, England, and became interested in Buddhism as a schoolboy; he published The Spirit of Zen (1936) at twenty-one. He moved to the United States in 1938, trained at an Episcopal seminary and served as chaplain at Northwestern University, then left the church around 1950. In San Francisco he taught at the American Academy of Asian Studies and became a popular voice on public radio. The Wisdom of Insecurity (1951), The Way of Zen (1957) and The Book (1966) made Asian philosophy readable for a broad Western audience, with humour and without technical jargon. He was not a Zen teacher in any lineage and described himself as a 'philosophical entertainer'; scholars note that his accounts simplify the traditions. His recorded lectures remain widely listened to.
The system
- The 'backwards law': the harder we grasp for security, the less secure we feel.
- The separate ego as a social convention rather than a fact.
- Zen and Taoism as ways of living in harmony with the flow of things.
- Play and wonder in place of anxious striving.
Key works
- The Wisdom of Insecurity (1951) Amazon
- The Way of Zen (1957) Amazon
- The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are (1966) Amazon
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Where to start
- The Wisdom of Insecurity is short and timeless; The Way of Zen is his most serious study.
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