Alan Wilson Watts (6 January 1915 – 16 November 1973) was a British-born philosopher, writer, and speaker, best known as an interpreter and populariser of Eastern philosophy for a Western audience. Born in Chislehurst, England, he moved to the United States in 1938 and began Zen training in New York. Pursuing a career, he attended Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, where he received a master’s degree in theology. Watts became an Episcopal priest in 1945, then left the ministry in 1950 and moved to California, where he joined the faculty of the American Academy of Asian Studies.
Watts gained a large following in the San Francisco Bay Area while working as a volunteer programmer at KPFA, a Pacifica Radio station in Berkeley. Watts wrote more than 25 books and articles on subjects important to Eastern and Western religion, introducing the then-burgeoning youth culture to The Way of Zen (1957), one of the first bestselling books on Buddhism. In Psychotherapy East and West (1961), Watts proposed that Buddhism could be thought of as a form of psychotherapy and not a religion. He also explored human consciousness, in the essay “The New Alchemy” (1958), and in the book The Joyous Cosmology (1962).
Towards the end of his life, he divided his time between a houseboat in Sausalito and a cabin on Mount Tamalpais. His legacy has been kept alive by his son, Mark Watts, and many of his recorded talks and lectures are available on the Internet. According to the critic Erik Davis, his “writings and recorded talks still shimmer with a profound and galvanizing lucidity.”
One of our best
I have learned so much from listening to Alan’s recordings. His delivery is upbeat and the perspective he shares is transformative and on the upward trajectory.
AlanWatts.org
One of many lectures of Alan Watts Remixed:
Alan Watts – Nothingness (Nightzim Remix) – YouTube
His perspectives on our existence are unmatched. His words replay in my mind throughout my life, which allow me to reanalyze them and gain a higher level of understanding of where I am in this Universe.
watts is def one of the Goats
I knew about Alan Watts a long time before Secret Energy and I have always listened to his talks and speeches. Talk about enlightening! Alan is a special teacher in the way he speaks. I seem to resonate with his perspective on many subjects and he is quite amazing at explaining difficult concepts. It was really cool to learn that he’s in this directory! Can’t go wrong with Alan !
Love his delivery
More my late mother’s mentor, through her sharing of esoteric knowledge it launched me on my path to INlightenment – giving thanks to the elders and my ancestors 🌠
“You are under no obligation to the universe to be the same person you were 5 minutes ago”
-Alan Watts
What a legend
The nostalgia is real. Throwback to me in 9th grade staying up all night listening to Alan Watts. The first person to draw me into the mysteries of life. Thank you Mrs.Watts you where there from the start. 🧬🤣😁👐
I love listening to his voice. He had such kindness in how he spoke, playful and sincere.