The Essential Lectures of Alan Watts (1972)
The Essential Lectures of Alan Watts video series was recorded in 1971 above Muir Woods, California, and in 1972 aboard the ferryboat the SS Vallejo in Sausalito. Produced by his son Mark and directed by long-time archivist Henry Jacobs, the series explores core philosophical themes that spawned over Watts' career.
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Episodes
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1
1. Nothing1972-12-31 · 5h 42mBasing his ideas on sensory perception and physical experience, Alan Watts makes a compelling argument that everything actually depends upon nothing for its very existence.
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2. Ego1972-12-31 · 5h 42mAlan Watts was concerned with the way we trap ourselves in words. He considered it unfortunate that we separate the "I" from reality and think of "I" in terms of how others see us
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3. Meditation1972-12-31 · 5h 42mAs Alan Watts explains, "A person who thinks all the time has nothing to think about except thoughts and loses touch with reality." He covers basic mediation techniques, including
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4. God1972-12-31 · 5h 42mTo many of us the image of God as a gray-bearded omnipotent and omnipresent supreme being has become implausible, yet the common sense notions of divine authority surrounding that
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5. Cosmic Drama1972-12-31 · 5h 42mAlan Watts further explores the Hindu dramatic view of the universe, in which God plays all of the parts - all the while pretending not to know who he/she/it is!
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6. Time1972-12-31 · 5h 42mHere Alan Watts points out that our insistence that the past determines the present is nonsensical.
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7. Work & Play1972-12-31 · 5h 42mAlan Watts swirls an orange on a string and shoots an arrow high into the air before explaining why the art of living is being paid to play - and to the extent that we feel compell
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8. Death1972-12-31 · 5h 42mAlan Watts comments on the circle of life and our response to the surprising event of being born in the first place.
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9. The More It Changes1972-12-31 · 5h 42mAlan Watts speaks on our fascination with reproduction through media, and on the far out notion that human beings may just be one star's way of becoming another star!
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10. Clothing1972-12-31 · 5h 42mAfter talking about growing up near London, Alan Watts demonstrates a variety of cultural garb and points out how each influences the way we live and feel. His choices of attire in
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11. Do You Smell?1972-12-31 · 5h 42mAlan Watts speaks about our most repressed sense. Here he introduces viewers to the intricacies of incense in front of a small Buddhist altar, while commenting on the types of ince
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12. Conversation with Myself1971-12-31 · 5h 42mWhile walking in a field above Muir Woods, Alan Watts points to humankind's attempts to straighten out a wiggly world as the root of our ecological crisis.
Cast
Alan WattsAlan WattsImages
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