Alan Wilson Watts was from Chislehurst, Kent, England, and he was born on 6th January 1915. He died when he was 58 on 16th November 1973 in Mount Tamalpais, California, United States of America. Alan Watts moved from his home place England to the United States of America for further studies, and there he got his training in Zen in New York. He got his Theology degree which is the study of religion from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary. In 1945, he became an Episcopal priest. Alan Watts was an English writer, philosopher, and speaker. Let us know about “Alan Watts Best Books”.
He used his knowledge about Buddhism, Taoism, and Hinduism to explain the concept of life in-depth to the western population. He wrote more than 25 books in his life, explaining many expectations of life and the experience he gains from studying different ways of life and religion. Alan Watts was also a Theologian. Theologian is a person who studies religion and observes the impact of religion on society. Alan Watts was a religious scholar who helped bring Eastern or Asian philosophies and culture to the western world.
All the books that Alan Watts has written are amazing and breathtaking, but we will be listing some of the best books. The positions of the books in the list don’t represent the worthiness, all of them are best and different from one another according to us. Every book here represents many experiences of Alan Watts and his observation of the world. The 10 books are-
Psychotherapy, East & West
Nature, Man And Woman
Out Of Your Mind
The Book
The Wisdom of Insecurity
The Meaning Of Happiness
Still The Mind
In My Own Way
Become What You Are
The Way Of Zen
For All The Information About The Listed Books, Continue Reading. This article will include the description and the contents of the books.
Psychotherapy, East & West
Description
Psychotherapy, East & West is a book written for comparing the mentalities of the eastern and western philosophies for the sake of helping the people who are in disbelief about their life. In this book, we see that eastern philosophy and western psychiatry both have some similarities that can help people. It shows how a person’s mentality and the perception of his life could be changed with the experiments of Eastern Philosophy and Western Psychotherapy and end their disbelief about life and give them a new sense of identity. This book shows how a person is tied to its egocentric lifestyle and it also helps to change that.
Content
Alan Watts wrote in this book that a person’s life is like an act with no actor, and an insane person is the parody of the philosopher who has cut down his ego.
Nature, Man, And Woman
Description
Nature, Man, and Woman is a book that connects all the three aspects of the true nature of the relationship between nature, man, and woman. This book explains that all the three concepts are not independent but dependent on each other and work as a whole. Without anyone, life will not work perfectly. It also shows how a relationship between two persons is supposed to be, and in today’s world, it is really important to understand that. This book came in 1958 and was written with that time’s mindset but the idea behind the book is timeless.
Content
The author said that the solution to a problem is not in running away from it. The solution is in the problem. The certain pain will not stop if you harden yourself, it will be when you soften yourself. You have to feel it to understand the true nature of life and what it gives you.
Out Of Your Mind
Description
Out Of Your Mind is a book that will help you open your eyes if you’re living a systematic or controlled life which you are not aware of. In this book, Alan Watts shows and explains how you have to think out of the box or you will be stuck inside a game that you will never understand, and that game is Life itself. It depends on us if we want to play that game smarter and in a fun way or just struggle with it and be depressed. Alan Watts said this game is hidden like an illusion and if we don’t think out of our mind then we will never understand the true meaning of anything, and will just be disturbed and will struggle with everything.
Content
In the book, the Author said- “When I do philosophy—like I’m doing now—I feel it is entertainment, but I hope it resembles listening to someone play beautiful music. I am not being serious, but I am being sincere. The difference between seriousness and sincerity is that seriousness is someone speaking in the context of the possibility of tragedy.”
The Book
Description
This book will drag you up from all the self-ego thoughts and that way of life. Alan Watts explains and shows how we are thinking of ourselves wrongly and he also tells us about how to think differently and in a positive manner. He shows and explains how the life of a person is not singular but it will create meaning with everyone and not alone. The author writes that a person is not one without the support of others but with the group and support of every individual, a person becomes a whole. This book explains how the thinking of a person is wrong with the definition of an individual. A person is an individual with the support of a group of family, friends, and colleagues. Being in a group of loved ones and helping each other, makes a person an individual not by being a loner.
Content
Alan Watts said that how a human with all different types of magical things that a person has like the eyes that are jewels, the ears that are enchanted musical instruments, and the brain which is an arabesque of nerves, feel themselves less than a god.
The Wisdom Of Insecurity
Description
This book “The Wisdom of Insecurity” is an immense experience but a short read about the problem of anxiety and how to be able to control it. This book shows how people are just thinking about the past and future and easily forget about the present which is the combination of both. A person should not dwell on thoughts of which they can’t control. This book beautifully and positively shows and explains the ways to think about decisions without the anxiety of past deeds and future happenings.
Content
The author writes that planning for tomorrow is not significant unless you are not living in the moment that is the present. You have to be fully aware of the reality of the present. There is no other reality than the present itself. If a person is immortal and is living thinking about the future, then they are missing the point of life and reality.
The Meaning Of Happiness
Description
This book combines Christianity, Eastern Philosophy, and Psychology and explains how a person could be happy. This book simply explains the question-“How to Be Happy?” If a person is non-dualistic, accepts what is right, and feels a sense of freedom in the present, then that person is truly happy. This book came in 1940 and it was written when Alan Watts was only 24 years old. It is so astonishing to see that a young man has written something about true happiness and that so very beautifully. Alan Watts writes and explains that true happiness will never be observed or gained if we do not combine both inner happiness and outer happiness. It is a short read of about 200 words but it will leave an impact on you and your meaning of happiness.
Content
In the book, it is said that hating the concept of death and change, and making life without death and change is the most rigid thing, and also a living death.
Still The Mind
Description
This book is the parts of different lectures that Alan Watts conducted and it is all about meditation and ALL ABOUT MEDITATION. Alan Watts explains the human physical body and how it works and can you use it for your good. He explains how eyes work, ears work, and how our blood runs through our body, and how the heart pumps blood. He motivates you about how you could meditate and how it will help you to increase your positivity and happiness. He explains how people stop trying to do something after a few attempts and give up on that and how it is the same with meditation. He also said that the way of meditation could be different for everybody, like if someone likes playing music while meditating then it will also be called meditation if they are relaxed and feeling only the music and themselves. He encourages people to be optimistic and not pessimistic.
Content
The author says that a person may think that they must not sing because they are not good at it, and it is ridiculous because it means that there is no meaning in doing anything if you are not an expert on that thing.
In My Own Way
Description
In this book, Alan shows and explains how he was from a religiously conservative family who became the famous Alan Watts, whose books were so ahead of their time. It gives us all the stories and steps that Alan took and what steps he ignored in his life. This book was written by Alan’s father with all the laughable memories of Alan with different personalities and Gurus. It also shares the experience of Alan when he tried a psychedelic drug. It shows how Alan studied D.T. Suzuki and also the effects of Christmas Humphreys.
Content
Alan Watts explains how poets value the sound of the words and not their meaning, and not arguments but the images. Alan wants to show and explain to us how we have to listen to the vibrations of life just as we listen to music.
Become What You Are
Description
This book is a short Compilation of some essays by Alan Watts. It is a short read but you should not judge this book with its pages because the content is amazing. Alan Watts does great work spreading eastern ideas in western areas. It could be difficult to understand it first but will make sense afterward.
Content
Alan said that a person is not even starting to be alive if they do not let go of the anxious hold that is holding his life, property, reputation, and position. They need to stop being anxious about these things.
The Way Of Zen
Description
In this book, Alan Watts explains the way of Zen and how he learned about it in his days. He tells that Zen is the greatest thing that Asia could have given to the world and he uses his book to spread the wisdom of Zen to the rest of the world. It shows how ancient religious practices could easily change the concept of modern life and problems.
Content
In this book, Alan Watts said that when a person tries to take charge of another person and control them, then they are letting them do the same thing to us and we cannot avoid it.
Conclusion
Now we have learnt “Alan Watts Best Books”, These were some of the best books by Alan Watts according to us and all of them are amazing and breathtaking. If you want to read or listen to audiobooks then you can buy hard copies or audiobooks which are easily available on many platforms like Amazon. The books of Alan Watts are also easily available in almost every bookstore and the local libraries.
Frequently Asked Questions:-
1- Can you buy audiobooks for every book by Alan Watts?
Answer- You can buy some of his books, but there is a little chance of getting all the books as audiobooks.
2- Are there any meditation-related books of his?
Answer- Yes, there are a few meditation-related books and essays.
3- Was Alan Watts Asian?
Answer- No, he is not Asian, he was a British Writer.
4- Are the lectures of Alan Watts available online?
Answer- Yes, some of them are online and some of them are in books.
5- Can we use Alan Watts’s books as a gift?
Answer- Yes, you can use the books of Alan Watts to give to someone.
