Podcast
Alan Watts Being in the Way
Hosted by Be Here Now Network / Love Serve Remember Foundation · EN
Take a deep dive into the collected recordings of Alan Watts with Alan’s son, Mark Watts.
Being in the Way is a podcast series that explores the Alan Watts Archive’s 100-hour tape collection - including recordings not heard in 40 years. We will meet some of the people being influenced by the works of Alan Watts today and learn a little of the history behind how these remarkable recordings were made.
Mark and his guests offer reflections on Alan’s ideas— ideas that were radically innovative and groundbreaking in the sixties and seventies, and yet seem to have come of age today.
Being in the Way is brought to you by the Alan Watts Organization, in partnership with Ram Dass' Be Here Now Network.
Check out all of the Alan Watts Organization's offerings at alanwatts.org.
18episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Ep. 39 – What Am I?
2w ago00:53:02Summary readyMoving beyond the imagined boundary of form, Alan Watts explores the idea that humanity is a microcosm of the universe and that the two are inseparable. Today’s episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/alan and get on your way to being your best self.This time on Being in the Way, Alan Watts discusses:Considering whether being part of a whole means that we are the wholeThe radial structure of humanity, Earth, and all beingsRecognizing that skin is not the boundary of manHow foreign the inner workings of the human body seem to humannessThe nature of the mind, likened to the nature of spaceThe illusion of an individual operating from himself Blending together materialism and mysticism, not getting too stuck in one or the other This series is brought to you by the Alan Watts Organization and Ram Dass’ Love Serve Remember Foundation. Visit Alanwatts.org for full talks from Alan Watts. “Any other way of looking at things is kind of schizoid. It looks at human beings as if they arrived in this world like a bunch of birds on the branches of a barren tree. They just got settled there, they don’t belong, a sense of being strangers and pilgrims from another domain altogether. Well, where is this other domain, and how does it relate to this one?” –Alan WattsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
SummaryEp. 38 – What Is It?
Apr 1700:24:34Summary readyAlan Watts explores the inseparable dance between structure and formlessness, revealing why the universe can never be fully captured by words alone.Today’s episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/alan and get on your way to being your best self.This time on Being in the Way, Alan Watts outlines:Two distinct schools of thought: those who focus on structure, and those who focus on what Watts calls ‘goo’How fixating on practicality is like knowing all the words to a song without ever truly hearing the musicThe difference between a scientific perspective and a spiritual perspective Why structure and formlessness are inseparable aspects of the same cosmic processUnderstanding that the universe cannot be explained with words aloneThis series is brought to you by the Alan Watts Organization and Ram Dass’ Love Serve Remember Foundation. Visit Alanwatts.org for full talks from Alan Watts."What is it? What is this universe? What is an atom? What is energy? The only answer that would really please me wouldn't be an ordinary answer, because it wouldn't be in words." –Alan WattsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
SummaryEp. 37 – Reality, Art and Illusion
Feb 2500:47:51Summary readyInviting listeners to question the nature of reality, consciousness, and perception, Alan Watts explores the limits of what the mind can truly know.This series is brought to you by the Alan Watts Organization and Ram Dass’ Love Serve Remember Foundation. Visit Alanwatts.org for full talks from Alan Watts.Today’s episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/alan and get on your way to being your best self.This time on Being in the Way, Alan Watts explains:Solipsism and how it subtly shapes modern human consciousnessThe philosophical case for idealism and the nature of reality as mind-dependentRelativity and how things exist for the purpose of other thingsThe mind as a mirror and the illusion of an objective, external viewpointConsidering how the spiritual world affects the material worldThe enduring philosophical question: What exists when no one is observing?The Four Buddhist Inconceivables and the limits of conceptual thought"Being is always being for something; it is, in other words, relational. The sun is light for eyes. Eyes are organs of vision for a mind. If there are no eyes, the sun gives forth no light. If there are no nerve ends it gives forth no heat. If there are no muscles, nothing is heavy.” –Alan WattsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
SummaryEp. 36 – Seeing through The Net
Aug 2700:46:17Summary readyIn this new, technological age, Alan Watts explains how seeing reality via only one perspective can lead to a fragmented view of the world; instead, he encourages listeners to adopt both the analytical and the organic. This series is brought to you by the Alan Watts Organization and Ram Dass’ Love Serve Remember Foundation. Visit Alanwatts.org for full talks from Alan Watts.Today’s episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/alan and get on your way to being your best self.In this episode, Alan Watts dives into:Living in an age of technology in a culture obsessed with rational control How someone can easily be obstructed by their own cautiousnessThe problem of human ecology and how one should best relate to their environmentConsidering what our idea of heaven is and what desires we truly want The western model of the universe (intellectual, architectural, mechanical) Reductive thinking: seeing the world through a net and making everything into a comprehensible, geometrical unitThe fundamental difference between a mechanism and an organism How understanding the world through only conscious attention can lead to seeing everything as parts rather than the whole pictureCombining the academic, analytical mind with the organic, ‘gooey’ mind “Go to the science of medicine. You get a specialist who really understands the function of the gall bladder. He studied gall bladders ad infinitum, and he really thinks he knows all about it. But, whenever he looks at a human being, he sees them in terms of the gall bladder.” – Alan WattsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
SummaryEp. 35 – Dreaming the World
May 15, 202500:54:16Summary readyDiving into the cosmic drama of reality, Alan Watts describes the world as a divine dream which is poetic, playful, and only sometimes serious.Being in the Way is brought to you by the Alan Watts Organization and Ram Dass’ Love Serve Remember Foundation. Visit Alanwatts.org for full talks from Alan Watts.On this episode of Being in the Way, Alan Watts:Exploring how we get caught in the cosmic game and drama of lifeSeeing the universe as the playful expression of divine energyQuestioning identity: the tension between acting and simply being.Confronting the spiritual taboo of realizing the self as God—tat tvam asi.Indirect awareness of the networks and systems in the physical world Music and the pure delight in complex orders of soundEmbracing the paradox of existence as poetic, musical, and playful, while still being serious.Considering all of the senses as forms of one, larger sense of touchThe oneness of up and down, black and white, being and non-being Complexities of human culture that arise out of duality Today's podcast is sponsored by Betterhelp & Dharma Seed:Being in the Way is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/alan and get on your way to being your best self.Join Krishna Das, the most well-known voice of Bhakti chanting (Kirtan) in the West, and David Nichtern - a senior Buddhist teacher, founder of Dharma Moon, guitarist in Krishna Das’ band, and producer of several of his albums - for a warm and engaging conversation about these two paths, their shared roots, and how they intersect in contemporary spiritual practice. Learn more about this FREE online gathering - THE HEART & MIND OF PRACTICE: BUDDHISM & BHAKTI"The real taboo is 'that art thou'. You, lurking behind the mask of being an impermanent human person, are really responsible for the whole thing. If anybody claims that in our culture, we put them straight away into an asylum. That is the very hallmark of insanity. But, in India, if someone suddenly wakes up one morning and says 'My goodness, I'm God', everybody says, instead of you're crazy or blasphemous, they say 'Congratulations, at last you've found out'". – Alan WattsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
SummaryEp. 34 – Confucianism vs. Taoism
Jan 30, 202500:59:59Summary readyBreaking free from cause-and-effect and the formal ideas of Confucianism, Alan Watts describes mutual arising as the key idea of the Tao.Today’s episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/alan and get on your way to being your best self.This time on Being in the Way, Alan Watts describes:Chinese philosophies of Taoism and ConfucianismOur roles in social life and Confucianism as the way for people involved in the worldTaoism as the way for those who do not prescribe to formal patternsHow the Taoist goes with nature rather than against natureIdeologies of God as a ruler or a lord versus the Taoist perspectiveExperiences in terms of their polar experience (loud vs. soft)Mutual arising as they key idea of the TaoMan as being within nature rather than dominating itHow Taoism gets rid of karma without challenging itThe Chinese philosophy of timeSensing the flow of the present and flow of the TaoThis series is brought to you by the Alan Watts Organization and Ram Dass’ Love Serve Remember Foundation. Visit Alanwatts.org for full talks from Alan Watts.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
SummaryEp. 33 – Zen Reconsidered
Nov 22, 202400:51:27Summary readyRe-familiarizing us with Zen traditions, Alan Watts inspires listeners to move beyond going through the motions of practice.Today’s episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/alan and get on your way to being your best self.In this episode of Being in the Way, Alan Watts explains:Our lack of awareness of the basic structure of the worldThe world itself as meaningless (non-symbolic)Realizing fundamental energy and Zen as the religion of no religionThe metaphysical in terms of the everydayThe composition of Zen practiceHow westerners are bothered by ritual and splendorHow Buddhism has degenerated over the yearsA re-familiarization with Buddhism for modernityThis series is brought to you by the Alan Watts Organization and Ram Dass’ Love Serve Remember Foundation. Visit Alanwatts.org for full talks from Alan Watts.“There is this tremendous problem, unless the Buddhist tradition is to go down the drain completely, of re-familiarizing the Japanese with what it’s all about. Over the years it has degenerated into going through the motions and into being something which is just a kind of magic.” – Alan WattsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
SummaryEp. 32 – Zen and the Art of the Controlled Accident
Oct 23, 202400:42:28Summary readyFocusing on cosmic balance, Alan Watts outlines the fundamentals of Taoism and how to skillfully interfere with our environment.Find the full Zen and the Art of the Controlled Accident series of talks at play.alanwatts.org.Today’s episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/alan and get on your way to being your best self.This time on Being in the Way, Alan Watts shares a lecture on:The philosophy of TaoismTaoism as the flow of things / the course of natureThe pervasive illusion of separateness and seeing it within our languageHow we only experience the world bit-by-bitA transformation of our everyday consciousness into onenessHow we are all indestructible beyond the egoLife as a game of yin and yang, crests and troughsThe fundamental idea of mutual arisingHow everything we do interferes with our environmentLearning how to interfere skillfullyThis series is brought to you by the Alan Watts Organization and Ram Dass’ Love Serve Remember Foundation. Visit Alanwatts.org for full talks from Alan Watts.“We are not ordinarily aware of how we’re aware, and as a result of that, we don’t understand our connection with the world, and we don’t understand what our real self is. We get anxious; we’re afraid that death may be the end of us. This is, of course, the purest superstition, because everybody is indestructible.” – Alan WattsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
SummaryEp. 31 – Religion of No Religion
Jul 29, 202400:53:34Summary readyExplaining the delicate balance of religiousness, Alan Watts lectures on the principle of leaving no trace.“Religion of No Religion” is part of the Japan Tour 1965 series of talks that you can listen to in full over at the Alan Watts Streaming ChannelToday’s episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/alan and get on your way to being your best self.In this episode, Alan Watts explains:How the highest kind of a Buddha is like an ordinary personImitation and how all religious comments about life become clichesThe way of the enlightened man as the track of a bird in the skyZen Buddhism and the dance between metaphysical and ordinaryBalance and compatibility between universality and the particularsThe problem with being too spiritual or too worldlyThe connection of all events in the universe, past, present, and futureHow everything in the universe depends upon each otherThis series is brought to you by the Alan Watts Organization and Ram Dass’ Love Serve Remember Foundation. Visit Alanwatts.org for full talks from Alan Watts.“All religion, all religious comments about life, eventually become cliches. That’s why religion always is falling apart and becoming a certain kind of going through the motions, a kind of imitation of attitudes.” – Alan WattsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
SummaryEp. 30 – Flow: Symbolic Reality vs. Real Reality
May 2, 202400:42:15Tap to summarizeIn a lecture on symbolic reality versus real reality, Alan Watts explains the importance of total sensory awareness and looking at our motivations."Symbolic Reality vs. Real Reality" is part of Flow, a three-part session in the TAO for NOW series of talks that you can listen to in full over at the Alan Watts Streaming ChannelToday’s episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/alan and get on your way to being your best self.This time on Being in the Way, Alan Watts discusses:Being aware of all sensory inputs while meditatingAllowing oneself ‘to be’ in a non-conceptual wayConfusing the world of symbols for realityThe limits to what we can enjoy in a material senseThe uselessness of guiltMoney, tithes, and western religion versus gurusWhy our motivation and intention mattersExperiencing life naked and directlyThe Taoist approach to letting go of your body-mindUsing all five of our senses to witness our surroundingsThis series is brought to you by the Alan Watts Organization and Ram Dass’ Love Serve Remember Foundation. Visit Alanwatts.org for full talks from Alan Watts.“The point is to be wide, wide awake and aware of your total sensory input without confusing it with the symbolic world of words and concepts so that you experience life naked and directly. Experience YOU naked and directly, without having in your head the concept of who you are a a role player, as a personality, as an ego.” – Alan WattsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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