Alan Watts has 17 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 9 narrators, with an average listener rating of 4.9★ across 1,130 ratings. The most-rated is Out of Your Mind.
Out of Your Mind
Summary
In order to come to your senses, Alan Watts often said, you sometimes need to go out of your mind. Perhaps more than any other teacher in the West, this celebrated author, former Anglican priest, and self-described spiritual entertainer was responsible for igniting the passion of countless wisdom seekers to the spiritual and philosophical delights of Asia and India. Now, with Out of Your Mind: Essential Listening from the Alan Watts Audio Archives, you are invited to immerse yourself in 12 of this legendary thinker's pinnacle teaching sessions about how to break through the limits of the rational mind and begin expanding your awareness and appreciation for the Great Game unfolding all around us. Whether you're completely new to Alan Watts or familiar with his work, here is a rare opportunity to experience him at his best, improvising brilliantly before a live audience on Out of Your Mind: Essential Listening from the Alan Watts Audio Archives.
©2005 Alan Watts (P)2005 Alan Watts
You're It!
Summary
Life is the ultimate game of hide and seek... and the good news is that you're it! With the combination of playful irreverence and penetrating insight that made him a legend in Western philosophy, Alan Watts investigates the surprisingly liberating concept of "the universe as play" found at the heart of Hinduism, Zen, and other wisdom traditions. Carefully selected by his son and archivist Mark Watts, You're It: On Hiding, Seeking, and Being Found features more than 10 hours of newly restored historic talks from the "spiritual entertainer" who helped define Eastern thought to audiences in the West. Here is a rare chance for listeners to experience the enduring brilliance of one of the greatest spiritual voices of the 20th century.
©2009 Sounds True (P)2009 Sounds True
Just So
Summary
"If you were God," asked Alan Watts, "what kind of universe would you create? A perfect one free of suffering and drama? Or one filled with surprise and delight?" With Just So, the celebrated philosopher and self-described "spiritual entertainer" invites us to explore the hidden dimensions that shape both the cosmos and our personal experience of it. From the 1950s to the 1970s, Eastern spiritual philosophies ignited in the West profound new ways of perceiving ourselves and the mysteries of life. And from the beginning, Alan Watts was at the forefront - sparking insight after insight at live gatherings and radio broadcasts. Today Alan Watts' books and recordings bring perennial delight to new listeners of all ages and beliefs. Here the luminary author and speaker explores three often overlooked yet essential universal dynamics: connection, play, and pleasure. This exceptional collection of sessions includes three complementary seminars: The Cosmic Network - a journey into the interconnected web of the personal and the infinite Ecological Awareness - reflections on how humanity and nature evolve through discovery and "purposeless" play The Pursuit of Pleasure - how a true materialism connects us fully through our senses with others and to the natural flow of the cosmos. Along the way you'll explore many other themes, at turns humorous, prophetic, and more relevant today than ever. What unfolds is a liberating view of life that arises from possibility and the unpredictable - perfect and "just so" not in spite of its messy imperfections but because of them.
©2017 Alan Watts (P)2017 Sounds True
The Wisdom of Insecurity
Summary
Alan W. Watts' "message for an age of anxiety" is as powerful today as it was when this modern classic was first published. We spend too much time trying to anticipate and plan for the future, too much time lamenting the past. We often miss the pleasures of the moment in our anxious efforts to ensure the next moment is as enjoyable. Drawing from Eastern philosophy and religion, Watts argues that it is only by acknowledging what we do not and cannot know that we can find something truly worth knowing. In order to lead a fulfilling life, one must embrace the present - live fully in the now. Elegantly reasoned and lucidly written, this philosophical achievement contains all the wisdom and spirit that distinguished Watts' long career and resonates with us still.
©1951 Pantheon Books (P)2015 Macmillan Audio
The Book
Summary
Modern Western culture and technology is inextricably tied to the belief in the existence of a self as a separate ego, separated from and in conflict with the rest of the world. In this classic book, Watts provides a lucid and simple presentation of an alternative view based on Hindu and Vedantic philosophy.
©1966 Alan Watts (P)2015 Macmillan Audio
Leave It Be
Summary
The legendary author, speaker, and self-described "philosophical entertainer" Alan Watts delights us on audio with a wealth of illuminations into the spirit and art of meditation, spanning many traditions "What would it be like to see all as one?" Alan Watts asks. "We hear about attaining great states of consciousness. But the only way to have a real transformation is to stop thinking about it - and simply experience it." From the 1950s to the 1970s, this seminal teacher sparked the West's love for Eastern wisdom. Now, in these rare recorded gems, he inspires a new generation of inner explorers seeking deeper insights into meditation - its myriad forms, how they work, and what happens when we practice them. On the "artless art" of contemplative practice, Watts explores Buddhist and yogic paths, Zen koans, Hindu mantra chanting, deep listening, effortless awareness, and more. The key to all meditation, reflects Watts, is to give up trying to do it - to leave it be - and allow ourselves to be meditated by what is beyond our illusory self. For those looking for teachings seldom explored in the current tide of books on mindfulness, Buddhism, and yoga, Watts is here to enthrall us - as original, humorous, and relevant today as ever. PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©1973 Estate of Alan Watts (P)2020 Sounds True
Still the Mind
Summary
Mark Watts compiled this work from his father's extensive journals and audiotapes of famous lectures he delivered, in his later years, across the country. In three parts Alan Watts explains the basic philosophy of meditation, how individuals can practice a variety of meditations, and how inner wisdom grows naturally.
©2000 Alan Watts (P)2003 New World Library
The Power of Space and Reincarnation
Summary
Space is considered to be nothingness by many. But after all it is the background in which we see everything. It is against space and within the dimension of time that we experience everything we experience. Space and time are the two basic dimensions of our world but are uncommonly illusive. We can say they are our way of thinking of the universe as being a system of patterns. And our awe at the vastness of space may be man's astonishment at himself. We reconsider our position as an "insignificant" speck in the vastness of the universe.
©1973 Electronic University (P)2014 BetterListen! LLC, all rights reserved.
Reality, Art and Illusion
Summary
Alan Watts discusses the Indian philosophy of the world as maya - under its multiple meanings as illusion, art, magic, creative power, measure, etc. Various techniques in the arts are used to illustrate the delicate and vibrational character of the material world, and to suggest a new approach to the old philosophy that the universe is "mind" only.
©1973 Electronic University (P)2014 BetterListen! LLC, all rights reserved.
Four Ways to the Center
Summary
Alan Watts discusses the fundamental attitudes that run through all religions or "ways of liberation," as the Far Eastern disciplines might better be described.
By following these practices to the extremes of repentance, rebellion, and resignation, one may be freed from the endless cycles of reincarnation which perpetuate the human condition.
©1973 Electronic University (P)2014 BetterListen! LLC, all rights reserved.
Thusness
Summary
Alan Watts discusses the word tathata, which is translated from the Sanskrit as "suchness" or "thusness." The term is used in Mahayana Buddhism to suggest how things look to a Buddha, to one who has experienced enlightenment or liberation and is, therefore, called a Tathagata - one who comes (and goes) thus. Watts shares the sense of this nonsense in Buddhist philosophy, and its practical demonstration in Zen.
©1973 Electronic University (P)2014 BetterListen! LLC, all rights reserved.
Still the Mind
Summary
Alan Watts became famous first as a brilliant intellectual and then as a serious student of Buddhism and meditation. In the 1970s, the last years of his life, he retreated to a small, isolated cabin deep in the woods. He meditated every morning and then wrote. Still the Mind consists of several talks he gave in his later years, recorded and edited by his son, Mark Watts, and then published as a book. His speaking shows a maturity and wisdom that can only come after years of meditation, and his teachings are still as visionary today as when they were first spoken.In his teachings, Alan Watts uses words to take us beyond them. He instills in listeners not only an understanding of meditation but an experience of it as well. Whether you have been meditating for years or are just beginning, Still the Mind will deepen your practice. It takes you on a journey that shows you the great miracle of who you really are.
©2000 Mark Watts (P)2000 New World Library
In My Own Way
Summary
Macmillan Audio presents In My Own Way, Alan Watts' acclaimed autobiography, published for the first time in audio. In this audiobook, Alan Watts tracks his spiritual and philosophical evolution from a child of religious conservatives in rural England to a freewheeling spiritual teacher who challenged Westerners to defy convention and think for themselves. From early in this intellectual life, Watts shows himself to be a philosophical renegade and wide-ranging autodidact who came to Buddhism through the teachings of Christmas Humphreys and D. T. Suzuki. Told in a nonlinear style, In My Own Way wonderfully combines Watts’ own brand of unconventional philosophy and often hilarious accounts of gurus, celebrities, psychedelic drug experiences, and wry observations of Western culture. A charming foreword written by Watts’ father sets the tone of this warm, funny, and beautifully written story of a compelling figure who encouraged seekers to “follow your own weird” - something he always did himself, as his remarkable account of his life shows.
©1972 Alan Watts (P)2019 Macmillan Audio
The Meaning of Happiness
Summary
Deep down, most people think that happiness comes from having or doing something. Here, in Alan Watts’s groundbreaking third book (originally published in 1940), he offers a more challenging thesis: authentic happiness comes from embracing life as a whole in all its contradictions and paradoxes, an attitude that Watts calls the “way of acceptance.” Drawing on Eastern philosophy, Western mysticism, and analytic psychology, Watts demonstrates that happiness comes from accepting both the outer world around us and the inner world inside us - the unconscious mind, with its irrational desires, lurking beyond the awareness of the ego. Although written early in his career, The Meaning of Happiness displays the hallmarks of his mature style: the crystal-clear writing, the homespun analogies, the dry wit, and the breadth of knowledge that made Alan Watts one of the most influential philosophers of his generation.
©1940, 1968; 2018 Alan W. Watts; Joan Watts and Anne Watts (P)2018 New World Library
This Is It
Summary
This inspiring audiobook contains six revolutionary essays exploring the relationship between spiritual experience and ordinary life - and the need for them to coexist within each of us. With essays on "cosmic consciousness" (including Alan Watts' account of his own ventures into this inward realm); the paradoxes of self-consciousness; LSD and consciousness; and the false opposition of spirit and matter, This Is It: And Other Essays on Zen and Spiritual Experience is a truly mind-opening audiobook collection.
©1960 Alan W. Watts (P)2018 Macmillan Audio
Psychotherapy East and West
Summary
Before he became a counterculture hero, Alan Watts was known as an incisive scholar of Eastern and Western psychology and philosophy. In this 1961 classic, Watts demonstrates his deep understanding of both Western psychotherapy and the Eastern spiritual philosophies of Buddhism, Taoism, Vedanta, and Yoga. Watts examines the problem of humans in a seemingly hostile universe in ways that question the social norms and illusions that bind and constrict modern humans. Marking a groundbreaking synthesis, Watts asserts that the powerful insights of Freud and Jung, which had, indeed, brought psychiatry close to the edge of liberation, could, if melded with the hitherto secret wisdom of the Eastern traditions, free people from their battles with the self. When psychotherapy merely helps us adjust to social norms, Watts argued, it falls short of true liberation, while Eastern philosophy seeks our natural relation to the cosmos.
©1975 Alan W. Watts (P)2019 Macmillan Audio
The Fish Who Found the Sea
Summary
A rediscovered treasure for a new generation: the first and only story for children ever written by Alan Watts. Alan Watts, beloved for bringing a childlike wonder to the spiritual journey, once wrote a story for children. The Fish Who Found the Sea brings this delightful and wise parable to life for a new generation. Here is a story as timely as it is entertaining - sharing a key message about getting into harmony with the flow of life. In this tale of a tail, we meet a fish with a curiously familiar problem - he’s gotten himself so mixed up that he spends all his time chasing himself in circles! Only the Great Sea knows how to help our poor fish get out of the mess he’s created with his own runaway thoughts. Here is a parable that perfectly captures the wit and wisdom that have made Alan Watts a timeless teacher we will never outgrow.
©1973, 2020 Estate of Alan Watts (P)2020 Sounds True