Alan Watts
Archetype: Quietist of Experience
1915 to 1973 · Chislehurst (England)
“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.”
Do you think like Alan Watts? Answer 44 to 132 statements and find out who, among 130 thinkers, has the way of thinking closest to yours.
Who was Alan Watts
Fascinated by Buddhism as a teenager in England, Watts moved to the United States, served briefly as an Episcopal priest and then settled in California. Through books and radio talks he became the best known interpreter of Zen and Taoism for Western audiences. Witty and unconventional, he became a guide for the counterculture of the 1960s, and his recorded lectures still circulate widely.
Core ideas
- The separate ego is an illusion; we are expressions of the whole universe
- Clinging to security makes us anxious; accepting change sets us free
- Life is more like music or dance than a journey toward a goal
The tradition: Zen popularizer
Zen popularization brought Buddhist and Taoist ideas to a broad Western public, often mixed with psychology. Watts is its most charismatic voice, more a teacher of attitudes than a builder of systems.
Learn more: Wikipedia
Books by Alan Watts
Three ways in. Start with the first.
Where Alan Watts stands on the 11 axes
Each axis runs from the first pole (−1) to the second (+1). These are the positions the test compares with your answers.
