This Is It: and Other Essays on Zen and Spiritual Experience

Author: Watts, Alan

Brand: Vintage

Color: Black

Edition: 1st

Binding: Mass Market Paperback

Number Of Pages: 160

Release Date: 12-03-1973

Details: Product Description Six revolutionary essays from "the perfect guide for a course correction in life, away from materialism and its empty promise" (Deepak Chopra), 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 collection. Review “Perhaps the foremost interpreter of Eastern disciplines for the contemporary West, Watts had the rare gift of ‘writing beautifully the unwritable.’” — Los Angeles Times From the Inside Flap The six essays in this volume all deal with the relationship of mystical experience to ordinary life. The title essay on "cosmic consciousness" includes the author's account of his own ventures into this inward realm. "Instinct, Intelligence, and Anxiety" is a study of the paradoxes of self-consciousness; "Spiritually and Sensuality," a lively discussion of the false opposition of spirit and matter; and "The New Alchemy," a balanced account of states of consciousness akin to spiritual experience induced by the aid of lysergic acid. The collection also includes the text of Watts' celebrated pamphlet, "Beat Zen, Square Zen, and Zen." From the Back Cover The six essays in this volume all deal with the relationship of mystical experience to ordinary life. About the Author Alan W. Watts, who held both a master’s degree in theology and a doctorate of divinity, is best remembered as an interpreter of Zen Buddhism in particular, and of Indian and Chinese philosophy in general. Standing apart, however, from sectarian membership, he has earned the reputation of being one of the most original and “unrutted” philosophers of the twentieth century. Watts was the author of some twenty books on the philosophy and psychology of religion that have been published in many languages throughout the world, including the bestselling  The Way of Zen. An avid lecturer, Watts appeared regularly on the radio and hosted the popular television series,  Eastern Wisdom and Modern Life,in the 1960s. He died in 1973.

Package Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 0.6 inches

Languages: English