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The Collected Letters of Alan Watts
Philosopher, author, and lecturer Alan Watts (1915–1973) popularized Zen Buddhism and other Eastern philosophies for the counterculture of the 1960s. Today, new generations are finding his writings and lectures online, while faithful followers worldwide continue to be enlightened by his teachings. The Collected Letters of Alan Watts reveals the remarkable arc of Watts’s colorful and controversial life, from his school days in England to his priesthood in the Anglican Church as chaplain of Northwestern University to his alternative lifestyle and experimentation with LSD in the heyday of the late sixties. His engaging letters cover a vast range of subject matter, with recipients ranging from High Church clergy to high priests of psychedelics, government officials, publishers, critics, family, and fans. They include C. G. Jung, Henry Miller, Gary Snyder, Aldous Huxley, Reinhold Niebuhr, Timothy Leary, Joseph Campbell, and James Hillman. Watts’s letters were curated by two of his daughters, Joan Watts and Anne Watts, who have added rich, behind-the-scenes biographical commentary.
Edited by Joan Watts & Anne Watts
Edited by Joan Watts & Anne Watts
616 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2017
80 people are currently reading
1254 people want to read
About the author
Alan W. Watts
255 books8,010 followersAlan Wilson Watts was a British philosopher, writer and speaker, who held both a Master's in Theology and a Doctorate of Divinity. Famous for his research on comparative religion, he was best known as an interpreter and popularizer of Asian philosophies for a Western audience. He wrote over 25 books and numerous articles on subjects such as personal identity, the true nature of reality, higher consciousness, the meaning of life, concepts and images of God and the non-material pursuit of happiness. In his books he relates his experience to scientific knowledge and to the teachings of Eastern and Western religion and philosophy.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 13, 2019
I haven't read Alan Watts's autobiography yet. People seemed disappointed with it, a bit, so I thought I'd go for the letters first. I found this collection really interesting(apart maybe the fuss about the priest clothing in the beginning in the letters to his parents). And I, of course, at some points, found it so mundane. It is a pity that people have to spend so much time concerning of gathering income, when they could use they're brilliant abilities in actual research, writing, idea development, or be it arts. And at the same time,one has to say, as Alan Watts's daughters here note; what a waste of time, energy, and life because of heavy drinking. I didn't know Watts was an alcoholic. I thought he was a drinker, but had his limits, but it really did make him s pass away at young age of 59. How sad.
It is strange. I find there is a contradiction between the big truths he sculpted out in his lectures and the life he lived. Because I always got the impression that he was an advocate for being 'natural', be-like-water/Tao kind of thing, but destroying your health and capabilities seem more of a bad case neurosis that developed into a sicknesses, and not a choice as he liked to emphasize. Being the Trickster ' is one thing, being a slave is another.
Same addiction apparently when it came to women. Though I think he had a quite egalitarian view of women as equal to men, he seemed to be hooked on maybe infatuation, maybe just the Otherness. I wonder can one really say to 'love' somebody when one is so divided my so many people and tasks. His life seemed very often a race.
It is important not to put people up on pedestals, and Watts wanted this as well. But his work, and having to be living during the big, extreme, liberation of the 1960's, it was almost inevitable he did end up on that pedestal. Demands were huge personally and professionally. I found his daughters comments throughout the book extremely touching. They manage to write their passages with both affection and objectivity about their multifaceted father.
Watts's life was rich of interesting people of his era. He was extremely intelligent, open-minded, generous, a visionary. He appreciated our connection to nature, or being part of it. Some of his thoughts about the future to come are intriguing, and what would have he said about it all if he had lived to be 90, and thus died not until in 2005!
It is strange. I find there is a contradiction between the big truths he sculpted out in his lectures and the life he lived. Because I always got the impression that he was an advocate for being 'natural', be-like-water/Tao kind of thing, but destroying your health and capabilities seem more of a bad case neurosis that developed into a sicknesses, and not a choice as he liked to emphasize. Being the Trickster ' is one thing, being a slave is another.
Same addiction apparently when it came to women. Though I think he had a quite egalitarian view of women as equal to men, he seemed to be hooked on maybe infatuation, maybe just the Otherness. I wonder can one really say to 'love' somebody when one is so divided my so many people and tasks. His life seemed very often a race.
It is important not to put people up on pedestals, and Watts wanted this as well. But his work, and having to be living during the big, extreme, liberation of the 1960's, it was almost inevitable he did end up on that pedestal. Demands were huge personally and professionally. I found his daughters comments throughout the book extremely touching. They manage to write their passages with both affection and objectivity about their multifaceted father.
Watts's life was rich of interesting people of his era. He was extremely intelligent, open-minded, generous, a visionary. He appreciated our connection to nature, or being part of it. Some of his thoughts about the future to come are intriguing, and what would have he said about it all if he had lived to be 90, and thus died not until in 2005!
November 9, 2017
Endorsements:
“Perhaps the most complete and accurate profile of the man and his work. . . . Watts’s daughters . . . add indispensable context and insights into Watts’s personal and family life. . . . The Collected Letters adds a new portal to the identity of the man most responsible for introducing Zen Buddhism and the many strands of Eastern philosophy to the masses in the West.”
— Foreword (starred review)
“Alan Watts’s influence in the USA, which began to really flourish in the mid-1950s, was remarkable. Alan was so clear and such a good writer, and so well grounded in the teachings and worldview he extolled, that he was taken by some as ‘easy’ and glib. Without artifice, a truly human life and heart, he was both deep and accessible, and made no effort to impress. Consequently, he was impressive, and he lived his life fully and to the end. . . . I knew Alan over twenty-five years, and he was always a grand and instructive friend to me. Yet it took some years after his death before I could see and appreciate the whole. This collection of letters will entrance and challenge you, and be with you for decades.”
— Gary Snyder, Pulitzer Prize–winning poet
“This collection of letters reveals more about Alan Watts than we’d known before, his faults as well as his many virtues, his weaknesses as well as his strengths, and turns of his wisdom not to be found in his books. He called himself a philosophical entertainer, but he was much more than that. You can learn a lot about Chinese and Japanese aesthetics from him, about secrets of language, about the satoris of everyday life. What a life he lived! Yeats said of Oscar Wilde that he left half of what he had to say in conversation instead of his written works. I can testify that Alan, too, left much of his genius unwritten. If Wilde was the greatest conversationalist of his day, Alan arguably was the greatest of his. Fortunately, though, he has left us his recordings and these letters.”
— Michael Murphy, cofounder of Esalen Institute
“Alan Watts once told me, ‘In fifty years, nobody will remember me.’ To the contrary, his books, essays, and recorded lectures have gained in stature in recent decades, and the claim that he simply popularized Eastern wisdom has been eclipsed by a recognition of his scholarly insights. I never knew Alan to utter a boring sentence or write a dull word. This collection of his letters bears testimony to my impressions. His keen observations, his witty rejoinders, and his depth of knowledge are reflected in this incredible collection. Brava to his daughters for their diligence, and bravo to their father for taking the time to write his circle of friends and acquaintances!”
— Stanley Krippner Ph.D., coauthor of Personal Mythology
“Alan Watts has touched so many lives, then and now and forever into the future. The Chinese name I have chosen for him is ‘Ai-Lan,’ with two symbols — 愛蘭 — depicting ‘the love of orchid ’: the man who loves the beauty and the quality of being a highly cultivated human being. These letters offer us further insights into the Man with Many Qualities we can admire and emulate. I am forever grateful to him as my mentor, colleague, and friend.”
— Chungliang Al Huang, founder and president of the Living Tao Foundation and director of the International Lan Ting Institute
“Perhaps the most complete and accurate profile of the man and his work. . . . Watts’s daughters . . . add indispensable context and insights into Watts’s personal and family life. . . . The Collected Letters adds a new portal to the identity of the man most responsible for introducing Zen Buddhism and the many strands of Eastern philosophy to the masses in the West.”
— Foreword (starred review)
“Alan Watts’s influence in the USA, which began to really flourish in the mid-1950s, was remarkable. Alan was so clear and such a good writer, and so well grounded in the teachings and worldview he extolled, that he was taken by some as ‘easy’ and glib. Without artifice, a truly human life and heart, he was both deep and accessible, and made no effort to impress. Consequently, he was impressive, and he lived his life fully and to the end. . . . I knew Alan over twenty-five years, and he was always a grand and instructive friend to me. Yet it took some years after his death before I could see and appreciate the whole. This collection of letters will entrance and challenge you, and be with you for decades.”
— Gary Snyder, Pulitzer Prize–winning poet
“This collection of letters reveals more about Alan Watts than we’d known before, his faults as well as his many virtues, his weaknesses as well as his strengths, and turns of his wisdom not to be found in his books. He called himself a philosophical entertainer, but he was much more than that. You can learn a lot about Chinese and Japanese aesthetics from him, about secrets of language, about the satoris of everyday life. What a life he lived! Yeats said of Oscar Wilde that he left half of what he had to say in conversation instead of his written works. I can testify that Alan, too, left much of his genius unwritten. If Wilde was the greatest conversationalist of his day, Alan arguably was the greatest of his. Fortunately, though, he has left us his recordings and these letters.”
— Michael Murphy, cofounder of Esalen Institute
“Alan Watts once told me, ‘In fifty years, nobody will remember me.’ To the contrary, his books, essays, and recorded lectures have gained in stature in recent decades, and the claim that he simply popularized Eastern wisdom has been eclipsed by a recognition of his scholarly insights. I never knew Alan to utter a boring sentence or write a dull word. This collection of his letters bears testimony to my impressions. His keen observations, his witty rejoinders, and his depth of knowledge are reflected in this incredible collection. Brava to his daughters for their diligence, and bravo to their father for taking the time to write his circle of friends and acquaintances!”
— Stanley Krippner Ph.D., coauthor of Personal Mythology
“Alan Watts has touched so many lives, then and now and forever into the future. The Chinese name I have chosen for him is ‘Ai-Lan,’ with two symbols — 愛蘭 — depicting ‘the love of orchid ’: the man who loves the beauty and the quality of being a highly cultivated human being. These letters offer us further insights into the Man with Many Qualities we can admire and emulate. I am forever grateful to him as my mentor, colleague, and friend.”
— Chungliang Al Huang, founder and president of the Living Tao Foundation and director of the International Lan Ting Institute
August 7, 2019
I remembered I was watching some videos about the Buddhism on you tube when suddenly a lecture by Alan Watts has appeared in my recommendation section and it was about something related to Buddhism as well I clicked to watch the video and I found myself spending +20 hours of listening to his lectures, and all I can say that the man has an unbelievable knowledge on eastern philosophy and the way he explain things made me want to read his work so that what I did and the rest is history.
December 31, 2017
Incredible. Amazing. Fantastic.
This behemoth of a book gives the reader an inner journey into the thoughts, feelings, gloriousness, and flaws of Alan Watts, arguably one of the most influential contemporary philosophers. The commentary by his eldest daughters, Joan and Anne, shine a light on the family and their memories of what it was like to have such a unique parent. This is worth it for fans of Alan’s work.
This behemoth of a book gives the reader an inner journey into the thoughts, feelings, gloriousness, and flaws of Alan Watts, arguably one of the most influential contemporary philosophers. The commentary by his eldest daughters, Joan and Anne, shine a light on the family and their memories of what it was like to have such a unique parent. This is worth it for fans of Alan’s work.
August 3, 2023
A superb book offering a strong insight into Alan Watts. Some things were disturbing but for the most part the letters are inspiring and uplifting; a glimpse of a remarkable man. My knowledge of Alan Watts' work was more than 30 years ago when I was lent 'Tao: the watercourse way' which I later bought.
April 27, 2020
A slow read due to the overwhelming depth of content expressed in Alan’s writing. I would have given 3 stars before reading the wonderful last section.
JOAN and Ann are excellent writers and storytellers who brought much needed history and context to Alan’s letters.
JOAN and Ann are excellent writers and storytellers who brought much needed history and context to Alan’s letters.
January 12, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews