Freelance Drupal Developer | Web DesignerAlan Watts was a British philosopher, speaker and writer, he popularised Eastern Philosophy to a Western audience. He began training in Zen in New York in 1938. He gained a large following in the San Francisco Bay Area and he wrote more than 25 books and articles on subjects pertaining to Eastern Philosophy.
Alan Watts has some amazing lectures on YouTube, he was an incredbly wise and articulate man who is probably now having more of an effect on the world than when he was alive. I wonder what he would think if he could see the many videos and lectures of his on YouTube, some with millions of views, it just goes to show that more than ever his message is one which people are ready for, especially in the materialistic west where we are taught we need to acquire things to make us happy.
There are several YouTube channels which create amazing edited videos with Alan Watts narrating them, one such channel is called Tragedy and Hope, and the first choice for my top 5 Alan Watts videos on YouTube is actually one of his, which currently has over 3 million views and is titled - "What If Money Was No Object?"
The next video which I have chosen is a longer video, it has not been edited and is from one of his lectures, and it is called "Alan Watts Teaches The Art Of Meditation". Once again he shows his skill as a wordsmith and this is a perfect starting point for anyone wanting to learn more about meditation and why it is necessary to get out of your thoughts.
The third video of choice is another one from the YouTube Channel Tragedy and Hope. Here Alan Watts gets into the idea of duality, life and the interconnectedness of everything. He then talks about how we fail to feel the real interconnection of everything in out moment to moment daily lifes.
The fourth video is titled "How To Stop Overthinking" and talks about how excessive thinking has caused us to loose track with reality, as we confuse words, symbols and ideas with the real world.
"For as a result of confusing the real world of nature with mere signs such as bank balances and contracts, we are destroying nature, we're so tied up in our minds that we have lost our senses, time to wake up. What is reality? obviously no one can say, because it isn't words..."
My final video of choice is titled "How To Attract What You Love". Here Alan Watts goes into the topic again of business and work, he was a big proponent of doing something which you love to do, since if you are passionate about it enough, you will eventually become a master at it, and people will pay you for it, money will be more of a byproduct rather than a motivator and focus.
I hope you enjoyed listening to my choice of Alan Watts lectures/videos and get something out of them which can help you in any areas of your life. I think more than ever we need a different philosophy in our western culture, rather than more laws and dismantling of freedoms in the name of protecting us, we need a different way of looking at the world and ourselves, maybe we would then stop trying to conquer nature and begin to work with it.
"The myths underlying our culture and underlying our common sense have not taught us to feel identical with the universe, but only parts of it, only in it, only confronting it - aliens"