Alan Watts

Person · Open Library

Born

1915-01-06

Died

1973-11-16

Works

151

via Open Library + Wikidata

Film & TV

Acting · Chislehurst, Kent, England, UK

Alan Wilson Watts was a British philosopher, writer and speaker known for interpreting and popularising Buddhism, Taoism, and Hinduism for a Western audience. Born in Chislehurst, England, he moved to the United States in 1938 and began Zen training in New York. He received a master's degree in theology from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary and became an Episcopal priest in 1945. He left the…

Known for

• The Monkey Conflict — Storyteller2024
• Until There Was Nothing — Narrator2020
• Play — Self (voice recording)2018
• Everything — Narrator (archive footage)2017
• Zen Dog — Alan Watts (voice)2016
• Zen: The Best of Alan Watts — Himself1994
• Work as Play — Himself1973
• Conversation with Myself — Himself1972
• Time and the More It Changes — Self1972
• The Essential Lectures of Alan Watts — Alan Watts1972

via TMDB

Music · MusicBrainz

Type

Person

Gender

Male

Origin

United States

Active from

1915

Active to

1973

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners

54,460

Total plays

877,152

Alan Wilson Watts (January 6, 1915 – November 16, 1973) was a philosopher, writer, speaker, and expert in comparative religion. He wrote over twenty-five books and numerous articles on subjects such as personal identity, the true nature of reality, consciousness and the pursuit of happiness, relating his experience to scientific knowledge and to the teachings of Eastern and Western religions or philosophies (Zen Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, Hinduism). <a href="https://www.last.fm/music/Alan+W

via Last.fm · Alan Watts

Recent publications · Crossref

5 total works indexed

1. MEGA6: Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis Version 6.0

   · 2013 · cited 34,693x

2. Collective dynamics of ‘small-world’ networks

   · 1998 · cited 33,711x

3. The ERA5 global reanalysis

   · 2020 · cited 22,661x

4. Reproducible, interactive, scalable and extensible microbiome data science using QIIME 2

   · 2019 · cited 20,010x

5. Initial sequencing and analysis of the human genome

   · 2001 · cited 18,515x

via Crossref · CC0

Quotes

• “Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes.”
• “Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth.”
• “I have suggested that behind almost all myth lies the mono-plot of the game of hide-and-seek.”
• “It is especially important for Westerners to understand that high lamas, Zen masters, and Hindu gurus in the discipline of yoga are human beings, not supermen. We must not put them, as we have put Jesus Christ, on pedestals of reverence so high that we automatically exclude ourselves from their states of consciousness.”
• “To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. When you swim you don't grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead you relax, and float.”
• “This is the real secret of life—to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.”

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

Key facts

Born

Alan Wilson Watts , ( 1915-01-06 ) 6 January 1915, Chislehurst , Kent, England

Died

16 November 1973 (1973-11-16) (aged 58), Marin County, California , U.S.

Spouses

Eleanor Everett ​ ​ ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1938 ; annulled</span>"}]]}'>ann. 1949 ) ​ Dorothy DeWitt ​ ​ ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1950 ; divorced</span>"}]]}'>div. 1963 ) ​ Mary Jane Yates King ​ ​ ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1964 ) ​

Alma mater

Seabury-Western Theological Seminary

Era

20th-century philosophy

Institutions

The King's School Canterbury American Academy of Asian Studies Society for Comparative Philosophy San Jose State University

Main interests

Comparative religion

Notable works

The Way of Zen (1957)

Website

alanwatts .org

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Image

Alan Watts painted on mural.jpg

via Wikidata · CC0