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Out of Your Mind: Essential Listening from the Alan Watts Audio Archives Audio CD – Audiobook, April 1, 2004

by Alan Watts (Author)

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In order to come to your senses, Alan Watts often said, you sometimes need to go out of your mind. Perhaps more than any other teacher in the West, this celebrated author, former Anglican priest, and self-described spiritual entertainer was responsible for igniting the passion of countless wisdom seekers to the spiritual and philosophical delights of Asia and India.

Now, with Out of Your Mind: Essential Listening from the Alan Watts Audio Archives, you are invited to immerse yourself in 12 of this legendary thinker's pinnacle teaching sessions about how to break through the limits of the rational mind, and begin expanding your awareness and appreciation for the Great Game unfolding all around us.

Carefully selected from hundreds of recordings by Alan Watts' son and archivist, Mark Watts, Out of Your Mind brings you six complete seminars that capture the true scope of this brilliant teacher in action. On these superb, digitally restored recordings, you will delve into Alan Watts' favorite pathways out of the trap of conventional awareness, including:

The art of the controlled accident―what happens when you stop taking your life so seriously and start enjoying it with complete sincerity
• How we come to believe the myth of myself that we are skin-encapsulated egos separate from the world around us, and how to transcend that illusion
• Why we must fully embrace chaos and the void to find our deepest purpose
• Unconventional and refreshing insights into the deeper principles of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Western philosophy, plus much, much more
Whether you're completely new to Alan Watts or familiar with his work, here is a rare opportunity to experience him at his best improvising brilliantly before a live audience on Out of Your Mind: Essential Listening from the Alan Watts Audio Archives.

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"Watts transports a variety of audiences to the fertile plains of Asian spirituality."

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ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1591791650
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sounds True; Unabridged edition (April 1, 2004)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781591791652
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1591791652
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.3 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.26 x 1.01 x 7.33 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,775,968 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3,845 in Other Eastern Religions & Sacred Texts (Books)
- #8,045 in Books on CD
- #11,075 in Meditation (Books)

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4.8 789 ratings

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Alan Watts

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Alan Wilson Watts (6 January 1915 – 16 November 1973) was a British-born American philosopher, writer, and speaker, best known as an interpreter and populariser of Eastern philosophy for a Western audience. Born in Chislehurst, England, he moved to the United States in 1938 and began Zen training in New York. Pursuing a career, he attended Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, where he received a master's degree in theology. Watts became an Episcopal priest in 1945, then left the ministry in 1950 and moved to California, where he joined the faculty of the American Academy of Asian Studies.

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The easiest Alan Watts book to understand

Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2024

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Alan watts describes the constantly changing world and acceptance of this change in an easy to understand way. A must read.

Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2014

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Its hard to believe these lectures are 50+ years old. There is absolutely no sense of these tracks being dated in any way. I can listen to the same lecture/episode/track over and over again; like others, I just like listening to his voice. I was already familiar with AW as I used to have some of his tapes in my car in a previous era.

Very few lemons in this bunch, in fact, perhaps only two or three out of the 100+ sections. Best investment I've made in some time.

Its difficult to summarize the content. Perhaps a simple table of contents would be useful (sure wish amazon would make a habit of publishing these!).

CD 1. The nature of consciousness, Part 1
1. Intro
2. Our image of the world
3. The myth of the ceramic construct
4. The myth of the automatic universe
5. A wiggly world
6. A game that's worth the candle
7. An independent system
8. Whose game is it?
9. The world as a drama

CD 2. The nature of consciousness, Part 2
1. Intro
2. Being aware of awareness
3. Captivated by the drama
4. The game of hide and seek
5. Consciousness beyond awareness
6. How do we define ourselves?
7. What it is to see
8. The road to here
9. A re-examination of common sense

CD 3. The web of life, Part 1
1. Intro
2. What did you forget?
3. A spontaneous life
4. Seeing beyond our separateness
5. Intervals between what happens
6. Existence as a function of relationship
7. Understanding the unitive world
8. An implicit agreement
9. To be aware of the melody

CD 4. The web of life, Part 2
1. Intro
2. Web as mutuality
3. The nature of selfishness
4. A perfectly genuine act
5. The sound of rain needs no translation
6. What game would you like to play?
7. Is is serious?
8. An invitation to act

CD 5. The inevitable ecstasy, Part 1
1. Intro
2. Undifferentiated vs. differentiated awareness
3. The marriage of an illusion to a futility
4. The awareness of a baby
5. The fallacy of misplaced concreteness
6. The sensation of the happening
7. Of pain and suffering
8. Must life go on and on?
9. A natural satori
10. The aversion to death
11. The eroticism of pain
12. The spectrum of vibrations

CD 6. The inevitable ecstasy, Part 2
1. Intro
2. Seeing beyond the game
3. A conspiracy we play on ourselves
4. The illusion of the ego
5, The meaningless life
6. This is the game
7. So what is the problem?
8. Every incarnation is this one
9. The state of nothing
10. The line of least resistance

CD 7. The world as just so, Part 1
1. Intro
2. To say what can't be said
3. Zen's appeal to the West
4. Direct pointing
5. The origins of Zen
6. The golden age of Zen
7. No mind, no deliberation
8. Who are you?
9. Disturbing confusions of the mind
10. Who is the thinker behind the thoughts?

CD 8. The world as just so, Part 2
1. Intro
2. Escaping the tangle
3. The in defines the out defines the in
4. The Japanese Zen monastery
5. Entering the temple
6. Answering the koan
7. Seeing past the illusion
8. The decline of modern temples
9. The truth of the birthless mind

CD 9. The world as self, Part 1
1. Intro
2. The totality of all being
3. Awareness of the self
4. The fundamental I
5. Self as play
6. The rhythmic dance
7. Rules of the game
8. The Hindu Yogas
9. Western difficulty with Hindu mythology

CD 10. The world as self, Part 2
1. Intro
2. The human world as self
3. Stages of citizenship in India
4. Shedding the masks
5. The limits of self-awareness
6. The role of the trickster
7. The journey to where you already are
8. Fear of enlightenment
9. The Yoga Sutra
10. How not to use the mind
11. Gamesmanship in spiritual practice
12. A place for the hermit

CD 11. The world as emptiness, Part 1
1. Intro
2. The essence of Hinduism
3. The Four Noble Truths
4. The cause of suffering
5. The Eight-Fold Path
6. The Five Good Conducts
7. Presence of mind
8. A finger point at the moon
9. The nature of change
10. The mystery of change
11. Peaks and valleys go together as one

CD 12. The world as emptiness, Part 2
1. Intro
2. The Buddhist attitude of change
3. Willing to die
4. A happy death
5. Raising the alarm
6. The world as Void
7. Voiding the Void
8. Consider death now
9. Thunderous silence

Some of the titles give a concrete idea of the content, others give no idea of the content, and others are just pure poetry and wordplay.

How to say what cannot be said!

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Came Fast

Reviewed in the United States on December 22, 2023

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Came fast and as promised.

One person found this helpful

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GHB

A GRAND LIBRARY ADDITION

Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2017

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I was thrilled to discover this set of recordings, which are both informative and entertaining. I don't know that someone with little or no knowledge of eastern religions and/or Buddhism would benefit as much as someone who does have some background because the talks were recorded specifically for those with an assumed familiarity to the subject. Still, for me, they not only helped clarify and expound upon some teachings, but also offered historical reasoning. I enjoyed hearing Alan Watt's speak. He has a great sense of humor, a very easy to follow way of teaching and expounding on each subject, and the material presented here is fairly comprehensive. I've listened to the entire set and intend to do so again. It's perfect for long distance air travel, or any kind of travel (since you can load the CDs onto your iPod, or your car stereo, etc.). But if you copy them to your iPod, you'll have to be careful to add a preface numbers and Disc titles in your iTunes playlist so that all the lectures play back in their proper order (001.01 for Disc One, talk one, etc.) and will advance automatically through the series. Don't let the fact that these lectures were recorded in the late 1960's deter you if you have an interest in Eastern religions. The material is timeless. And in some ways, I think the Watts lectures stick closer to the base teachings better than a lot of the newer books available today that can only focus on specific subjects one at a time (like Mindfulness, or the Four Noble Truths, etc.). This library is a WEALTH OF INFORMATION for those seeking to learn about or expand their knowledge of ethic based philosophies/religions. Mr. Watts not only addresses Buddhism, but also Hinduism, and other Eastern and Western religions, and how they differ and compare to/from one another. This series of lectures is an excellent resource.

17 people found this helpful

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Shannon Verbal

Excellent philosophical work from one of my favorite authors on ...

Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2017

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Excellent philosophical work from one of my favorite authors on the philosophy of religion. He has Western and Eastern perspectives that seem to provide a balanced look at each to form a complete paradigm shift for the reader. I recommend this for Zen students especially.

4 people found this helpful

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Lyndsay L.

Amazing collection

Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2023

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I am a huge Alan Watts fan. Mostly i listen to his lectures on You Tube, but sometimes they are only 10 minute fragments. This collection is wonderful!! You can hear the complete lectures exactly as they were recorded. This is a must for any fan of his work. I have read most of his books but when you hear his actual voice expressing the same thoughts it is a more satisfying complete experience.

5 people found this helpful

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Cristine Karapetyan

Gotta love Alan Watts!

Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2023

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This is my favorite book by Alan Watts! Just such an insightful, accurate read of the universe!

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Mauricio in TX

Deeply thought-provoking and lucidly explains some big questions

Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2018

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I spent about as much time reading this book as pondering Alan Watt's explanations for several profound qualities of reality and conscious experience. The first 3 chapters alone have several hours worth of deep conversation on perception and mental models, and they alone are the most complete and resonant story of society and reality I've heard yet.

Alan Watts has such a unique and clear way of explaining things that there are dozens of paragraphs worth highlighting, sharing, and re-visiting later. He also has a refreshingly "outside" view on Eastern philosophy and often stops to recount a few funny stories about the "games" that Zen schools or Hindu gurus play on their students in order to teach lessons. Alan keeps a few of the more valuable story-driven explanations, but he clearly sees little value in speaking excessively in riddles at the expense of his readers' understanding of Buddhist and Hindu philosophy. Anyone who doesn't already have experience with Eastern philosophy or hasn't already come to a conclusion on their life purpose would benefit from reading this book.

22 people found this helpful

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Chris machado

Amazing book

Reviewed in Canada on December 24, 2022

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Very beautiful book brings you closer to god and truth

Nova

Profound

Reviewed in India on February 21, 2024

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Alan watts is a great teacher... there's no doubt about it. The book will take you through deep contemplations about yourself and god...the universe. The chapters are profound

Ricardo Castillo Olivares

Todavía no lo leo

Reviewed in Mexico on October 4, 2019

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pero la calidad es excelente

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Virginie Storm

Ein Buch zum Immer-Wieder-Lesen

Reviewed in Germany on July 28, 2019

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In diesem Buch sind sechs Vorträge von Alan Watts zusammengefasst.

Die Themen reichen von Mythen und Modellen zur Entstehung der Welt, über das Ego und dem Streben nach Erleuchtung bis zu Buddhismus und Hinduismus.

"The ego is nothing other than the focus of conscious attention. It’s like radar on a ship — it’s a troubleshooter. Conscious attention is a designed function of the brain to scan the environment for trouble. And if you identify yourself as the troubleshooter, you define yourself as living in a perpetual state of anxiety. The moment you cease to identify with the ego and become aware that you are the whole organism, you realize how harmonious it all is."

Watts erläutert in einfachen Worten und eingängigen Beispielen das Selbst und das 'höhere Selbst', Nirvana, Absichtslosigkeit, Unbeständigkeit und das Wesen von Gedanken, um einige Beispiele zu nennen.

"People who think that in order to be awakened you have to be heartless and beyond feelings — that you couldn’t possibly lose your temper or feel annoyed or depressed — those people haven’t got the right idea at all."

Bevor man sich in Konzepten und Interpretationen verliert, sollte man dieses Buch lesen.

9 people found this helpful

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Ang

Consciousness changing

Reviewed in Canada on November 15, 2020

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Amazing. Simply unplug your mind, let it flow.

IT IS CONFUSING, it will leave you questioning life, but let it settle in your mind and it will make sense in a few days after putting the book down.

Flip your inside outside, and get wiggly with it

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