I discovered Alan Watts 2 years ago and has been my main gateway/guide to a range of eastern philosophies and ideas such as Taoism, Zen, Buddhism (Theravada, Mahayana , Vajrayana), varieties of Yoga, Hinduism and Christian Mysticism among others, all have which transformed my life enormously and for the better (I will get on to that in a future post).
For a good introduction about Alan I recommend this article…
http://www.chislehurst-society.org.uk/Pages/About/People/Watts_Alan.html
You can find hundreds of Alan’s lectures online (youtube), but keep in mind that many of the videos have had music added to them which can become very distracting/irritating to some, I recommend finding the actual recordings of the lectures.
One really good collection is “Alan Watts- Out of Your Mind (Essential Lectures)” that I highly recommend.
A great book about the life of Alan watts is… Zen Effects: The Life of Alan Watts by Monica Furlong
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60563.Zen_Effects
Here are a collection of some of the best talks found on youtube…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RyvYSV41t8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khOaAHK7efc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwSvV3RAH4s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9NgSOLsjPk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgZ73Lc5VS8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdqVF7-8wng
Also, Happy belated birthday Alan (on the 6th of January)!
“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.” Alan Watts
