30 episodes

Take a deep dive into the collected recordings of Alan Watts with Alan’s son, Mark Watts. 
Being in the Way is a podcast series that explores the Alan Watts Archive’s 100-hour tape collection - including recordings not heard in 40 years. We will meet some of the people being influenced by the works of Alan Watts today and learn a little of the history behind how these remarkable recordings were made. 
Mark and his guests offer reflections on Alan’s ideas— ideas that were radically innovative and groundbreaking in the sixties and seventies, and yet seem to have come of age today.
Being in the Way is brought to you by the Alan Watts Organization, in partnership with Ram Dass' Be Here Now Network.
Check out all of the Alan Watts Organization's offerings at alanwatts.org. 

Alan Watts Being in the Way Be Here Now Network / Love Serve Remember Foundation

    • Society & Culture
    • 4.9 • 603 Ratings

Take a deep dive into the collected recordings of Alan Watts with Alan’s son, Mark Watts. 
Being in the Way is a podcast series that explores the Alan Watts Archive’s 100-hour tape collection - including recordings not heard in 40 years. We will meet some of the people being influenced by the works of Alan Watts today and learn a little of the history behind how these remarkable recordings were made. 
Mark and his guests offer reflections on Alan’s ideas— ideas that were radically innovative and groundbreaking in the sixties and seventies, and yet seem to have come of age today.
Being in the Way is brought to you by the Alan Watts Organization, in partnership with Ram Dass' Be Here Now Network.
Check out all of the Alan Watts Organization's offerings at alanwatts.org. 

    Ep. 29 – Philosophy of the Tao

    Ep. 29 – Philosophy of the Tao

    Join us on a journey of contemplation and enlightenment in this captivating introduction to Taoism.

    Discover the profound wisdom of Taoist philosophy with Alan Watts as he invites us to embrace the course of nature. Through insightful exploration, he delves into the timeless significance of Yin and Yang, illustrating their inseparable connection and guiding us toward a deeper understanding of harmony and balance in existence.

    Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/alan

    In this episode, Alan Watts speaks about:Ancient Chinese philosophiesHow social institutions are mistaken for the real worldThe self, Confucianism, and the roles we play in lifeTaoism and the basic energy of the universeTao as the force of natureHow space and solid are two facets of one realityYang and Yin, positive and negative, male and femaleConscious dying and preparing to let goActing in accordance with natureThis series is brought to you by the Alan Watts Organization and Ram Dass’ Love Serve Remember Foundation. Visit Alanwatts.org for full talks from Alan Watts.

    “It is the inner connection, or rather the inseparability of Yang and Yin, which is what is meant by Tao. That’s why Tao cannot be explained. The reason again if I may put it in another way is that all thinking is classification. It’s asking ‘is you is or is you aint’. Is it this or is it that. After all, if you want to say something is inside it requires an outside. You can’t have an inside without an outside or an outside without an inside.” – Alan Watts







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    • 46 min
    Ep. 28 – Limits of Language

    Ep. 28 – Limits of Language

    Taking a trip through the constructs of form and labeling, Alan Watts philosophizes about the limits of language.

    This series is brought to you by the Alan Watts Organization and Ram Dass’ Love Serve Remember Foundation. Visit play.alanwatts.org for full talks from Alan Watts.

    Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/alan

    This time on Being in the Way, Alan Watts philosophizes about:Unexamined systems of belief underneath languageIdeas that are built into our common senseThe substance of form, pattern, and organizationThe profound mystery of matterLimitations in trying to use language to define the ineffable‘Matter’ as a root word for many thingsChinese views of natureWhy verbs do not necessarily need subjectsBeing at peace with ourselves in a world of formRecognizing the universe as a process“When we divide the world into operations and agents, doers and doings, then we ask such silly questions as ‘who knows, who does it, what does it?’ When the what that is supposed to do it is the same as the doing. You could very easily see that the whole process of the universe may be understood as process, nobody is doing it.” – Alan Watts

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    • 53 min
    Ep. 27 – Love Of Waters

    Ep. 27 – Love Of Waters

    In celebration of the waters that bring life to all things, Alan Watts reflects on the separation between human civilization and the natural world.

    This series is brought to you by the Alan Watts Organization and Ram Dass’ Love Serve Remember Foundation. Visit play.alanwatts.org for full talks from Alan Watts.

    Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/alan

    In this unique and experimental recording, Alan Watts discusses:The beauty of life on the waters in Sausalito, CaliforniaThe rhythms of natureTime and timelessnessThe transformation of one form into anotherThe separation of man from the natural worldObjecting and Objectifying the worldIdentity and being able to know knowingThe spacious environment of the ocean“Although the rhythm of the waves beats a kind of time, it’s not clock or calendar time, it has no urgency. It’s timeless time, because I know I am listening to a rhythm which has been just the same for millions of years.” – Alan Watts







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    • 23 min
    Ep. 26 – Relevance of Eastern Philosophy

    Ep. 26 – Relevance of Eastern Philosophy

    Using wisdom from Eastern philosophies, Alan Watts explains why Westerners should let go of any preconceived notions of God.

    This series is brought to you by the Alan Watts Organization and Ram Dass’ Love Serve Remember Foundation. Visit Alanwatts.org for full talks from Alan Watts.

    This Alan Watts lecture features a discussion on:Comparative studies on religionThe absurdity of Christian imperialismSuperiority and lack of faithThe difference between faith and beliefBlasphemy and those who claim to be GodThe political image of God in the westThe ceramic model of the universe (material and form)Hindu mythology and dramaSelf-discovery of supreme realityThe meaning of MayaPunitive reasons why people say that God is deadFixed notions of God as idolatryContemplative prayer and letting go of our ideas of GodExistence as relationshipBuddhist vows versus western obedienceLooking beyond the skin-encapsulated ego“It must be understood that the crux of the Hindu and Buddhist disciplines is an experience, not a theory, not a belief.” – Alan Watts




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    • 1 hr 1 min
    Ep. 25 – Religion and Sexuality

    Ep. 25 – Religion and Sexuality

    Bringing awareness to ecstatic grace, Alan Watts enlightens us on the sexual archetypes formed by religion.

    Two cultural icons. Two unique perspectives... One understanding of the presence of the way.

    Ram Dass' Love Serve Remember Foundation and the Alan Watts Organization invite you to open your mind, open your heart, and tap into the living truth of Alan Watts and Ram Dass. Learn more about this special 4-week Virtual Course:"The Presence of the Way: The Dharma of Alan Watts and Ram Dass"

    Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/alan

    In this recording, Alan Watts lectures on:Baptism, confirmation, and religious initiationMasturbation and other supposedly sinful behaviorsDefiance and wickednessThe material world and sexualityThe Semitic vs. Greek perspective on sexSexual energy for reproduction rather than pleasureThe fall in the Garden of EdenThe institution of marriageWomen throughout western literatureLove and the illogical promises we makePrudism and extreme monogamySubtle eroticism in the Victorian eraHow repression may lead to being overcameLibido as a fundamental realitySexuality in religious iconographyThe function of sexual play beyond utilitarianismSex as a sacramental expression of loveSeeing the divine aspect in a loverThis series is brought to you by the Alan Watts Organization and Ram Dass’ Love Serve Remember Foundation. Visit Alanwatts.org for full talks from Alan Watts.

    “The function of sexual play is not merely the survival and utilitarian function of reproducing the species as it is among animals to a very large extent. What peculiarly distinguishes human sexuality is that it brings the partners closer and closer to each other in an intense state of united feeling. In other words, it is a sacrament, the outward invisible sign of an inward and spiritual grace, bringing about love.” – Alan Watts

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    • 28 min
    Ep. 24 – Myth of Myself

    Ep. 24 – Myth of Myself

    This time on the Being in the Way Podcast, Alan Watts delves into questions of identity, purpose and buying into the ‘Myth of Myself’.

    Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/alan

    In this episode, Alan Watts explores:The question of our own identity and our place in the worldMyths of the self handed down through historyViewing ourselves and the world with a “floodlight consciousness” – rather than the narrow “spotlight consciousness” we are taught to see the world throughHow we are not born into this world, but grow out of it – “In the same way an apple tree apples, the Earth peoples.”“The most fascinating problem in the world is who am I? What do you feel when you say the word I? I myself?

    This problem has fascinated me for many years. Most Western people locate their ego inside their heads. This is the ordinary average conception of what is oneself.” – Alan Watts

    This series is brought to you by the Alan Watts Organization and Ram Dass’ Love Serve Remember Foundation. Visit https://Alanwatts.org for full talks from Alan Watts.

    See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    • 43 min

Customer Reviews

4.9 out of 5
603 Ratings

603 Ratings

Alicia's.02 ,

Wonderful Collection of Talks

These talks and teachings are curated by Mark Watts, Alan’s son. After listening to many of the recordings I’ve increased my understanding of Eastern philosophy. I highly recommend for anyone on the path of wise understanding.

DaveToosie50 ,

Helped get me into spiritualism

Great overview on eastern religion and spiritualism

Mr Majestik ,

Calming voice

Thanks - his voice is a calming balm in this crazy mixed up world

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