Great video and indeed rare! Thanks for posting. Alan Watts' speeches are always captivating. I'm not so sure about his ideas about thought and future though. One can say living by his advice can lead to having the presence of a cat, or ant. Driven by the present, concept of future rests in its instincts which undoubtedly would take over if all thoughts are suspended (that is assuming seemingly external force will not drive the person). I would say thoughts and future do have their place.
@AgentLogik I actually come across this POV often and it is just a simple misunderstanding. He is not saying never think, never consider the future, he is merely teaching you what the now is and how to be in the now. There is a time and place for both, The point of this is to calm the mind and achieve clarity. After that consider the future as much as you will, until the next time you feel the need to clear your mind again. Its a perpetual process. Thinking muddies the mind. This cleans it.
@timfosho exactly man, i say its fine to be 'in the now' and think about the future, as long as (mentally) you ARE in the now, and not somewhere actually thinking FROM WITHIN the future, about the future..
good stuff, just remember ppl.. you cant really 'get it wrong' -that itself should release some burden.
@vetiarvind u dream while sleeping. dreams are subconscious thoughts brought into the vision of your mind through hallucinogenic chemicals such as DMT. You can't escape thoughts by sleeping.
go to 1:16 to skip the woman talking.
TheCaptinLove 5 months ago 2
Great video and indeed rare! Thanks for posting. Alan Watts' speeches are always captivating. I'm not so sure about his ideas about thought and future though. One can say living by his advice can lead to having the presence of a cat, or ant. Driven by the present, concept of future rests in its instincts which undoubtedly would take over if all thoughts are suspended (that is assuming seemingly external force will not drive the person). I would say thoughts and future do have their place.
AgentLogik 3 years ago
@AgentLogik I actually come across this POV often and it is just a simple misunderstanding. He is not saying never think, never consider the future, he is merely teaching you what the now is and how to be in the now. There is a time and place for both, The point of this is to calm the mind and achieve clarity. After that consider the future as much as you will, until the next time you feel the need to clear your mind again. Its a perpetual process. Thinking muddies the mind. This cleans it.
timfosho 1 year ago 5
@timfosho exactly man, i say its fine to be 'in the now' and think about the future, as long as (mentally) you ARE in the now, and not somewhere actually thinking FROM WITHIN the future, about the future..
good stuff, just remember ppl.. you cant really 'get it wrong' -that itself should release some burden.
AbattoirDream 1 year ago
@timfosho Nature has a natural antidote for thinking. It's called sleep ;-)
vetiarvind 9 months ago
@vetiarvind u dream while sleeping. dreams are subconscious thoughts brought into the vision of your mind through hallucinogenic chemicals such as DMT. You can't escape thoughts by sleeping.
stfwho 9 months ago