The Pantheism of Alan Watts
Alan Wilson Watts (1915 – 1973) was a British philosopher, writer, and speaker, best known as an interpreter of Eastern philosophy for a Western audience. At an early age, Watts sought membership in the London Buddhist Lodge, which had been established by Theosophists. Watts became the organization’s secretary at 16 years old. After graduating from secondary school, Watts was under the tutelage of a "rascal guru" named Dimitrije Mitrinović. Watts read widely in philosophy, history, psychology, psychiatry and Eastern wisdom during his spare time. In 1936, aged 21, he attended the World Congress of Faiths at the University of London, and afterwards was able to meet D. T. Suzuki, a scholar of Zen Buddhism. That same year, Watts' first book was published, The Spirit of Zen. In 1938 he left England to live in America with his wife Eleanor Everett.
Watts attended Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, an Anglican school in Evanston, Illinois, where he studied Christian scriptures, theology, and Church history. He attempted to work out a blend of Christianity, mysticism, and Eastern philosophy. Watts was awarded a master's degree in theology in response to his thesis, which he published as a popular edition under the title Behold the Spirit. In 1951, Watts moved to California, where he joined the faculty of the American Academy of Asian Studies in San Francisco. Though known for his Zen teachings, he was equally if not more influenced by the Vedanta philosophy of Hinduism. In 1953, he began what became a long-running weekly radio program at Pacifica Radio station KPFA in Berkeley, which continued until his death in 1973. Watts was not paid for his broadcasts; they did, however, gain him a large following in the San Francisco Bay Area and his programs were re-broadcast many times over in the decades following his death.
Watts described himself as "an unabashed pantheist" in his book, In My Own Way: An Autobiography. He explained in The Book on the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are, “We do not “come into” this world; we come out of it, as leaves from a tree. As the ocean “waves,” the universe “peoples.” Every individual is an expression of the whole realm of nature, a unique action of the total universe. This fact is rarely, if ever, experienced by most individuals. Even those who know it to be true in theory do not sense or feel it, but continue to be aware of themselves as isolated “egos” inside bags of skin.”
Watts attended Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, an Anglican school in Evanston, Illinois, where he studied Christian scriptures, theology, and Church history. He attempted to work out a blend of Christianity, mysticism, and Eastern philosophy. Watts was awarded a master's degree in theology in response to his thesis, which he published as a popular edition under the title Behold the Spirit. In 1951, Watts moved to California, where he joined the faculty of the American Academy of Asian Studies in San Francisco. Though known for his Zen teachings, he was equally if not more influenced by the Vedanta philosophy of Hinduism. In 1953, he began what became a long-running weekly radio program at Pacifica Radio station KPFA in Berkeley, which continued until his death in 1973. Watts was not paid for his broadcasts; they did, however, gain him a large following in the San Francisco Bay Area and his programs were re-broadcast many times over in the decades following his death.
Watts described himself as "an unabashed pantheist" in his book, In My Own Way: An Autobiography. He explained in The Book on the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are, “We do not “come into” this world; we come out of it, as leaves from a tree. As the ocean “waves,” the universe “peoples.” Every individual is an expression of the whole realm of nature, a unique action of the total universe. This fact is rarely, if ever, experienced by most individuals. Even those who know it to be true in theory do not sense or feel it, but continue to be aware of themselves as isolated “egos” inside bags of skin.”