The Book : On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are

My dad gave me this book when I was traveling back to college sophomore year. If you've read it you might think, "Oh, that is such a sweet and special gift," so maybe I should clarify: he stumbled across it when he was cleaning out his bookshelves and he basically just tossed it at me. There wasn't anything ceremonious about it. Anyway, I really liked it. It was my literary introduction to Zen philosophy, and it resonated with me immediately. Incidentally, I read it three months after my first trip. I think that had a lot to do with my appreciation of it. Drawbacks: Watts quotes Jesus a few times. When you go to look up the quote, it's from a non-canonical gospel, I think The Gospel of Thomas. This made it instantly lose cred with my Christian biblical scholar friend with whom I tried to share it ("Jesus never said that!!"). The more I read of Watts, the more I found him making unsupported claims against modern Christianity. Also, he tends to say the same thing in all of his books, over and over, so if you've read one, you've basically read 'em all. Still, it's a great book for reminding yourself that you always have the here and now to just be. I've reread parts of it several times. At the root of human conflict is our fundamental misunderstanding of who we are. The illusion that we are isolated beings, unconnected to the rest of the universe, has led us to view the outside world with hostility, and has fueled our misuse of technology and our violent and hostile subjugation of the natural world. To help us understand that the self is in fact the root and ground of the universe, Watts has crafted a revelatory primer on what it means to be humanand a mind-opening manual of initiation into the central mystery of existence. In The Book, Alan Watts provides us with a much-needed answer to the problem of personal identity, distilling and adapting the Hindu philosophy of Vedanta. A revelatory primer on what it means to be human, from "the perfect guide for a course correction in life" (Deepak Chopra)and a mind-opening manual of initiation into the central mystery of existence. A revelatory primer on what it means to be human and a mind-opening manual of initiation into the central mystery of existence, by “perhaps the foremost interpreter of Eastern disciplines for the contemporary West'(Los Angeles Times). At the root of human conflict is our fundamental misunderstanding of who we are. The illusion that we are isolated beings, unconnected to the rest of the universe, has led us to view the “outside” world with hostility, and has fueled our misuse of technology and our violent and hostile subjugation of the natural world. To help us understand that the self is in fact the root and ground of the universe, Alan Watts provides us with a much-needed answer to the problem of personal identity, distilling and adapting the Hindu philosophy of Vedanta. Publisher description: In The Book, Alan Watts provides us with a much-needed answer to the problem of personal identity, distilling and adapting the Hindu philosophy of Vedanta.At the root of human conflict is our fundamental misunderstanding of who we are. The illusion that we are isolated beings, unconnected to the rest of the universe, has led us to view the “outside” world with hostility, and has fueled our misuse of technology and our violent and hostile subjugation of the natural world. To help us understand that the self is in fact the root and ground of the universe, Watts has crafted a revelatory primer on what it means to be human—and a mind-opening manual of initiation into the central mystery of existence. Drawing Upon Ancient Hindu Philosophy, The Author Explores The Human Psyche And The Importance Of Personal Identity. Preface -- 1. Inside Information -- 2. The Game Of Black-and-white -- 3. How To Be A Genuine Fake -- 4. The World Is Your Body -- 5. So What? -- 6. It -- The Books. Alan Watts. Originally Published By Pantheon Books In 1966. Bibliography: P. 161-163. Just what should a young man or woman know in order to be "in the know"?