Still the Mind: An Introduction to Meditation [Hardcover]

Alan W. Watts (Author), Mark Watts (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2000

During the last decade of his life, Alan Watts lectured across the country on the relevance of Eastern thought to contemporary Western culture. Drawing from his numerous journals and audiotapes, his son Mark has compiled Still the Mind. Part One begins with "Out of This World," in which Watts shows that inner wisdom grows naturally. Part Two charts the path of soulful contemplation with "The Philosophy of Meditation." Part Three, "Contemplative Ritual," leads the reader into a variety of meditation practices.

Editorial Reviews

From AudioFile

Meditation guru Alan Watts was recorded in the 1970s giving talks on emptying the mind of worry, stress, and guilt. With eloquent yet spontaneous, practical language, the author says real living is possible when we attend to the moments between thoughts, the moments we usually fill with clutter. This emotional busyness stems from the illusion that we have important responsibilities--that things will fall apart without our constant attention. By accepting a more humble place in the universe, we become more fully interactive with the energy of the universe and become a more effective channel for what it wants us to do. Watts's work is a marvelous and historically significant chapter in the development of American Buddhism and the meditative life. T.W. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: New World Library; First Edition edition (May 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1577311175
• ISBN-13: 978-1577311171
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #890,674 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars life changing, March 24, 2001

By 

no one special (walker, la United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Still the Mind: An Introduction to Meditation (Hardcover)

Alan watts is a brilliant writer and this book is nothing short of extraordinary. It is a compilation of speeches and seminars the late Alan Watts gave during his lifetime. I read the book knowing little about Zen, but found after reading it that I always knew. That is the beauty of Zen. We have always known the truth - there is a better way to live - only we have been socialized to feel as though we are seperate and need to conquer something or everything. Mr. Watts points out that this is a fallacy and that there is no need to feel seperate. Instead, he offers that we are a part of one organism and there is no need to conquer. Life is just being in the moment. This book really has made a difference for me.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Meditation with Watts, November 6, 2000

By 

Christina M. Silveira (Guttenberg, IA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Still the Mind: An Introduction to Meditation (Audio Cassette)

Watts explains thought and encourages the listener to release the grip of mental chatter and slide into the meditative state that is the wellspring of inspiration. Using humor and allegory, he finds many different ways of stating the truth. Chiding the Western mind for its overuse of force of will and muscle, Watts emphasizes that if you practice meditation in order to achieve perfection, you're not meditating. Through his own ease of being, he guides a meditation step by step, taking his audience into a gentle, sometimes playful state of mind through his skill as both a meditator and a speaker. Both beginner and experienced meditator will get a lot out of this material.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good ---But Not Best--- of Alan Watts' Lecture Releases, February 9, 2005

By 

K. Brown "El Rudo Lucky Pierre!" (Walnut, Ca USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Still the Mind: An Introduction to Meditation (Paperback)

Of the Alan Watts lecture transcripts in print, this is a good read, though not as tightly edited and expressive as his finest in this line of works, which I believe to be "Buddhism: The Religion of No Religion."

The finest points in this book are revealed when Watts' describes the motivation behind meditation, emphasizing the pleasure one receives in the practice in itself, as opposed to practicing in hopes of it producing pleasure in the future. He keenly dismisses practicing any religion out of necessity, obligation, or hope of reward, and instead drives home the notion of religion and meditation as sources of expression and enjoyment.

Still, if you are going to pick only one of Alan Watts' lecture series, then "Buddhism: The Religion of No Religion" is vastly superior to this work. If you enjoy any of his lecture series, I strongly urge you to seek out his lengthier written projects like "The Way of Zen." Watts had quite a way of making Zen Buddhism tangible to the Western reader.