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This Is It: and Other Essays on Zen and Spiritual Experience

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The apparent simplicity of a statement like "This is it" is beautiful, and at the same time it is clear and equivocal. Why would we be dissatisfied with "This is it" as an explanation, proclamation, or celebration? Perhaps because we have been conditioned to expect more before ever being given the chance to appreciate the immanent.

Aside from theology, no field is more guilty of overlooking the "here and now" than philosophy - overlooking it, or simply missing it. But Alan Watts believes in a philosophy that is true to its spirit, the love of wisdom. "Such philosophy will not preach or advocate practices leading to improvement." As he understands it "the work of the philosopher as artist is to reveal and celebrate the eternal and purposeless background of human life." It may seem presumptuous for Watts to use the word purposeless, but if fact it's the opposite. To begin with, in relationships that involve observation, appreciation, celebration, or interaction with the "here and now," (life) there should be no assumptions made regarding a purpose. Assuming a purpose is already removing oneself from the "here and now" by imposing an impression that only could have been established through time, in the past. In truth, the purpose or lack thereof is not important.

We don't realize how many of these assumptions form the base for all that we experience. Watts pulls a wonderful line from Dostoyevsky: "Man is unhappy because he doesn't know he's happy. It's only that...If anyone finds out he'll become happy at once, that minute." Watts isn't trying to imply that happiness is easy. But we don't make things easier on ourselves by entangling ourselves in webs of assumption, dogma, and rigidity.

Alan Watts is very intelligent, and very interesting - a combination not found in too many philosophers at all, let alone in the twentieth century. Though he would never claim to be offering any type of assistance or prescription, it is likely that this book will inspire you to see the world from another angle or two.

Yes, the Nike ads have captured the essence of Zen. As Alan Watts puts it, This Is It.

Logical paradoxes aside, the "just shut up and get on with it" approach to Life is one of the key elements in Zen. The 'kill the Buddha' psychology of avoiding the pitfalls of externally arising enlightenment is well in line with Watt's own philosophy.

Completeness comes from within and from a place of non-duality, which the koans of Zen are designed to lead you towards. One of the key human errors and the cause of immense suffering is the belief that Life must make sense. Who ever said that? And make sense to whom?

The Techno Bible in The Hitch Hiker's Guide bore the words "Dont Panic" on the cover. That's a good starting point. Add to that Just Do It and This Is It, and you're going to be just fine.

Another great read from the man who gave us The Two Hands Of God.

Alan Watts will remove the scales of anxiety and doubt from the eyes of anyone who suffers from the "daily-ness" of life. His clarity and exuberance of mind refreshes the spirit and refills the fuel tank of hope for the journey through "now!"

_This Is It_ by Alan Watts is a good solid work, but is too short to provide the rigorous instruction needed to achieve any appreciable amount of enlightenment or Zen Satori. That said, it is a wonderful, enjoyable, and profound book page for page, and is essential to round out your collection of Alan Watts' more recent and well-known works. _This Is It_ is also perfect for someone who does not want a megadose of strenuous philosophy and theology; it is ideal for those who are new to psychological-religious non-fiction, or who do not have the time to hack through some kind of magnum-opus epic of philosophy. If, however, you want to read one of the more comprehensive books by Alan Watts, I would recommend _Psychotherapy East and West_, which is his best work.

I read this book the first time in my 20's. I read it with a fervor, but didn't get It. What he describes I had never experienced. I'm 43 now and picked it back up the other night. The first chapter describes in detail what it is like to experience Enlightenment on a daily basis, 24/7. The first chapter describes the world I inhabit now. Not the ecstasy, but the human experience of coming to grips with It, Enlightenment, the end of seeking and then simply living It. Enlightenment may have many definitions and may be different for everyone who comes to It, but Alan Watts describes some of the basic ingredients that are shared by those who live It. For one thing, Enlightenment has nothing to do with religion or the religion you are in (or not). For another, it is not a "future" event. An ecstatic state reached or other mind altering or distorting events/states are not Enlightenment, but possible signposts of it (although in my experience they did not play any significant part). My experience of Enlightenment is constant and can best be described by the author himself. He says on page 20 (Tenth Collier Printing 1971), "The central core of the experience seems to be the conviction, or insight, that the immediate now, whatever its nature, is the goal and fulfillment of all living. Surrounding and flowing from this insight is an emotional ecstasy, a sense of intense relief, freedom, and lightness, and often of almost unbearable love for the world, which is, however, secondary. Often, the pleasure of the experience is confused with the experience and the insight lost in the ecstasy, so that in trying to retain the secondary effects of the experience the individual misses its point--that the immediate now is complete even when it is not ecstatic."

Alan Watts explains what unity/non-dual consciousness or nothingness really is and explains how it may be different from what many people think it is. He uses various interesting examples to make his case and I thought they were very effective. Ken Wilber has elaborated on this error that people tend to make as well but I think Toru Sato's "The Ever-Transcending Spirit" really explains it the best. Although it is impossible to explain this distinction in words, it is the only medium writers have and Sato uses this meduim in a very nice way to help us understand this concept (or shall we say "non-concept"). Anyways all of these author's books are well worth reading. They are all brilliant! We are very fortunate that these people write books.

Zenmeister and superb wordsmith Watts becomes increasingly obscure, paradoxical, antithetical in these essays compiled in part to take the reader on a journey toward the realm of cosmic consciousness. That's okay by me, because he ends up saying some of the things I've heard before and I have started to believe: the spiritual and material are inseparable and that clarity comes about not after some years of study, and years of indoctrination and years of doing what is felt to be right and holy and blessed....it is neigh impossible to make rational what is emotional. Clarity is now. It is here, it is now.

Watts' essays have not ignored the fact that people perceive things differently and that people are different--this book has some of Watts trademark wordworkings with definitions, modern parables, and comparisons of how the nature of the Zen experience should be/is....but...

The ultimate point is...one doesn't have to go through what anyone preaches and evvyelse tells you to do to have one, it will be anyway. We in the Western 'Judeo-Christian' influenced world would perhaps rather believe in the order, the hierarchy of a supreme consciousness, hence we blind ourselves to the miracle of "it is now", "this is it"...the paradox of Watts' many writings, histories, descriptives is somewhat understandable. We don't wanna believe personal and spiritual awareness could come so easy. We say, "Where's the levels, where are the steps to happiness, where the intellectual satisfaction of a journey sought for...." Watts has provided the academics for those who want it,...but...

Simply one of the best American Philosophers.
I don't know why this isn't a book presented in most curricula.
This should be an introduction book for any and all who are interested beyond jesus.

Appreciated Watts's perspective on process as in each stage of an overall process is itself a complete process, which serves the intellect in understanding what it means to be present.

I am an avid follower of the spacial concepts presented by "Stephen Hawking," (Cosmologist, Physicist - see Discovery Channel version of "Into the Universe" - DVD). So for me, Alan Watts makes a great deal of sense. Each book from this deceased author (circa 1940's - 1970's), has been an inspiration in Eastern thought. While one must consider our immediate Western world, with all of it's buildings and bridges, Alan Watts takes us down another path. The path of calmness and reflection. For me, the author lends value and understanding to a complicated subject. I can still live and work in a Westernized medium, while applying to my own life, a calming Eastern philosophy that makes me realize that "stress," is simply "fear," and that fear is from the unknown. Once we get that, and this book along with other works makes that perfectly clear. I am that I am!