The Essential Lectures of Alan Watts video series was recorded in 1971 above Muir Woods, California, and in 1972 aboard the ferryboat the SS Vallejo in Sausalito. Produced by his son Mark and directed by long-time archivist Henry Jacobs, the series explores core philosophical themes that spawned over Watts' career.
Episode 1
Nothing
Dec 31, 1972
Basing his ideas on sensory perception and physical experience, Alan Watts makes a compelling argument that everything actually depends upon nothing for its very existence.
Episode 2
Ego
Dec 31, 1972
Alan Watts was concerned with the way we trap ourselves in words. He considered it unfortunate that we separate the "I" from reality and think of "I" in terms of how others see us or the image that we want to project. What is the answer?
Episode 3
Meditation
Dec 31, 1972
As Alan Watts explains, "A person who thinks all the time has nothing to think about except thoughts and loses touch with reality." He covers basic mediation techniques, including listening without naming and mantras or sonic meditations.
Episode 4
God
Dec 31, 1972
To many of us the image of God as a gray-bearded omnipotent and omnipresent supreme being has become implausible, yet the common sense notions of divine authority surrounding that image persist.
Episode 5
Cosmic Drama
Dec 31, 1972
Alan Watts further explores the Hindu dramatic view of the universe, in which God plays all of the parts - all the while pretending not to know who he/she/it is!
Episode 6
Time
Dec 31, 1972
Here Alan Watts points out that our insistence that the past determines the present is nonsensical.
Episode 7
Work & Play
Dec 31, 1972
Alan Watts swirls an orange on a string and shoots an arrow high into the air before explaining why the art of living is being paid to play - and to the extent that we feel compelled to work and survive, life becomes a drag.
Episode 8
Death
Dec 31, 1972
Alan Watts comments on the circle of life and our response to the surprising event of being born in the first place.
Episode 9
The More It Changes
Dec 31, 1972
Alan Watts speaks on our fascination with reproduction through media, and on the far out notion that human beings may just be one star's way of becoming another star!
Episode 10
Clothing
Dec 31, 1972
After talking about growing up near London, Alan Watts demonstrates a variety of cultural garb and points out how each influences the way we live and feel. His choices of attire include a western business suit and a kimono.
Episode 11
Do You Smell?
Dec 31, 1972
Alan Watts speaks about our most repressed sense. Here he introduces viewers to the intricacies of incense in front of a small Buddhist altar, while commenting on the types of incense used in Church rituals and all across Asia.
Episode 12
Conversation with Myself
Dec 31, 1971
While walking in a field above Muir Woods, Alan Watts points to humankind's attempts to straighten out a wiggly world as the root of our ecological crisis.