Alan Watts...

Listening to an Alan Watts lecture is a bit like having Gandalf over for tea.

Though he died in the early 1970’s, the internet is chock full of hours and hours of Alan Watts talking about philosophy, religion, the meaning of life, and how to live your own, best-possible version of it.  Google him.  Have Tea.

Among the many long form lectures you might find, there are also a bunch of these animated shorts created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone of “South Park” fame.  Here’s a good one...

Watts says many awesome things in his lectures and books.  Here is are just a few…

“Problems that remain persistently insoluble should always be suspected as questions asked in the wrong way.” 

“To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. When you swim you don't grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead you relax, and float.”

“Man suffers only because he takes seriously what the gods made for fun.” 

“You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself.” 

“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” 

“Life is like music for its own sake. We are living in an eternal now, and when we listen to music we are not listening to the past, we are not listening to the future, we are listening to an expanded present.” 

“Advice? I don’t have advice. Stop aspiring and start writing. If you’re writing, you’re a writer. Write like you’re a goddamn death row inmate and the governor is out of the country and there’s no chance for a pardon. Write like you’re clinging to the edge of a cliff, white knuckles, on your last breath, and you’ve got just one last thing to say, like you’re a bird flying over us and you can see everything, and please, for God’s sake, tell us something that will save us from ourselves. Take a deep breath and tell us your deepest, darkest secret, so we can wipe our brow and know that we’re not alone. Write like you have a message from the king. Or don’t. Who knows, maybe you’re one of the lucky ones who doesn’t have to.” 

“How is it possible that a being with such sensitive jewels as the eyes, such enchanted musical instruments as the ears, and such fabulous arabesque of nerves as the brain can experience itself anything less than a god.”

--Alan Watts