If you study the writings of the mystics, you will always find things in them that appear to be paradoxes, as in Zen, particularly. Alan Watts More Quotes by Alan Watts More Quotes From Alan Watts The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves. Alan Watts simple inspiring life We are living in a culture entirely hypnotized by the illusion of time, in which the so-called present moment is felt as nothing but an infinitesimal hairline between a causative past and an absorbingly important future. We have no present. Our consciousness is almost completely preoccupied with memory and expectation. We do not realize that there never was, is, nor will be any other experience than present experience. We are therefore out of touch with reality. Alan Watts memories reality past By replacing fear of the unknown with curiosity we open ourselves up to an infinite stream of possibility. We can let fear rule our lives or we can become childlike with curiosity, pushing our boundaries, leaping out of our comfort zones, and accepting what life puts before us. Alan Watts mind-blowing pushing curiosity This is the real secret of life -- to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play. Alan Watts monday inspiring life Waking up to who you are requires letting go of who you imagine yourself to be Alan Watts ego purpose letting-go The future is a concept, it doesn't exist. There is no such thing as tomorrow. There never will be, because time is always now. That's one of the things we discover when we stop talking to ourselves and stop thinking. We find there is only present, only an eternal now. Alan Watts tomorrow talking thinking We must abandon completely the notion of blaming the past for any kind of situation we're in and reverse our thinking and see that the past always flows back from the present. That now is the creative point of life. So you see it's like the idea of forgiving somebody, you change the meaning of the past by doing that...Also, watch the flow of music. The melody as its expressed is changed by notes that come later. Just as the meaning of a sentence...you wait till later to find out what the sentence means...The present is always changing the past. Alan Watts mean past thinking Stop measuring days by degree of productivity and start experiencing them by degree of presence. Alan Watts measuring productivity degrees No amount of anxiety makes any difference to anything that is going to happen. Alan Watts anxiety differences worry What I am really saying is that you don’t need to do anything, because if you see yourself in the correct way, you are all as much extraordinary phenomenon of nature as trees, clouds, the patterns in running water, the flickering of fire, the arrangement of the stars, and the form of a galaxy. You are all just like that, and there is nothing wrong with you at all. Alan Watts stars running inspiring You are the universe experiencing itself. Alan Watts eye-opening universe We see what we believe rather than what we see. Alan Watts believe The only serious side-effect of # marijuana is that you might get arrested. Alan Watts marijuana sides might All that you see out in front of you is how you feel inside your head. Alan Watts how-you-feel fronts feels 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. Alan Watts trust faith inspirational Hurrying and delaying are alike ways of trying to resist the present. Alan Watts hurrying trying way As muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone, it could be argued that those who sit quietly and do nothing are making one of the best possible contributions to a world in turmoil. Alan Watts leaving freedom water Life is not a problem to be solved, but an experience to be had. Alan Watts cheer-up life reality Jesus Christ knew he was God. So wake up and find out eventually who you really are. In our culture, of course, they’ll say you’re crazy and you’re blasphemous, and they’ll either put you in jail or in a nut house (which is pretty much the same thing). However if you wake up in India and tell your friends and relations, ‘My goodness, I’ve just discovered that I’m God,’ they’ll laugh and say, ‘Oh, congratulations, at last you found out. Alan Watts congratulations crazy jesus We thought of life by analogy with a journey, a pilgrimage, which had a serious purpose at the end, and the thing was to get to that end, success or whatever it is, maybe heaven after you’re dead. But we missed the point the whole way along. It was a musical thing and you were supposed to sing or to dance while the music was being played. Alan Watts musical journey heaven
