It’s only when you invent yourself as a static, separate self does the unity of nature get artificially broken. Neki bi kvalifikovali ovu knjižicu kao krindž, ali ko nije krindž neka prvi baci kamen a to sigurno nisam ja. Thus far, I’ve focused more on whether this approach could help resolve the problem of happiness and why it might not be more widely practiced if it is indeed as useful as it claims to be.

My philosophical start to 2020 (an attempt to see clearly) continues with this, my first Watts book. To remain stable is to refrain from trying to separate yourself from a pain because you know that you cannot.

Traveling in Asia makes it clear that most Buddhists and Hindus there are engaged in superstitious rituals with a more literal interpretation of scripture than Watts’ winking at the reader suggests. We are not certain where this I lives: in our heads, our bodies but we are certain there is a I and everybody else is you.

If, instead, one stops trying to separate from these experiences, they tend to dissolve on their own quite readily. I’m not well read enough in these subjects to object to this characterization, but one is definitely left with the distinct impression that Watts’ views and traditional ones may have significant departures. That is, experienced meditators and Zen practitioners, are better at guiding their attention onto different objects of experience, and they have inculcated certain mental habits that make those attentional shifts more automatic.There's a New Age-y aspect of this (which is mostly likely what put it in my hands back in the 70s; the handbook in those days was another Watts book, The Joyous Cosmology). I used to be a Christian; I used to be an atheist; I used to be an agnostic; and then I couldn't even commit to not committing to anything. But, still, his point remains valid - because most faiths, firmly held, can help you finally overcome your anxiety. Our process of remembering the past and imagining the future can be so convincing that we often forget that they are occurring in our heads.

Beside the examples of saints and heroes I feel ashamed that I amount to nothing, and so I begin to practice humility because of my wounded pride, and charity because of my self-love.

Anxiety, fear, pain and dissatisfaction arise not directly, but because of our urge to separate this experiencer from the experiences. Instead of a method, Watts argues that the problem can be resolved immediately the moment it is properly understood.

Many practicing Christians genuinely do believe in an actual future heaven and hell, as opposed to being an analogy for enlightenment and the vicious circles we engage in on this earth. We can practice imagining the future, but when it finally comes it often doesn’t feel much like our imaginations and once it has been dealt with it is quickly replaced with a new hope or worry. It is not as if he were thinking about it in a practical way, trying to decide whether he should have the operation or not, or making plans to take care of his family and his affairs if he should die. In his books he relates his experience to scientific knowledge and to the teachings of Eastern and Western religion and philosophy.As Watt’s explains, “Part of man’s frustration is that he has become accustomed to expert language and thought to offer explanations which they cannot give. Many Zen practitioners, seeing this paradox, resolve it through zazen, which is a strict meditative discipline. If being more anxious made us slightly less likely to be eaten by a tiger, but it destroyed many moments of uncomplicated bliss, that would be a positive trade-off. He pokes holes in the dark side of some traditional understandings that in reality can be driven by one’s ego-self.