Rating: 
Summary: A great, beautifully written book on Vedanta
Review: ...'The book' is a fantastic introduction to key tenets of the ancient Hindu philosophy of Vedanta. Alan Watts exposits with convincing arguments the problems with our perspective of the self(the same thought that 'Hermann Hesse illustrates in Steppenwolf), the correct interpretation of the Blakean vision of 'Good and Evil being parts of the same coin', the problems that we carry through the rest of our lives because of the conditioning of the senses and intellect and finally the answers and route to salvation that this great philosophy shows.And to read this book, there is no need to know any history/ jargon of vedanta which are major deterrents to people who do not want to get into sanskrit terms, chronology etc. Just read it..its pretty much a tripper kind of book in the lines of 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance'.
Rating:
Summary: Superb explanation of Eastern thought for Western minds
Review: A "hip" teacher lent me this book when I was 17, and I thought it was fascinating, entertaining, and thought-provoking. 20 years later, I was listening to a series of recorded lectures by the author on my local public radio station, and it finally dawned on me what he was talking about in the book I had read in 1971! This isn't even Watts' "best" book, but its the best one to start with if you have reached the intellectual dead-end, as I had as a bright teenager, of "scientific" materialism. Watts writes in plain language, using everyday examples, and is simply the best translator of Hindu, Toaist and Buddhist philosophies into language that Westerners can easily understand. He is also a witty storyteller and delightful personality. If you read this, give it 20 years to sink in before you write your review. When you finally "get" it, you'll be walking 3 inches off the ground. Of course, now that everybody you meet is either into quasi-Eastern New-Age beliefs or rutted in reactionary Fundamentalist dogma, the book may read differently. But it's more likely that Watts' genuine acceptance of human foibles, egoless wisdom, light-hearted, amused honesty and absolutely penetrating insights into the nature of reality would make "The Book" accessible to any human who likes to think.
Rating: 
Summary: Still useful 60's classic
Review: I never gave Watts his full due of respect back in the 60's and 70's, because at the time I (and others) saw him as a trendy popularizer perhaps cashing in on the interest of that segment of the western readership who are perennially eastern-obsessed and therefore too naive and uncritical of their philosophy. Back then, there were just too many young people, who, having rejected whatever western culture they were brought up in, simply accepted, lock, stock, and barrel, Tao, Vedanta, and/or Buddhism after having read one or two books and therefore having finally discovered "the truth." Well, looking back, that's perhaps too harsh an assessment, and I will say that Watts's book is an extremely well-written, concise, and clear introduction to Vedantic thought that is as relevant today as it was 35 years ago. I recently picked up the book after 30 years, and found that in many ways I enjoyed it even more than I did back then. As others have commented more completely on the usefulness and relevance of the philosophy in the book, I will just mention one thing. I really enjoyed his discussion about the fear of death. Watts points out that the way western culture deals practically and philosophically with death, isolating the individual from feeling a part of the universe as a whole on the one hand, and as basically a taboo subject, on the other, is unproductive and ultimately does nothing to resolve the issue. He points out that the denial process of sweeping it under the rug only makes it worse, and that ultimately the only solution is to just face one's fear. If death frightens you or makes you afraid, well then, be afraid. At least be honest about it, because that's the first step to realistically starting to deal with the problem. The reality is, that no matter how certain one is of one's religion, no-one truly knows if there is an afterlife. It is possible that all these beliefs simply represent a wishful-thinking and wish-fulfillment response to a realistic fear--the fear of death. Until one admits that and confronts the issue head on, it will continue to haunt you despite your most cherished beliefs to the contrary.
Rating:
Summary: Who Are You?
Review: I read this book when it was first published in 1966, re-read it after an unexpected opportunity to meet Alan Watts just before he died (in 1973), and then re-read it again recently after having recommended it highly to a close personal friend. Long ago, I became convinced that the nature and extent of any book's impact are almost entirely dependent on (a) the nature and extent of our life experiences when reading a book and (b) the nature and extent of our ability to absorb and digest whatever that book may offer. Watts's The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are offers an excellent case in point. Frankly, Watts's personal impact on me was far greater than were the first and second readings of his book. I immediately was aware of his stunning intellect and compelling decency. More impressive by far was a sense of his spirituality. It was most evident in his eyes and tone of voice. More then twenty years later, I re-read The Book. What follows is an admittedly clumsy attempt to share my thoughts and feelings about it. First, with regard to the title and subtitle, Watts explains that "The Book I am thinking about [and later wrote] would not be religious in the usual sense, but it would have to discuss many things with which religions have been concerned -- the universe and man's place in it, the mysterious center of experience which we call 'I myself.' the problems of life and love, pain and death, and the whole question of whether existence has meaning has meaning in [in italics] any sense of the word." As for the subtitle, Watts explains that there is no need for a new religion or a new bible. "We need a new experience -- a new feeling of what it is to be 'I.' The lowdown (which is, of course, the secret and profound view) on life is that our normal sensation of self is a hoax, or, at best, a temporary role that we are playing, or have been conned into playing -- with our own tacit consent, just as every hypnotized person is basically willing to be hypnotized. The most strongly enforced of all known taboos is the taboo against knowing who or what you really are behind the mask of your apparently separate, independent, and isolated ego." So, that was the book Watts was thinking about writing, and, the taboo to which he devotes most of his attention (directly or indirectly) throughout the book he eventually wrote. What do I now think of this book? First, it retains its ecumenical spirit but in ways and to an extent I did not fully appreciate years ago. Watts is very respectful of all of the major religions, at least in terms of the common values they share; however, he also suggests (and I agree) that those values have been concealed by layer-after-layer of doctrine, policy, and procedure. Watts's point: "The standard-brand religions, whether Jewish, Christian, Mohammedan, or Buddhist, are -- as now practiced -- like exhausted mines very hard to dig." Also, I am again struck by the fact that Watts suggests a mindset which is inclusive, tolerant (when appropriate, forgiving), and at all times determined to continue a process of self-discovery. It seems that he wrote this book because he had become concerned about man's alienation from himself (herself) as well as from other human beings and from the physical world within which all of us struggle to achieve (in Abraham Maslow's terms) survival, then security, and eventually self-fulfillment. This is not a book for dilettantes. Watts is quite serious when posing questions so easily phrased but so difficult to answer responsibly. In his view, "for thousands of years human history has been a magnificently futile conflict, a wonderfully staged panorama of triumph and tragedies based on the resolute taboo against admitting that black goes with white [i.e. that diametrically opposed forces can co-exist, indeed nourish each other]. Nothing, perhaps, ever got nowhere with so much fascinating ado." Having recently re-read this book, I was reminded of what Whitman observed in Song of Myself: "Do I contradict myself? Very well, then, I contradict myself. I am large. I contain multitudes." I am also reminded of the key concept in Ernest Becker's The Denial of Death. He acknowledges that all of us die eventually. Only the suicide decides the circumstances in which death occurs. However, Becker suggests that there is another death which CAN be denied: That which occurs when when we become totally preoccupied with fulfilling others' expectations of us. For me, that is the essential point in The Book. Watts concludes with a quotation of James Broughton's observations: This is It
and I am It
and You are It
and so is That
and He is It
And She is It
and It is It
and That is That. "To come on like IT -- to play at being God -- is to play the Self as a role, which is just what it isn't. When IT plays, it plays at being everything else." Who are you? Alan Watts offers this book which can help to answer that question. However, the inevitably perilous journey of self-discovery can only be completed by you. And that journey may require many years of your life...without any guarantee that you will reach the destination you seek. Your choice. It always is...and will be.
Rating:
Summary: Seminal Classic
Review: I really can't add very much to what has already been said in the above reviews. This stands as a culmination of Alan's exceptional translation of ancient wisdom traditions, the book you read if you've read nothing else of his. Give it to your child when he has a fairly adequate grasp of the English language, and then let him learn about all the illusions it harbours. Scrap every self-help book you may have bought in the past. This is the one. I almost died laughing at its beautiful truthful simplicity towards the end of The Book. You can almost hear Alan chuckling along with you. One to read again and again.
Rating:
Summary: Very, Very Good!
Review: I think if this book was taught at schools, it would dissolve a lot of our problems. Essential reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Ego writing about Itself (and other stuff, man)
Review: I would like to re-write this book. It will be two pages.
page 1
def: Interconnectedness: 1 : mutually joined or related <interconnected highways> <interconnected political issues>
2 : having internal connections between the parts or elements
- in·ter·con·nec·ted·ness noun
def: Causation: 1 a : the act or process of causing b : the act or agency which produces an effect
2 : CAUSALITY
learn these definitions and apply to everything you experience. they are the two very principles that are beat into your brain by every turn of the page. they are also two concepts of Buddhism which Mr. Watts fails to mention by name, and on upon which he takes as his own and creates 159 pages of redundancy.
page 2
"Now come here baby and give me a kiss"
How does one integrate girls and ladies and how they want to kiss you into a piece of spiritual literature? Answer: Ask Alan Watts. This guy uses the term "I" so many times that it can make one sick.
Mr. Watts is what may be considered a "scholar" or "acedemic", but he lacks true understanding. He says it in so many words and by referencing others (because his ideas are not original, but recycled and stupified for the culture in which he was seeking as an audience) that to deny the ego is to actually identify the ego. And here he is calling his little ranting "The Book". If you want to "enlighten" your self or enrich your life by undertanding and studying Buddhism or Zen, go directly to the monks who live this as a true reality. Don't buy into Hipster Chicanery.
Chicanery
def: 1 : deception by artful subterfuge or sophistry : TRICKERY
2 : a piece of sharp practice (as at law) : TRICK
Rating:
Summary: Opens doors to new ways of seeing the world
Review: I'm perhaps one of the younger reviewers to leave an opinion on Watt's The Book, and I think that lands me in his target audience (or, rather, what his target audience was some 40 years ago). This work could be written no more wisely if Watts were still alive today. The limited world view he worried about spoiling Western thinking seems to have only grown more prevalent. The Book teaches a very patient and understanding way to see and respect the world. This is the kind of book that can be read all the way through disagreeing with the author (to his credit, he can be very convincing), and still finish it with a satisfyingly more broad perspective on life.
Rating:
Summary: Still simply one of the best
Review: Oh God, this book is great. If you are one of those boxed in Christians, or any other weak type of person who couldn't stand to read a book that would dare consider your version of "God" to be absurd, than this book will just scare you. But otherwise you should love it. Watts is just straight genius, and is so incredibly capable of articulating his thoughts into analogies and words its unbelievable. Definitely check out this book if you are into philosophy or metaphysics.
Rating:
Summary: A 60's New Age Classic
Review: The Book is an absolute pleasure to read. Often recognized as one of the fathers of the Boomer New Age Revival (along with other luminaries of that period like Ram Das, Timothy Leary, etc.), author Alan Watts skewers various hypocritcal taboos of Western culture with an incisive wit and beat poet's flair. His true accomplishment here is in his ability to convey ancient spiritual truths of the perennial philosophy in a prose style so conversational that one feel as if the ideas are being shared over coffee at an outdoor cafe. Published in 1966, this book was a critical success and a huge seller with the emerging Boomer culture of the Children's Revoltion. "The Book" (a pun: "Bible" is Latin for "book") did much to spread many of the basic ideas of Eastern mysticism (Vedanta) in a way that was easily grasped despite the enormous cultural gap and overall depth of material. Like Hesse's Steppenwolf, this is one of those titles you give to a loved one coming-of-age to aid them in understanding the world and their place in it. Watts' brief story explaining God and the universe to a child in a way they can understand is worth the price of the book alone. I first read this book many years ago. I discovered it all over again in a recent rereading. While The Book is very much a product of it's time, and it's style reads as sweetly nostalgic now, the content remains as timeless as it is true.
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