Cloud-Hidden, Whereabouts Unknown; A Mountain Journal: A Mountain Journal

Rating:
Summary: Writing about the Unknowable
Review: It's a little hard to write about something that can't be written about, but Watts gives it his best shot, and he seems to pull it off.

He writes, for example, "Yet the intention of the guru himself is simply to exhaust the energy of the illusion by bringing his disciples again and again to experiences of the absurdity of trying to transform mind with mind."

Watts, as his readers know, started as an Anglican (Episcopalian) priest, and then studied at a Zen monastery in Kyoto, Japan. His metamorphosis is evident in these writings (he died in 1973, right after this book was published).

Watts has little sympathy for the established Christian churches and instead finds sustenance in Zen, Taoism, and Hinduism.

Personally, I found sustenance in his writings here. He doesn't give a whole lot of what we might call "practical" advice, except to meditate, but that's the point of his teachings: "So long, then, as we are concerned with powers, we are still aiming at increased control of nature and aggravating our frustrations." The "Western" efforts to control nature, Watts feels, are self-defeating.

"You, as ego, cannot change what you are feeling, and you cannot, effectively, try not to change it."

You may get the dichotomous drift of what he is saying in these few quotations. When you read the book, you'll get much more. Like other books with a spiritual theme, but moreso, this book will fulfill and feed your spirit. Diximus.

Rating:
Summary: just marvelous
Review: This is perhaps the best of the half dozen or so Watts books I've read. Watts is a brilliant philosopher of the "Big Picture", and it is all wonderfully laid out here: Cosmic consciousness, Tantric Buddhism, the Hippies, Tao... he nails them all in splendid fashion. Highly recommendable.

Rating:
Summary: Nunc Dimittis
Review: This was the 13th of his books I've read this year, and I think it will be the final one. After a while, all his books begin to sound the same. I thought he was way off base in the chapter titled, "Was Jesus a Freak?" He may have taught seminary and served as an Anglican priest, but he sure didn't know much about Christianity. It is typical of his books that he makes false or misleading statements about Christian ideas, and then proceeds to show why Christianity itself is in error. What stupidity from a brilliant mind. The chapter titled "What Shall We Do with the Church?" was unrealistic. Many churches have indeed implemented the changes he recommended in this book, but the result has been declining membership for the past three decades. The only churches or denominations which seem to thrive are those which emphasize formality and tradition. The rest of the book was mostly a re-hash of his other books. Well-written as always, but nothing really new in terms of topics. This has been one of the more interesting reading projects I have engaged in. Well worth my time and effort, but, after thirteen of his books, it's time to move on.

Rating:
Summary: rebel with a cause
Review: Timeless wisdom wrapped in beautiful language that soothes the soul. Alan Watts was a brilliant storyteller who managed to stir things up a bit before leaving on an optimistic note.

This work is edgier than his others and will satisfy the more rebellious new agers.