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Alan Wattswas born inLondon inJ anuary of 1915 at the start of the first World War.At a young age he bec ame fascinated with the artsof the FarEast, and by thetime he was ten or eleven he began to read thrillerstoriesby Sax Rohmer about about mysteriousOrientalvillains. Thisinterest led him in turn to the works of Lafca dio Hern, Christmas Humphreys, and DTSuzuki, andby fourteen was writing on Eastern themes, and waspublished in the J ournal of the London Buddhist Lodgebefore producing hisfirst booklet on Zen in 1932. Hemoved to New Yorkin 1938a nd then to Chicago where

he served as an Episcop al priest for sixyearsbe foreleaving the C hurch. In 1950he moved to upstate New

York, and in late 1950visited with J oseph Ca mpbell and,composer J ohn Cage, and Luisa Commaraswamy at hisMillbrook farmhouse. Then in 1951a t the invitation of Frede ric Spiegelberg he moved to San Franc isco toteach at the Academy of Asian Studies.

Alan Watts was profoundlyinfluenced by the East Indian philosophiesof Vedantaand Buddhism, and by Taoist thought, which isreflected in Zen poetrya nd the artsof China and J apan. Afterleaving the Church he neverbec ame a member of anothero rganized religion, although he wrote a nd spoke extensively about ZenBuddhism, Hinduism, and Tao isim. Some America n Budd histsc riticized him for notsitting regularlyin zazen, even though he reco rded several guided meditationsteaching a variety of mediation techniques. Alan Wattsresponded simplyb ysaying: “A cat sitsuntilit isdone sitting, and then getsup, stretches, and walks

away.”

Afterteac hing at the A cademy of Asian StudiesinSan Francisco he beca me Dean,and beg an to give regularradio talks on KPFA, the Berkeley free radio station. In1957 he published hisb estselling Way of Zen, and in 1958 returned to Europe w herehe met with CG J ung. He was an early subject inpioneering psychedelic trials, andafterrecording two seasonsof the p ublic television series “EasternWisdom andModern Life” traveled to J apa n several timesin the early sixties.By the late sixties hehad bec ome a co unter culture celebrity, and traveled widely to speak atuniversities and growth ce ntersac ross the USa nd Europe .

By the early seventies Alan Wattshad b eco me a foremost interpreter of Easternthought for the West, and was widely published in periodicals including Earth, Elle,Playboy, and Redbook. He appea red on CBStelevision’sC amera Three in 1969,and in 1971he recorded a pilot for a new show titled “A Conversation with Myself”

for NET, the precursor to PBS. When the series was not produced he recorded theshowsin 1972with his son Mark and hislong-time audio archivist Henry J ac obs.Overall Alan Watts developed an extensive audio library of nearly 400 talksa ndwrote more than 25 booksd uring hislifetime, including hisfinal volume, Tao; theWatercourse Way. Alan died in his sleep in November of 1973a fterreturning froman intensive international lecture tour. A film on his life and works iscurrently inproduction.

Download - El Arte de Ser Dios (Watts)

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