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The point is seeing that THIS - the immediate, everyday and present experience - is IT, the entire and ultimate point for the existence of a universe. I believe that if this state of consciousness could become more universal, the pretentious nonsense which passes for the serious business of the world would dissolve in laughter.

Alan Watts

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Alan Watts
Age: 58 †
Born: 1915
Born: January 6
Died: 1973
Died: November 16
Anglican Priest
Author
Dramaturge
Musician
Philosopher
Theologian
Videographer
Writer
Kent
England
World
Happiness
Consciousness
Immediate
Universe
Joy
Nonsense
Business
Serious
Laughter
Experience
Present
Everyday
Become
Seeing
Entire
States
Existence
Ultimate
Dissolve
Believe
State
Universal
Pretentious
Would
Point
Laughing
Passes

More quotes by Alan Watts

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Waking up to who you are requires letting go of who you imagine yourself to be
Alan Watts
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The reason we have poverty is that we have no imagination. There are a great many people accumulating what they think is vast wealth, but it's only money... they don't know how to enjoy it, because they have no imagination.
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What the devil is the point of surviving, going on living, when it's a drag? But you see, that's what people do.
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This is what Zen means by being detached—not being without emotion or feeling, but being one in whom feeling is not sticky or blocked, and through whom the experiences of the world pass like the reflections of birds flying over water.
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Self-improvement is a dangerous form of vanity.
Alan Watts
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You can make any human activity into meditation simply by being completely with it and doing it just to do it.
Alan Watts
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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.
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You can't get wet from the word 'water.'
Alan Watts
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Buddha's doctrine: Man suffers because of his craving to possess and keep forever things which are essentially impermanent...this frustration of the desire to possess is the immediate cause of suffering.
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Enjoyment is an art and a skill for which we have little talent or energy... your entire education has has deprived you of this capacity because it was preparing you for the future, instead of showing you how to be alive now.
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You know that if you get in the water and have nothing to hold on to, but try to behave as you would on dry land, you will drown. But if, on the other hand, you trust yourself to the water and let go, you will float. And this is exactly the situation of faith.
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You find out that the universe is a system that creeps up on itself and says 'Boo' and then laughs at itself for jumping.
Alan Watts
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And it came to pass that in the hands of the ignorant, the words of the Bible were used to beat plowshares into swords
Alan Watts
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Wars based on principle are far more destructive... the attacker will not destroy that which he is after.
Alan Watts
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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
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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.
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Where does my fist go when I open up my hand? Where does my lap go when I stand up?
Alan Watts
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You don't look out there for God, something in the sky, you look in you.
Alan Watts
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When we attempt to exercise power or control over someone else, we cannot avoid giving that person the very same power or control over us.
Alan Watts
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The secret of the enjoyment of pleasure is to know when to stop. Man doesn't learn this secret easily, but to shun pleasure altogether is cowardly avoidance of a difficult job. For we have to learn the art of enjoying things BECAUSE they are impermanent.
Alan Watts