Member-only story
SANJAY SAYS
The One Thing Alan Watts Forgot to Tell Us
Or did he leave it out on purpose?
Let me tell you a story.
It’s about a man who spent his life telling people there’s nowhere to go. And yet, people traveled miles, physically and mentally, to hear him say it. His name was Alan Watts.
You’ve probably heard his voice. Smooth, British, a bit mischievous. Like a philosopher who just had a really good martini. He’d lean into the microphone and say things like:
“Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth.”
Which, to be fair, is more fun than most self-help books that basically say, “Drink water and atomize your habits.”
But here’s the thing about Alan Watts.
He showed us a map. A gorgeous, hilarious, mind-bending map of reality. He’d draw it with stories about waves that aren’t separate from the ocean. About selves that are illusions. About how you’re not you, but the whole universe playing a game of hide and seek with itself.
And I’d hear him talk, nod, and think: “Yes! That’s it! I get it now.”
Only to finish listening… and promptly go back to arguing with my wife about whether she really needs a new purse.
