The Library of Consciousness
The Library
of Consciousness
of Consciousness
Artificial Intelligence and the Superorganism
Daniel Schmachtenberger and Nate Hagens discuss a surprisingly overlooked risk to our global systems and planetary stability: artificial intelligence. Through a systems perspective, Daniel and Nate piece together the biophysical history that has led humans to this point, heading towards (and beyond) numerous planetary boundaries, and facing geopolitical risks all with existential consequences. How does artificial intelligence not only add to these risks, but accelerate the entire dynamic of the metacrisis? What is the role of intelligence versus wisdom on our current global pathway, and can we change course? Does artificial intelligence have a role to play in creating a more stable system, or will it be the tipping point that drives our current one out of control?
Beyond Theology
Alan Watts examines the theme that our normal sense of the person as a lonely island of consciousness is a dramatic illusion based on theological imagery. In a global context, the meaning of this imagery inevitably changes, yet without losing its unique values.
Cloud-Hidden, Whereabouts Unknown
Over the course of nineteen essays, Alan Watts ruminates on the philosophy of nature, ecology, aesthetics, religion, and metaphysics. Assembled in the form of a mountain journal, written during a retreat in the foothills of Mount Tamalpais in California, Cloud-Hidden, Whereabouts Unknown is Watts’ meditation on the art of feeling out and following the watercourse way of nature, known in Chinese as the Tao. Embracing a form of contemplative meditation that allows us to stop analyzing our experiences and start living into them, the book explores themes such as the natural world, established religion, race relations, karma and reincarnation, astrology and tantric yoga, the nature of ecstasy, and much more.
Consciousness and Concentration
Our ego-imprisonment creates needless strain. True awakening requires not heroic effort but gentle surrender—allowing mind to flow naturally. The universal consciousness awaits not through force but through letting go, like a boat drifting with the current rather than fighting against the tide.
Cosmic Drama
Alan Watts further explores the Hindu dramatic view of the universe, in which God plays all of the parts – all the while pretending not to know who he/she/it is!
Work and Play
Alan Watts swirls an orange on a string and shoots an arrow high into the air before explaining why the art of living is being paid to play—and to the extent that we feel compelled to work and survive, life becomes a drag.
Do You Smell?
Alan Watts speaks about our most repressed sense. Here he introduces viewers to the intricacies of incense in front of a small Buddhist altar, while commenting on the types of incense used in Church rituals and all across Asia.
Future of Religion
Alan Watts envisions a radical shift in religious thought, proposing a “religion of no religion” that transcends traditional doctrines and institutions. He argues for a departure from guilt-based teachings and future-oriented salvation towards a joyful, present-focused spirituality. Watts challenges the concept of individual ego, suggesting instead an interconnected view of humanity and divinity. He advocates for experiential rather than belief-based practices, emphasizing direct engagement with life and the recognition of innate buddha nature in all beings. This new approach blends Eastern and Western philosophies, aiming to unite people through celebratory gatherings and shared human experiences.
Game Theory of Ethics
What if seriousness is actually the ultimate prison and divine creativity looks suspiciously like play? Imagine existence as a cosmic game—part chance, part skill—where trust is the fundamental gambling chip. We’re not separate things, but continuous processes. The universe unfolds like a sublime musical composition: nonsensical, beautiful, utterly uninterested in predetermined outcomes. Our job? Embrace the game, risk everything, laugh.
Hidden Belief Systems
Alan talks about unexamined assumptions that underlie our commonsense beliefs which may cause confusion in our thinking about nature.
Humor in Religion
Even God might get tired of all the grave piety, Alan suggests. To prove his point, he recounts irreverent tales—like a vagabond snoozing on temple pillows who retorts, “Can't a guy catch some zzz's in his Dad's house?” Laughter, Watts argues, springs from embracing life's contradictions, not fighting them. Seen thus, humor becomes divine comedy, with the Cosmos itself as the ultimate rascal.
Individual and the World
This seminar covers a variety of topics, from the illusion of our separation from the environment and the futility of trying to be genuine, all the way to the discipline required to handle mystical experiences in order to bring something back from them to share with the rest of the world. The presentation ends with his endorsement of insanity, saying a healthy amount of craziness in old age is necessary to prepare for a joyous death.
Marshall McLuhan in Conversation with Mike McManus
Mike McManus talks to Marshall McLuhan, the internationally-known critic of the media. McLuhan discusses modern regionalism and separatism, nostalgia, violence and identity, television as an addictive tranquilizer, propaganda, and his reasons for becoming a Roman Catholic. One of Marshall McLuhan's final interviews.
On G. K. Chesterton
Alan Watts reveals how G.K. Chesterton viewed existence as a merry metaphysical carnival, a holy hullabaloo in which we’re invited to gaily gallivant with the angels. Laughing in church? Chesterton insists – for the universe is God’s own vaudeville show, and we’re the bright-eyed children giggling in the front row. So cast aside solemnity, and come delight in the divine comedy!
Play and Sincerity
In this cosmic game of peek-a-boo, Watts unveils the proscenium arch of our minds—that thin veil between play and seriousness. The wise discover the joke: our frantic search for sincerity peels away mask after mask until—surprise!—we find nothing! And in that delicious emptiness, the ultimate paradox unfolds: when we realize we're all play, we become utterly genuine. The angels fly, you see, because they take themselves lightly.
Play and Survival
Life's a game where we forget we're the cosmic nerve-endings of an eternal now. So stop furrowing your brow—there's divine frivolity in the endless, meaningless music of being. Drop your masks and dance lightly as angels, for you are the Joker in the pack. It's all a joke, and the joke's on you!
Psychology of Mystical Experience
Life and death, pleasure and pain, light and dark—Alan Watts playfully ponders how supposed opposites are really inseparable. He invites us to stop stressing about oblivion, for the “nothingness” of death births new life, just as night births stars. He urges us to let go of human anxiety over existence itself. Why fret when we can simply hum and realize the dance of being? Life’s profound ballet unfolds when we embrace the yin-yang harmony of opposites.
Pursuit of Pleasure
Where does pleasure come from? What are we trying to achieve in our frantic day-to-day activities? Why are we in such a hurry? And why do all of our efforts to pin the universe down and bring it under our control dial up the misery?
Relevance of Oriental Philosophy
Alan Watts discusses the limitations of Western theology, contrasting it with Eastern philosophies. He argues that the Western concept of God as a separate, authoritarian figure is problematic and that true faith involves letting go of fixed ideas about God. Watts suggests that Eastern ideas, such as the unity of opposites and the illusory nature of the ego, can provide a more meaningful understanding of spirituality and existence.
Sense of Nonsense
In this public radio broadcast, Alan explores the origin of the desire for meaningfulness. In the search for satisfaction, what is it that is really sought for or yearned after? The talk turns from academic discussion into poetry. What is the meaning of significance?
The Book
At the root of human conflict is our fundamental misunderstanding of who we are. The illusion that we are isolated beings, unconnected to the rest of the universe, has led us to view the “outside” world with hostility, and has fueled our misuse of technology and our violent and hostile subjugation of the natural world. In The Book, philosopher Alan Watts provides us with a much-needed answer to the problem of personal identity, distilling and adapting the ancient Hindu philosophy of Vedanta to help us understand that the self is in fact the root and ground of the universe. In this mind-opening and revelatory work, Watts has crafted a primer on what it means to be human—and a manual of initiation into the central mystery of existence.
The Doors of Perception
Aldous Huxley recounts his transformative experience on a mescaline trip that took place over the course of an afternoon in May 1953. He explores how it altered his perception of reality, revealing a world rich in beauty and significance, unfiltered by the mind’s utilitarian focus. Drawing parallels to religious mysticism and artistic inspiration, Huxley critiques the limitations of normal consciousness, which he sees as a “reducing valve” that narrows reality to what is necessary for survival. The book invites readers to reconsider the nature of perception, creativity, and humanity’s spiritual potential.
The Joker
One of Alan’s most popular seminars, and for good reason—in The Joker, listeners will find out why every society needs fools in order to remind itself not to take life so damn seriously.
The Joyous Cosmology
What kind of a theory of the universe would it take for us to willingly accept the pain, turmoil, chaos, heartbreak, and suffering that comes with the state of being a consciously aware and individuated Self?
The Psychedelic Explosion
Alan talks about the upcoming revolution in which Western society will have to come to grips with the existence of the psychedelic/mystical experience, and how to integrate it into our culture in a productive, fulfilling, and responsible manner. Included are personal recollections of DMT and LSD trips experienced by Watts himself, why the utilization of psychedelic drugs should be seen as a tool, his vision of a psychedelic campus for guided mystical experiences, and why prohibition is doomed to failure.
The Two Hands of God
Watts takes readers on a fascinating journey through the mythology of China, Egypt, India, the Middle East, and medieval Europe. His theme is the human experience of polarity, a condition in which opposing qualities define and complement each other. Light cannot exist without darkness, good cannot exist without evil, and male cannot exist without female. Chinese philosophy expresses this idea of universal polarity with the concepts of yin and yang, while other cultures express it through the symbolic language of myth, literature, and art. Watts illustrates the way great sages and artists across time have seen beyond the apparent duality of the universe to find a deeper unity that transcends and embraces everything.
The Veil of Thoughts
Alan describes the ways in which we have concealed truth behind a veil of thoughts. He talks about how and why we mistake symbols for reality, argues that civilization may be a misguided experiment, offers observations about the way in which abstractions have become more powerful than the realities they are referencing, and explains how we can become “unbamboozled” from these ways of thinking.
This Is It
Six revolutionary essays exploring the relationship between spiritual experience and ordinary life—and the need for them to coexist within each of us. With essays on “cosmic consciousness” (including Alan Watts’ account of his own ventures into this inward realm); the paradoxes of self-consciousness; LSD and consciousness; and the false opposition of spirit and matter, This Is It and Other Essays on Zen and Spiritual Experience is a truly mind-opening collection.
Thusness
Alan Watts discusses the concept of "thusness" or "suchness" in Eastern philosophy, exploring the meaning of the Sanskrit word tathātā and its potential to help us cultivate a deeper sense of presence and awareness in our daily lives.
Transformation of Consciousness
Alan discusses the different states of consciousness which the human mind can attain, and some of the chemical compounds which may serve as tools to reach these mental realms.
Unity in Contemplation
Imagine peeling away the layers of your social self to reveal a cosmic peephole—that’s meditation, says Alan Watts, where you become the universe’s own eyeball, winking at itself. And here’s a divine chuckle: God’s not all furrowed brows and thunderbolts. Watts nudges us to float, not flail, through life’s spiritual circus. In a world gone madcap, he prescribes a dose of quiet contemplation—not as a grim duty, but as a playful plunge into life’s delicious absurdities.
Zen Bones
Alan invites us to float like clouds and experience life directly instead of mediating it through concepts. Constant thinking takes us from the real. Open wide the mind’s doors, be here, flow present like water. Watts touches on meditation’s liberating power in realizing our true nature already within. Sit, walk, breathe; see through illusion’s mist, marvel at the mundane’s hidden jewels, embrace each now, wake up! Enlightenment’s sunrise awaits those who cease thinking. Realize you're already It and let life’s living magic move your feet.
