Table Of Content

THIS IS IT AN D OTHER ESSAYS ON ZEN AND SPIBlTUAL EXPEBlENCB Alan Watts • VINTAGE BOOKS A DMSlON OFBANDO M BOUSB NEW TOBE HAAS COVER PHOTOE:RN ST First VintaBgoeo ksE ditioAnp,ri11 973 Copyright © 1958,19by6 Al0an W.W atts All rightsre serveundder International and Pan-American Copyright ConventioPunbslished. in theU nited Sbyt ates lWldom HouseI,n cN.ew, Y orankd, sim ultaneously inC anada by Random Housoef C anadaLimi ted,T oronOritogin. ally publlsh edby l'antheoBnoo ksa, di visiofo lWlndo m BOUlet Inc., inN ovember 1960. Library of Congress Catalino Pugibnlfcaligon Data Watts, WAlilsano n1,9 15- This is it. Reprint ofthe 1960e d. 1.M ysticism. 2.Z enB uddhism. I.T itle. [BL625.W13957 3]2 94.3'742 -8394 ISBN0 -394-71904-2 Printine Cda nada TOA NN cltJughter and � toUhlcwe CONTBNTS Ptefat;s 11 : 1 Thfs Is IT:15 A Instinct, JntelJlgence, and Amfety :,,1 3 Zen and thePro blofem Control59: 4 Beat ZeD, Squar eZeD. and Zen IT1 5 SpirituaJi'¥an d SeosuaJity I U1 6 The New Alchemy: 1S5 PIlBFAClI ATSOTJf!B writtena t during diHerent tfm� t1ie past four years, the essays herega thered together havea commonp oint of focus-the spiritual mjrsti.. or ea1 aperience andits relation toordinary material life. JIavJng said thfI, I fDstantlya ware that Iha veused am. the WIOIlg WOlds; and yet there are :DO satisfactoly eJtemaHves. Spfritual andm ystical suggest something � otherworldl y,an dloftil y religious;-opposed to .. ordfDary material lifewhich issimp ly-practical and cnallMDp1aee. The wholepoin t isto of these essays Ihow the faDacy of·this oppositloD, to show thatthe spritual isDO tto be separated £rom the material, nor tbeWODderful from the ordinary .W eD eed, aboveal l, to dfrentang1e ourselves from habitsof speech and thought which two.apart, making itfmpoisible set.the ._ _ °tosee that �.1mmediate, 8veryda y,and . present experi ence-ts IT,the eatiIe and ultimate peint for the emteBce of a universet. :But .. recognition 17. IT THIS IS thathtetwo areon ecom esto pains.sane lusive,th ough relaticomvmeolyn st,a tecons ciousnofes sw hihasch fascmineab teedy onaldl elsesin ce I sevteenen was . yearsold. Iam neitheraprea cher noarr eformer,f orI li1ce to Writean dtaJk abouthist wa y ofs eeithnign asgs on e singsin the bathtuorb sp lashesIn thesea. Thereis nom issnioinortenn tto, co nvert, andy eItb elievthaet if this stoacoften sciousncoeuslbecosdm em ounriev er sal,th epr etentinoonussew nsheip cha sfsotheress erf.. ous busin esso fth ew orlwouldd dis so lveIn laughter. Wes hosuealeotd n thcaetht e h iighdeals f owrh iwche arkilelin gan dre gimentineachg other emptyan d are abstrsaucbts tiftuothteresunh eeded miraclesth atsur rounuds- noonltyi thne o bviowonusd erso fn ature buatl isntho e o verwhelminglyun cannyfact ofmer e existeNnocfteor o. n meo medon tbIlie eveth astu ch an awakwoeninugl ddep ruiosvenf eer gyor sociaI con Onth ec ontraryh,alf th ed elighotfi t-though cern. infinity hasn ohal ves-isto share iwitth others,an d becathuesps irituale andth em aterial arein saraepble this meansth es harinogliff e a nthindgs asw easn in sigBhuttht.e p ossoifthisb ildeipentyds entireupolny thep resence othfe vision whicoculhdtrans form us into theki nodfp e opwlhecano do int,o utp exhono rtation or appeals too urp ersbuitsco tennsistt,en tlunycr eati;ve, senosguilfet. Yeitwt o uslpodin aUt 1£we f elotb liged, bytha ts ames enset,hao v eth evisi on. :r.z · " JtBBI'A.CB Ji'or,oon� u It -ylOaDd. It teeIDI to •. that tlledeepestafIrt tual � cia .... aDlr. JD()Ql8Dts ofa selflslm'en 10 comp1etQ that it � itself, by -diewa 1 down and out.- wldch is pedaapt whJyesus found the campaDfoDshIp of pab1IcaDt ad IfDners preferable that of the rlghteoaI ad resptdo to able.I tis a sort offirst step to accept a. 0WIl � nesswi thoat die deceptlou of trying to wish iweret , otherwise, for a manw hoIs not all ofplece fl.par ODe petua1ly para1yzed by trying togo In two directkms at once. As Tulifsha proverb puts It, '1Ie• sleeps. 0Il the floor wJ11not fallou tof bed..Anel IO,- when the alrmerre aBzes that even hfs re,pentaDce fa sIDfuJ. .1Ie mayper hapsfor die Brst time- come tohfmwf"' aDd he whole. Spiritual awabnfng fa diedifBcu1t 'proces s wherebyth efncreasJ ng realimtioa that everytbfng is . as wrong as itcan be flips suddtmlyfIl tothe realizatJoa that everytbfng fa as rightas itcan be. Or betterevery, thing is Iastit can be. as Only two of the essaysthat follow have been pub lished previously,� andth e:r roblem of Conbor and "'Beat.Ze n, Square ZeD, andZen, . the former. fa the Irstis sueof C onItIcf and die latterin 2'M" ChIctIgo Bscleu> forthe summer of1 958.and then, in expanded form. as as eparate booIdet bya f1U gbts Boob of San Fran cfsco .I_wish to thank the respecti ve editors and publishers oouoemedfor pmmfsskm. to iUclude tWun In tbisvol mne. THISI SI T Becausofe thela ther personal and, fntDrectI ya,uto biographfca] Dature ofmost of thesees says,i setem ed approprJate tofnclude herea bihJiogm p hyof thebo ob andmafoartircles which Iha ve wr1tteDto date. SaFranciscon, 1960 ALA1!l W.W A. T1'S I THISI SI T

Description:

The six essays in this volume all deal with the relationship of mystical experience to ordinary life. The title essay on "cosmic consciousness" includes the author's account of his own ventures into this inward realm. "Instinct, Intelligence, and Anxiety" is a study of the paradoxes of self-consciou