MYTH AND RELIGION WAS ONE OF THE ORIGINAL ESSENTIAL LECTURE ALBUMS COMPILED IN 1972. It WAS INITIALLY TITLED THE PSYCHOLOGY OF RELIGION; WHILE REMASTERING THE TALKS IN THE MID-NINETIES THE ALBUM WAS RENAMED MYTH AND RELIGION IN A NOD TO ALAN’S PRODUCTIVE DIALOGUES WITH JOSEPH CAMPBELL. Campbell SAW MYTHOLOGY AS A WINDOW INTO ALL RELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVES AND A WAY OF FINDING A WELL-ROUNDED VIEW OF HUMANITIES’ DEEPLY HELD BELIEFS.

Birth, Death, and the Unborn

All the patterns we see around us in the world are projections of our minds. There is no way things should be, there is no way things shouldn’t be. But if humans can adopt a mental discipline in which they remain able to project patterns without becoming hung up on them, life for everyone will transform into a beautiful artwork.

Cosmic Network

Alan takes us from the very small to the very large, explaining the interrelatedness of all things in the universe as a vast network which weaves us into a united yet unnamable divinity.

Do You Do It Or Does It Do You?

Alan explores the meaning of personal free will in the context of core tenets in Eastern mythology: how is it possible to control anything when preexisting conditions outside of our influence determine our present situation? It is a realization of the hidden unity behind our apparent diversity and a relinquishing of obsessive control that enables us to unlock a pathway leading out of the conundrum and towards a celebration and reverence of life.

Eco Zen

00:00 I suppose most of you have heard of Zen. But before going on to explain any details about it I want to make one thing absolutely clear: I am not a Zen Buddhist, I am not advocating Zen...

Ecological Awareness

When Alan Watts talked about the ‘mystical experience’ among scientific circles, he preferred to call it ‘ecological awareness’—referring to a state of mind in which a person ceases to feel separate from the environment in which he or she exists.

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