The Wisdom of Insecurity

Und so lang du das nicht hast, Dises: stirb und werde Bist su nur ein trüber, Gast Auf der dunklen Erde - Goethe

Transl: As long as you do not know how to die and come to life again, you are but a distressed traveler on this dark earth...

Life, in existence, is deemed a positive experience to the same degree that death is considered a bad encounter. The more a person is able to attach another person and enjoy his/her company the greater is the grief at their death or in separation. By using simple events that we observe on a daily basis, Watts subtly conveys the essence of non-dualism and Zen throughout the book. As he points out in many instances how materialistic conditioning since childhood destroys the morality of Quale because the man dwells deeper in these pursuit of material and couldn't satiate his brainy endeavors as the goal post will shift perpetually. Nevertheless, he never portrays them as evil. instead, he asks the observer to see the transcendence of the world and find the middle path to comprehend the calmness, similar to the Vijnana-bhairva of Kashimiri Shaivism which deals with attention to paradigm of relations.

Having listened to lectures of Alan Watts's for several years, I have come to realize he is one of the few westerners who understand the core of eastern philosophy.