Alan Watts
Alan Watts was a British writer and speaker born in Chiselhurst, England, during World War I, known for popularizing Eastern philosophy in the West, particularly Buddhism and Zen. His early exposure to Asian culture came from his mother, a teacher at a missionary school, and his reading of popular literature, which ignited a lifelong interest in these traditions. Watts published his first work, "Outline of Zen Buddhism," at just eighteen and became actively involved in the London Buddhist community.
In 1938, he moved to New York City after marrying Eleanor Everett, where he transitioned from religious lectures to writing, producing influential texts like "The Meaning of Happiness" and later "Behold the Spirit." Watts was ordained as an Anglican priest but eventually left the church to return to Zen studies. He played a significant role in founding the American Academy of Asian Studies in San Francisco and continued to write extensively on Asian philosophy, with notable works including "The Way of Zen."
Throughout his career, Watts aimed to demystify complex Eastern spiritual concepts for Western audiences, making him a pivotal figure in the dialogue between Eastern and Western thought. His contributions remain influential in both philosophical and popular discussions on spirituality.
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Alan Watts
Philosopher
- Born: January 6, 1915
- Birthplace: Chislehurst, England
- Died: November 16, 1973
- Place of death: Mill Valley, California
Biography
Alan Watts was born in Chiselhurst, England, during World War I. His mother, a teacher in a missionary school, first fostered his interest in the East, an interest further developed through his reading of the Fu Manchu novels by Sax Rohmer. As a teenager, he would visit the London Buddhist Lodge and would go on to join the World Congress of Faiths and further educate himself in world religions, particularly Buddhism.
Despite excellent grades, his family did not have the money to send him to college; Watts instead began working for his father and writing on his own. At the age of eighteen, he published his Outline of Zen Buddhism. He also contributed to and helped edit the London Buddhist journal The Middle Way. During this time he worked on The Legacy of Asia and Western Man, published in 1937, which related Asian spirituality to a Western audience in clear and lucid ways.
In 1938, he married wealthy American Eleanor Everett—whose mother was also involved with Buddhism—and moved to New York City; later that year, the couple had their first child. Watts initially gave lectures and seminars on religion to select audiences, and eventually turned these talks into his book The Meaning of Happiness. He became a naturalized American citizen during World War II.
Presumably growing discontented with Buddhism, Watts began studies at the Seabury-Western Theological Seminary; after graduating, he was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1944, serving subsequently for six years as a chaplain to Northwestern University. Still intellectually curious and active as a writer, he published Behold the Spirit in 1947, arguing that Christianity must regain its mystical origins; he followed that book with Easter: Its Story and Meaning in 1950. Soon, however, he lost faith in Christianity and left the priesthood, again turning to studies in Zen Buddhism. In the same year he divorced Eleanor, remarrying later the same year to Dorothy Dewitt.
The next year Watts published The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for the Age of Anxiety, incorporating Eastern philosophy and psychoanalysis. In 1951, he also helped to found the American Academy of Asian Studies, located in San Francisco, California. He taught at the Academy until 1957, also making radio broadcasts and delivering lectures and seminars, as well as speaking at a Berkeley Buddhist sangha, or community.
Watts continued to write on Zen, publishing The Way of Liberation in Zen Buddhism in 1955 and his most influential book, The Way of Zen, in 1957. Throughout the rest of his life, Watts continued to write and speak on Eastern spirituality, seeking to explain the more complicated concepts of Asian philosophy and thought to Western minds.