Spiritual Entertainer
A cosmic riddler, fantastically sonorous and eloquent. Known for having bridged the divide between eastern philosophies & western audiences.
Philosophical Entertainer
Alan Watts was born on 6 January 1915 in Chislehurst, outside London. Chinese and Japanese art in his family’s home stirred an early fascination with the ways other cultures saw nature.
As a teenager, he became involved with London’s Buddhist Lodge and edited its journal, The Middle Way. Books, conversations and encounters with teachers opened a path that would occupy the rest of his life.
In 1938 he moved to New York, where he began speaking in bookstores and cafés.
After a period as an Episcopal priest, Watts moved to San Francisco to teach at the American Academy of Asian Studies. His lectures travelled beyond the classroom—to coffee houses, public radio and, eventually, television.
He preferred the role of philosophical entertainer: someone who invited people to look again.
A doorway into Zen’s history, ideas and practice. Watts follows its roots in Indian and Chinese thought, then turns to the ways it finds expression in everyday life and the arts.
This is a place to begin—and a book to return to as the questions deepen.
Watts died on 16 November 1973 on Mount Tamalpais. His books, broadcasts and recorded talks leave many ways to encounter his thinking.
Read the full biography
Read by John Lee · 3h 48m
Unabridged · Random House AudioExplore audiobook
Read by Jeremy Arthur
Unabridged · Macmillan AudioExplore audiobookStep aboard the 1967 Houseboat Summit, a conversation with Watts and friends from Being in the Way.
Listen to the free episode1958 · Chicago Review
Zen’s reception in Western culture. Journal archive; access may require sign-in.Read on JSTOR1963 · The Psychedelic Review
The self as an organism in relationship with its environment.Read PDF · Free1964 · The Psychedelic Review
An essay from the journal’s Aldous Huxley memorial issue.Read PDF · Free
