Draft:The Book (Allen Watts)
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| Author | Alan Watts |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Philosophy, Religion, Consciousness |
| Publisher | Pantheon Books |
Publication date | 1966 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardcover and paperback) |
| Pages | 146 |
| ISBN | 9780679723004 |
| OCLC | 1733778 |
The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are is a 1966 work of popular philosophy by British-American writer and speaker Alan Watts. The book explores themes of identity, selfhood, and the illusion of separateness in Western thought. Drawing on ideas from Hinduism, Taoism, and modern physics, Watts argues that the sense of a distinct ego is a social construction, and that individuals are ultimately expressions of a unified, interconnected universe.
Overview
[edit]Watts frames the book as a response to what he describes as a “taboo against knowing who you really are” in modern Western culture. He challenges the conventional notion of the individual as a separate, isolated ego inhabiting a body and posits instead that human beings are fundamentally inseparable from the cosmos. Drawing heavily from Advaita Vedanta and Taoist philosophy, he presents a vision of identity in which the self is not a detached observer but an aspect of the total universe.
Themes
[edit]Major themes include:
- The critique of the "skin-encapsulated ego" as an illusion.
- The unity of opposites (self/other, life/death, good/evil).
- The interdependence of organism and environment.
- The idea of life as a cosmic game or play (lila).
- A reinterpretation of death as a return to the whole rather than annihilation.
Watts uses metaphors and accessible language to bridge the gap between Eastern metaphysical ideas and Western audiences, making the book a widely read introduction to non-dualist thought.
Reception
[edit]Although not heavily cited in academic literature, The Book has remained in continuous print since its publication and has had enduring popularity among readers of Eastern philosophy, New Age spirituality, and consciousness studies. It is often regarded as one of Watts's most influential and representative works.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- Watts, Alan. The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are. New York: Pantheon Books, 1966. ISBN 978-0679723004.
- McFarlane, James. “Alan Watts and the Landscape of Modern Spirituality.” *Philosophy East and West*, vol. 23, no. 4, 1973, pp. 487–498.
- Heelas, Paul. *The New Age Movement: The Celebration of the Self and the Sacralization of Modernity*. Blackwell, 1996.
- King, Richard. *Orientalism and Religion: Postcolonial Theory, India and “The Mystic East”*. Routledge, 1999.
- McLaughlin, Chris. “The Influence of Alan Watts in Contemporary Western Spirituality.” *Religions*, vol. 7, no. 5, 2016.