Alan Watts – fear of enlightenment

A must hear vid…originally posted by Indigorevolution who is currently suspended fortunately the vid is in the LR archive too…phew! wouldn’t want to loose a gem like this one… (to preserve your videos…go to informationstation.ning.com Love all LR
Video Rating: 4 / 5

Matthew Taylor explores the meaning of 21st century enlightenment, how the idea might help us meet the challenges we face today, and the role that can be played by organisations such as the RSA.
Video Rating: 4 / 5

49 thoughts on “Alan Watts – fear of enlightenment

  1. This is truly amazing every time i hear it i just feel like wow so true in? every sense… the whole idea of suffering .. it’s all self manifested

  2. “come off it! don’t pretend you’re this guy here, I know who you are.” the guy sort? of twinkles a bit and says “I guess you’re right.” PERFECT. THANK YOU

  3. I had? to add this to my favorites, I’ve probably listened to it about 4 times today. Thanks for uploading it.

  4. @Indigounity21dec2012 Yeah, that really threw me too. Either you feel like you are god, or apparently you might feel like ‘sucking? water up your anus’? Totally lost me there.

    I don’t feel like god, but I’ve never considered sucking water up my anus.

    Where does that leave me?

  5. @EvolvingTruthSeeker GOOOOOD observation brother..I? totally agree..cool video..hhC

  6. @lukyganesh Tthe implication is? a non-dual experience, the oceanic experience or oneness. From which one realizes there is nothing to fret about, or to fight over, nothing to gain and nothing to loose etc etc etc. Maybe the things you are questioning are taken out of context. Alan watts lectures are hours long and I assume prior to this segment he would have explained how sometimes gurus take their points to lubricious extremes to make a point, hence the mention of suicide, murder etc.

  7. @EvolvingTruthSeeker ya, i get the whole we are god, the universe, the self stuff. im talking more about the implications? of that understanding

  8. @lukyganesh the “god” he speaks of is The Self, the universe, everything that exsits. We are not higher or lower than it, we are it. There is no path to walk in order? to gain something, we just need to remember that we are it already. That is the message

  9. why are we? frightened of? seeing it,and how will we see it if we have the nerve.please answer.thank you

  10. why are we frightened of seeing it,and how will we see it if we have? the nerve.please answer.thank you.

  11. What is so wonderful is that he was enlightened enough to put all his thoughts on record so we can benefit from his enlightenment, now we? live in the age of YouTube

  12. watch the movie 3 Magic Words It’s? all about this new revolution in consciousness.

  13. watch? the movie 3 Magic Words It’s all about this new revolution in consciousness.

  14. what’s the message? he says the crime is not admitting we’re god – so does that mean that if we don’t see ourselves as something more than we appear to be, we essentially don’t have to hold ourselves to a higher standard of moral code,? conduct, behavior?

  15. @maheshc37 Haha I? knew someone was going to correct me on that. Thanks man… or woman.
    Very cool. Well the other night the “Om” symbol was tripping me out 😉

  16. @itsmedude1020 it’s not a three, it is? the sanskrit syllable ‘Om’ or A-U-M. It comprises the full range of human sound frequencies… the silent interval between two ‘Om’s is meant for calming the mind.

  17. To build empathy requires of us the courage to communicate, and bravely ask? of others, whatever their background, how can I help you?

  18. This man in the video is trying to tell us through a long,? un-needed explanation they we need to see things long-term, and go beyond caring about technology and the human welfare.

    I don’t think this mere ‘group’ quite understands the importance of TECHNOLOGY and the HUMAN WELFARE.

  19. I have no? clue what the fuck this guy is telling me, either I’m not smart enough to figure it out or his explanations are all vague and anecdotal.

  20. The quote from Margaret Meade was best.
    But how can the manipulated masses be removed from their petty distractions.?

  21. This is crap.

    “We gave you all these toys and see how unhappy you are? Its all because your mind isn’t right, you are too xenophobic, individualistic and lacking in empathy. We know whats best for you, we always have, now — its time for you to be fixed.”

    “You will be hollow. We shall squeeze you empty and? then we shall fill you with ourselves.” — Orwell, 1984

  22. @momothelemur This analogy is awful, the statement wasn’t that we should get rid of education, rather than we need to update it. Language has changed vastly? over the years, let alone centuries, so yes, education like language needs to change and adapt.

  23. @momothelemur Language is used to communicate, it’s not supposed to change, I never? said we should scrap anything that is ancient. What I am trying to say is our education system has to change, that is my solution, changing our educational system. Unfortunately a YouTube post does not have enough characters for me to try to explain my idea in depth.

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  25. @refik13203 What about language? We have been using that for thousands of years… are you suggesting we? should scrap it (it is ancient)?

    Complaining about a problem and thinking of a useful/viable solution is another. Be part of the solution rather than complaining about the problem.

  26. basically this video is saying “we stopped practicing and respecting real philosophy”

    philosophy is still the only discipline that searches in between the disciplines and questions everything. its? thought to have become a social science when it is not, and never was.

  27. EyeLean5280 Progressive education actually has really good ideas, but after the launch of the sputnik in 1957 the United States stopped supporting it and went back to its traditional ways. (They did not want the Russians having better students in math and science). Taylorism is about running things effectively specifically the economy, not the school system. I am not blaming just education, rather? pointing out one specific area which we are lacking in.

  28. We are becoming a species that is no longer capable of thinking for themselves.? Cheers.
    -Don Rubix

  29. around 6:28 in the video, the dude draws a man cradling while feeding the baby, and the baby says, “Hey, breast is best y know. ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. thats funny.?

  30. One of the things that this video touched on is that as a humanity (and as individuals) we lack an end game goal. There’s nothing to galvanize the direction of our behaviour. In that absence, we default towards geographically, socially, temporally localized benefits – which translates as short term selfish gain. Absent of a goal, the default that emerges is voracious unconsidered materialism.

    The goal I’d like to forward is that? of ‘post-scarcity’. It can be and should be our end game.

  31. I’m going to watch this over again. And then, again, if necessary. I’ll research the ideas brought up in this video and then i’ll watch? this again. First let me “favorite” this video. This was pure art and poetry. Thank you.

  32. @sqwidword3 – Thanks. I felt kind of mean afterward but decided to let it stand. Partly because it would show up in their inbox and they should? have a chance to slash back in public (which would be hard if I’d deleted the comment). Also I genuinely do get so tired of the wide-spread simplistic thinking that just makes everything so much worse.

  33. @xerophyte12932 – Thanks, that’s very nice of you. I? have and it is awfully good. I recommend the section on Taylorism in Braverman’s “Labor and Monopoly Capital” also eye-opening and much more in-depth.

  34. I’m surprised in all 874 comments nobody contributed even a mention of Terence McKenna. Look for his talk entitled “Build your own damn boat” for a truly paradigm-shattering? look at the need to move from a Law vs. Freedom way of thinking to one that emphasizes Novelty vs. Habit. Thinking in terms of novelty and habit seems to be a more accurate reflection of reality and it has numerous healing benefits for society and the individual. I will say no more because he said it best!

  35. it is difficult to be? different in a society that is indifferent. if this were untrue then the ability to learn from one’s self would deplete. at the same time, civilization would move in a more consistent motion, more often being an incline. the balance must be struck by making error less feared, and by making error less risky.

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