Best Alan Way Podcasts (2024)

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Ep. 32 – Zen and the Art of the Controlled Accident 42:28

7d ago42:28

42:28

Focusing on cosmic balance, Alan Watts outlines the fundamentals of Taoism and how to skillfully interfere with our environment. Find the full Zen and the Art of the Controlled Accident series of talks at play.alanwatts.org. Today’s episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/alan and get on your way to bein…

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A Better Place Than Here (TAW055) 1:10:45

2M ago1:10:45

1:10:45

Episode 054 – A Better Place Than Here (With Jennifer Knapp) What would you learn if you had the opportunity to go back and revisit your spiritual journey of twenty-five years ago? What if that experience happened in community, with folks who were there with you, when it happened? What would you learn? How are you different? What losses and what gr…

1
Ep. 31 – Religion of No Religion 53:34

3M ago53:34

53:34

Explaining the delicate balance of religiousness, Alan Watts lectures on the principle of leaving no trace. “Religion of No Religion” is part of the Japan Tour 1965 series of talks that you can listen to in full over at the Alan Watts Streaming Channel Today’s episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/alan…

1
Ep. 30 – Flow: Symbolic Reality vs. Real Reality 42:15

6M ago42:15

42:15

In a lecture on symbolic reality versus real reality, Alan Watts explains the importance of total sensory awareness and looking at our motivations. "Symbolic Reality vs. Real Reality" is part of Flow, a three-part session in the TAO for NOW series of talks that you can listen to in full over at the Alan Watts Streaming Channel Today’s episode is br…

1
Ep. 29 – Philosophy of the Tao 46:27

8M ago46:27

46:27

Join us on a journey of contemplation and enlightenment in this captivating introduction to Taoism. Discover the profound wisdom of Taoist philosophy with Alan Watts as he invites us to embrace the course of nature. Through insightful exploration, he delves into the timeless significance of Yin and Yang, illustrating their inseparable connection an…

1
Ep. 28 – Limits of Language 53:58

9M ago53:58

53:58

Taking a trip through the constructs of form and labeling, Alan Watts philosophizes about the limits of language. This series is brought to you by the Alan Watts Organization and Ram Dass’ Love Serve Remember Foundation. Visit play.alanwatts.org for full talks from Alan Watts. Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off you…

1
Ep. 27 – Love Of Waters 23:05

10M ago23:05

23:05

In celebration of the waters that bring life to all things, Alan Watts reflects on the separation between human civilization and the natural world. This series is brought to you by the Alan Watts Organization and Ram Dass’ Love Serve Remember Foundation. Visit play.alanwatts.org for full talks from Alan Watts. Today's podcast is sponsored by Better…

1
Ep. 26 – Relevance of Eastern Philosophy 1:01:38

11M ago1:01:38

1:01:38

Using wisdom from Eastern philosophies, Alan Watts explains why Westerners should let go of any preconceived notions of God. This series is brought to you by the Alan Watts Organization and Ram Dass’ Love Serve Remember Foundation. Visit Alanwatts.org for full talks from Alan Watts. This Alan Watts lecture features a discussion on: Comparative stud…

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Knowing the Past to Make a Better Future (TAW054) 53:22

1y ago53:22

53:22

Episode 054 – Knowing the Past to Make a Better Future (With Sarah Sanderson) Do you know the hidden history of the place where you live? If we want to be part of God’s work of bringing restoration and liberation, we can’t ignore what’s happened in the past. Telling this truth is the only way to get to healing. Show Notes Get Sarah’s book: The Plac…

1
Ep. 25 – Religion and Sexuality 28:30

1y ago28:30

28:30

Bringing awareness to ecstatic grace, Alan Watts enlightens us on the sexual archetypes formed by religion. Two cultural icons. Two unique perspectives... One understanding of the presence of the way. Ram Dass' Love Serve Remember Foundation and the Alan Watts Organization invite you to open your mind, open your heart, and tap into the living truth…

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What if the Bible isn’t perfect? (TAW053) 43:06

1y ago43:06

43:06

Episode 053 – What if the Bible isn’t perfect? (With Zach Hunt) There are many debates and disagreements within Christianity. Behind most of these, you’ll find one very significant issue. How we read the Bible. The way we read the Bible and what we believe about how the Bible came to be directly gets at what we believe about God. Can Christianity w…

1
Ep. 24 – Myth of Myself 43:52

1+ y ago43:52

43:52

This time on the Being in the Way Podcast, Alan Watts delves into questions of identity, purpose and buying into the ‘Myth of Myself’. Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/alan In this episode, Alan Watts explores: The question of our own …

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Childlike Faith vs. Childish Faith. (TAW052) 50:03

1+ y ago50:03

50:03

Episode 052 – Childlike Faith vs. Childish Faith (With Pastor Mandy Smith) Often the church seems in a panic to avoid the influence of culture, but what if the church is already fully bought into the assumptions of culture? Western culture assumes that strength, leadership, and being right are the way of success. Does the way of Jesus calls us to s…

1
Ep. 23 – Out of the Trap Pt. 2 29:34

1+ y ago29:34

29:34

Picking up from our last episode, Alan elucidates faith versus belief, and how our individual existence is connected with the totality of the universe. Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/alan From his houseboat in Sausalito, CA, Alan Wat…

1
Ep. 22 - Out of the Trap Pt. 1 31:50

1+ y ago31:50

31:50

Delving into the historically complicated human relationship to divinity, Alan Watts describes the trap of separateness. Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/alan In this episode, Alan Watts explores: The sensation of our own existence Jew…

1
Faith When You Don’t Feel Faithful. (TAW051) 48:35

1+ y ago48:35

48:35

Episode 051 – Faith when you don’t Feel Faithful (With Ben Stenke & Matt Tebbe) The life of a follower of Jesus is not about assent to an idea, or rigorous attention to a life of religious activity. Matt Tebbe says, “There aren’t two things: faith and action. There’s just one thing: Faithful Action.” We discuss. Show Notes Get the book: Having the …

1
Ep. 21 – Joyous Cosmology 1:09:34

1+ y ago1:09:34

1:09:34

Offering us the possibility of waking up, Alan Watts contemplates the joyous cosmology that we are God playing the roles of ordinary people. Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/alan In this episode, Alan Watts explores: If there could be …

1
Ep. 20 – Man is a Hoax 34:25

2y ago34:25

34:25

Sifting down behind the cultural myth of man as separate, Alan explores how we are all actually Earth, the Universe, and the Big Bang. In this episode of Being in the Way, Alan takes us on a journey from childhood to adulthood, highlighting how we are trained into separation from a young age, and forced to focus on the never-arriving “future,” rath…

1
Ep. 19 – Improbable and Magical: A Tribute To G.K. Chesterton 44:42

2y ago44:42

44:42

In this unique episode of Being in the Way, Alan Watts offers tribute to the life, humor, magic and ‘nonsense wisdom’ of writer, G. K. Chesterton. Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/alan This series is brought to you by the Alan watts or…

1
Ep. 18 – The Unpreachable Religion 29:20

2y ago29:20

29:20

Exploring modern culture as actually anti-materialistic, Alan tackles matters of sedentariness, sensuousness, isolation, work, play, God, and sexuality. Host, Mark Watts, returns to introduce another thought-provoking talk from his father, Alan Watts. In this powerful lecture—one of his earlier field recordings, entitled ‘The Unpreachable Religion,…

1
Ep. 17 – Learning the Human Game 43:44

2y ago43:44

43:44

Alan Watts pulls back the veil of ‘the human game,’ digging into language, ethics, finding balance, and the art of the controlled accident. Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/alan In this episode, Mark Watts introduces Alan Watts in ‘Lea…

1
Letting God Change Our Minds. (TAW050) 31:31

2y ago31:31

31:31

Episode 050 – Letting God Change Our Minds —or, A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Devotional (With Jonathan Puddle) What do you do with an opportunity that comes your way that isn’t right for you? That happened for Jonathan Puddle, and he turned into something beautiful. Show Notes Jonathan’s new devotional: Mornings With God: Daily Bible De…

1
Ep. 16 – A Coincidence of Opposites 41:18

2+ y ago41:18

41:18

Contemplating the coincidence of opposites within the 'human game,' Alan ponders the simple yet thought-provoking question: is existence serious? Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/alan In this episode of Being in the Way, Mark introduce…

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Church, Stop Acting Like a Hot Topic. (TAW049) 44:09

2+ y ago44:09

44:09

Episode 049 – Church, Stop Acting Like a Hot Topic—or, Building a Church People Actually Want To Go To (With Kevin Makins) Why would anyone bother to go to church? I don’t mean why would Christians bother. I mean, if someone outside of the church was thinking about getting involved, why would they? What might it look like to build a church that peo…

1
Ep. 15 – Changes: The Houseboat Summit with Alan Watts, Timothy Leary, Allen Ginsberg, Gary Synder, & Allen Cohen 1:11:55

2+ y ago1:11:55

1:11:55

Timothy Leary, Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, & Allen Cohen join Alan Watts on his houseboat to discuss change, the evolution of society, and the practicality of 'dropping out.' Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/alan In this episode of Be…

1
Ep. 14 – Aesthetics and Mystical Vision 1:04:14

2+ y ago1:04:14

1:04:14

In this recording from 1972, Alan Watts lectures on mystical vision via art, aesthetics, and Buddhist and Daoist philosophy. Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/alan This series is made in partnership with the Alan Watts Organization. Dis…

1
Empathy Is Not A Sin. (TAW048) 39:49

2+ y ago39:49

39:49

Episode 048 – Empathy Is Not a Sin (With Becky Castle Miller) Recently a number of Christian leaders and teachers have been making waves saying that empathy is a sin–or at least something that good Christians need to be very careful with. Why would they say this? What do they get out of it? And why should you be concerned if you hear this line of t…

1
Ep. 13 – Psychology of Mystical Experience 1:00:09

2+ y ago1:00:09

1:00:09

Binding contrast into paradox, Alan takes us on a journey through the psychology of mystical experience in relation to life and death, followed by a jaunt through the power of nothingness. In this episode of Being in the Way, Mark Watts opens the door to the vault, introducing two rare recordings from his father, Alan Watts. The first lecture, enti…

1
Ep. 12 – Cosmic Drama 59:47

2+ y ago59:47

59:47

This time on the Being in the Way podcast, Alan Watts explores the concepts of identity and consciousness, looking at the role we play in the greater 'Cosmic Drama'. Before the talk from Alan, we invite you to listen to an insightful conversation between Mark Watts and his guest, Cory Allen, about getting in touch with the core ideas of Alan Watts’…

1
Ep. 11 – Essential Teachings from the Gita w/ Ram Dass & Alan Watts 47:20

2+ y ago47:20

47:20

Ram Dass joins Alan for a look at the tools that the Bhagavad Gita offers us to face life's challenges head-on. Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/alan This series is made in partnership with the Alan Watts Organization. Discover the off…

1
Don’t Choose Shallow Formation (TAW047) 40:25

3y ago40:25

40:25

Episode 047 – Don’t Choose Shallow Formation (With Rich Vellodas) Does our faith enable us to be “a good gift” to our neighbors, even the neighbors we disagree with? Many Christians, it seems, are living in ways that contradict the core ethic of our faith loving our neighbors as ourselves. What is going on? It seems like we are witnessing a mass fa…

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Ep. 10 – Veil of Thoughts: Money, Relationships & Desire 1:12:32

3y ago1:12:32

1:12:32

Alan Watts explores the 'veil of thoughts' in money, civilization & progress; before shifting gears to the 'divine madness' of marriage & falling in love. Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/alan This series is made in partnership with th…

1
Ep. 9 – Inevitable Ecstasy 1:00:35

3y ago1:00:35

1:00:35

Illuminating the truth of the relationship between awareness and self, Alan Watts naturally opens us to the inevitable ecstasy of surrender. Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/alan This series is made in partnership with the Alan Watts O…

1
Ep. 8 – Man and Nature 58:20

3y ago58:20

58:20

In this intimate session, Alan Watts shares distinctive philosophical vantage points outlining humankind's relationship to nature. Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/alan Welcoming listeners into a seminar session from SMU in 1965, Mark …

1
Ep. 7 – Drugs: Turning the Head or Turning On 1:03:43

3y ago1:03:43

1:03:43

Can you get mysticism in a bottle? Alan Watts explores the drug question, in this psychedelically infused episode of Being in the Way. Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/alan In this talk at San Jose State during the counterculture bloom…

1
A More Beautiful Deconstruction (TAW046) 43:50

3y ago43:50

43:50

Episode 046 – A More Beautiful Deconstruction (With Dr. Bradley Jersak) Deconstruction is everywhere. People are doing it. Some leaders are fighting it. Some people are excited by it. Some people are terrified of it. Is it just a trendy new word for leaving the church? No. It’s a process that’s necessary for spiritual maturity–and how we think abou…

1
Ep. 6 – On Being God 1:20:31

3y ago1:20:31

1:20:31

In 'On Being God,' Alan shares on therapy, religion, mystical experiences, & Jesus, before playing the hilarious and light-shedding role of a clinical patient who realizes they're God. Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/alan Following in…

1
Let’s Normalize Being Wrong (TAW045) 41:31

3y ago41:31

41:31

Episode 045 – Let’s Normalize Being Wrong (With Matt Tebbe) I grew up in a faith tradition where being right was essential. It’s what kept us in community. It’s what we thought honored God. For many other reasons–temperament, trauma, and even privilege–being right became an identity issue for me. Then I heard Matt Tebbe suggest that we need to norm…

1
Ep. 5 – Zen Bones 56:41

3y ago56:41

56:41

Alan Watts illuminates the nuances of Zen and the Unspeakable World in this dynamic 'Zen Bones' talk adorned with Buddhist chanting, chimes, and gongs. Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/alan Mark Watts introduces a classic talk entitled…

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