Further confirmation that the Watts well won’t run dry.
A collection of Zen lectures spanning the career of the great Western communicator of Eastern wisdom.
In assembling this book, an expansion of a 1994 edition, Alan’s son Mark selected lectures “that embodied the spontaneous and uncontrolled aspect of Zen most fully, and which left me with a compelling feeling that something extraordinary had happened.” That standard alone could have produced a much longer book, since it’s rare that one of the philosopher’s lectures failed to transmit spontaneous wonder. But keeping it short is much more in the spirit of the enterprise. Watts’ aim was always to dazzle more than to inform. In one lecture, he told his audience, “I am not a guru.” He referred to himself as “an entertainer,” adding, “I approach you in the same spirit as a musician with her piano, or violinist with his violin: I just want you to enjoy a point of view that I enjoy.” Regardless, he was an inspired performer, and while most of these talks were given extemporaneously, they hold up remarkably well on the page (credit is due to Mark). Even from the earliest lecture included here, given when he was just a teenager, Watts was both profound and witty. Anyone discovering Watts for the first time in these pages will be incredulous to learn that in the middle of the 20th century, there existed a Westerner who was not only fluent in Eastern philosophy, but who embodied the best of its wisdom so fully. No one since Watts has been able to articulate the paradoxes of spiritual life with more clarity or panache. He might celebrate nonsense, but in so doing he makes immense sense, the kind for which we seem always to be longing. To take but one example, the rousing conclusion to “Zen Bones” will snap readers into sharp clarity, if not satori.
Further confirmation that the Watts well won’t run dry.Pub Date: June 21, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-64547-096-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Shambhala
Review Posted Online: Jan. 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
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