Alan Watts ~ What is Zen?

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Posted January 27, 2019

Randomly rewatched this video after months. Really straightfoward and high quality imo. I like how he immediately says that a lecture on zen is something of the nature of a hoax at the beginning of the lecture. After watching much of his content, I think Alan Watts is very good at trying to get you to see the difference between the map and the territory. He talks articulately on the limits of language, conceptualising and thinking.

Hark ye yet again — the little lower layer. All visible objects, man, are but as pasteboard masks. But in each event — in the living act, the undoubted deed — there, some unknown but still reasoning thing puts forth the mouldings of its features from behind the unreasoning mask. If man will strike, strike through the mask! How can the prisoner reach outside except by thrusting through the wall? To me, the white whale is that wall, shoved near to me. Sometimes I think there's naught beyond. But 'tis enough.

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