The Book

On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are

by

Paperback, 176 pages

English language

Published Aug. 28, 1989 by Vintage.

ISBN:
978-0-679-72300-4
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OCLC Number:
20832018

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4 stars (5 reviews)

At the root of human conflict is our fundamental misunderstanding of who we are. The illusion that we are isolated beings, unconnected to the rest of the universe, has led us to view the “outside” world with hostility, and has fueled our misuse of technology and our violent and hostile subjugation of the natural world. To help us understand that the self is in fact the root and ground of the universe, Watts has crafted a revelatory primer on what it means to be human—and a mind-opening manual of initiation into the central mystery of existence.

In The Book, Alan Watts provides us with a much-needed answer to the problem of personal identity, distilling and adapting the Hindu philosophy of Vedanta.

A revelatory primer on what it means to be human, from "the perfect guide for a course correction in life" (Deepak Chopra)—and a mind-opening manual of initiation into the …

3 editions

reviewed The Book by Alan Watts

The philosophy of the mystics

5 stars

This book criticizes the foundations of philosophy on a level I rarely see. It does so by appropriating the ideas of Eastern religions, particularly Hinduism, and likening them to recent developments in Western philosophy, science, and the current events of 1966. Not every conclusion Watts comes to is entirely reasonable, but he does a great job of explaining how ego dissolution happens, its effects, and why it is philosophically reasonable.

reviewed The Book by Alan Watts

enjoyable philosophy

3 stars

A well-worked short study (with a dated feel) in ego-dissolution and recognizing our individualistic society's contradicting double-binds in defining progress, freedom, and love. Better to dance as one with the universe, but watch out for all the ways attempting to do so reinstates your sense of self...

reviewed The Book by Alan Watts

Review of 'The Book' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

The point is it did make me think, and I did make connections to what I have read about duality, unitive philosophy, and I did learn new philosophical terms, and I gained exposure to Vedanta philosophy. Is this book an improving book? In my situation, yes.

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Subjects

  • Mind, body, spirit: thought & practice
  • Popular psychology
  • Self-knowledge, Theory of
  • Metaphysics
  • Philosophy
  • Buddhism - General
  • Eastern - General
  • Movements - Humanism
  • Religion / Eastern
  • Self