9^th April, 2024 • Søren Aas

Introduction

This series is a weekly chapter by chapter walk-thru of Alan Watts The Book on the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are. The book wants us to realize that we are all connected and are not isolated beings.

The books premise is that we have learned to think of ourselves as islands, but this is simply not true and we can all learn how to realize who we are and that we are all part of life.

When we experience a feeling of not belonging or an urge to find our place or understand ourselves this is in a reaction to us having a sense alienation from existence. Watts asks in this book what causes this illusion of our selves as separate egos. We will explore ourselves, not as coming into the existence as aliens, but as arising out of it, meaning we are most definitely a part of it.

But why would this be taboo, and why should we care? Separation of the self from the world is a falsehood and basing our actions on alternative facts does not lead to Good. Watts presents us with a critique of Western materialist culture and an alternative way of being.

Alan Watts called himself a "philosophical entertainer" and he had a knack for clearly explaining central Buddhist, Taoist and Hindu insights with humor, wit and warmth.