Alan Watts on Meditation | Why You Can’t Meditate

About this Video

• Video Title: Alan Watts on Meditation | Why You Can’t Meditate
• Channel: Alan Watts Inspires
• Speakers: Alan Watts
• Duration: 00:26:49

Introduction

This video features Alan Watts discussing meditation. He argues that the common approach to meditation—as a skill to be mastered—is fundamentally flawed. Watts contends that true meditation arises from ceasing the effort to meditate, allowing oneself to simply be present in the moment.

Key Takeaways

1. Meditation is not a practice: Watts emphasizes that meditation isn't something one does but something that happens when the mind is still. The effort to meditate is counterproductive.
2. The ego is the obstacle: The ego, the sense of a separate self, is identified as the primary impediment to meditation. The constant thinking and self-referential chatter of the ego prevent direct experience of reality.
3. Reality is not conceptual: Watts explains that reality is not a concept or a collection of objects but a continuous flow of experience. Thinking and labeling create a separation from this reality.
4. Meditation is effortless being: True meditation is characterized by effortless presence, allowing thoughts, sensations, and sounds to arise and pass without judgment or interference. It's about dissolving the separation between the self and the world.
5. Death is not an ending: Watts addresses the fear of death, suggesting this fear arises from the illusion of a separate self. He likens birth and death to waves on an ocean—continuous movements within a larger, eternal process.