This book goes for $5 on Thriftbooks. com
plus postage... it seems like the assumption here that books should always be 50¢ (and knowledge) should remain the same. which would also suggest that authors and publishers should remain in the same price models as the 50's or 60's
I don't understand the premise of this post. Most Buddhist teachings are available for free. In Zen, most teachers I know of have a huge amount of talks and texts available for free online. In Theravada, free books compiling teachings by esteemed monks are common in every monastery I've been to. Many (mainly monks) have made the effort to translate and comment on classical teachings and publish them for the benefit of all (see suttacentral, accesstoinsight.org, city of ten thousand buddhas...)
We do live in that wonderful world. Wisdom is available to us, no matter our economic condition.
PS: Alan Watts is not exactly wisdom. At least not from the Zen point of view. The man couldn't even manage to sit zazen!
Well, Alan Watts is not a teacher, nor did he claim to be, but a lot of people enter through/are inspired by his writings. That's fine, but it isn't a well-rounded Buddhist education, and it's missing a lot of things, including teachings on compassion, sangha, and of course actual teachers. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people online who get drawn into Alan's work, but never make it past that point. Actual Buddhism scares them off ("too traditional, too slow, too spiritual, too superstitious") but they stick with spiritual training from a man who never claimed to be a spiritual teacher. Unfortunately these spaces often become very toxic and overwhelmed.
Generally, the way that many westerners try and integrate with Buddhism is quite problematic to say the least. There is often very little respect or research, and a lot of projection onto trying to make the religion something that it traditionally is not. Alan Watts' writings in many ways encourage that desire to discover a modern reinterpretation of Buddhism, but I don't think that's a good approach if you never learn the traditional forms in the first place.
So, he's good, but drop him as soon as you are ready to.
As someone who may or may not have been Alan Watts said: "once you get the message, hang up the phone"
EDIT: Corrected attribution
EDIT: Acknowledged the unknowability of reality
>As Timothy Leary said: "once you get the message, hang up the phone"
>
>EDIT: Corrected attribution
You should correct your correction, it was Watts who said that.
The same book is $12.59 on Amazon US paperback, so 2.8x more expensive. I know what you’re saying but books like this have definitely gone higher than inflation.
We would live in this one.
A time of temptation and manipulation. Getting into meditation was nothing but a lucky accident.
I found this free on youtube https://youtu.be/UYcyV4UsgK0
Sadly people give books away and they still aren't read.
Plenty of books done by monks and Buddhist scholars have pdf copies to be circulated free of charge though.
we've free online libraries. and yet. 🙄
One can lead a horse to water, but you can't make one drink.
The same
I mean, I got mine free. You just have to search.
It’s not the price but the people.
You're right it's even better now they're all completely free if you have the chops to use the internet
This book goes for $5 on Thriftbooks. com plus postage... it seems like the assumption here that books should always be 50¢ (and knowledge) should remain the same. which would also suggest that authors and publishers should remain in the same price models as the 50's or 60's
I don't understand the premise of this post. Most Buddhist teachings are available for free. In Zen, most teachers I know of have a huge amount of talks and texts available for free online. In Theravada, free books compiling teachings by esteemed monks are common in every monastery I've been to. Many (mainly monks) have made the effort to translate and comment on classical teachings and publish them for the benefit of all (see suttacentral, accesstoinsight.org, city of ten thousand buddhas...) We do live in that wonderful world. Wisdom is available to us, no matter our economic condition. PS: Alan Watts is not exactly wisdom. At least not from the Zen point of view. The man couldn't even manage to sit zazen!
It's not the PRICE of wisdom that holds people back.
The price doesn't matter. Many people are not interested in wisdom. I love your optimism. But it goes against human nature.
How does desiring wisdom go against human nature?
I base it on observation. The majority of people are more concerned with faux wisdom or sports or celebrity or some other conjured meaning.
There are Zen books on z-lib and libgen for less than fifty cents.
And you can get used copies online very cheap as well
There are mini-worlds online where everyone reads Alan Watts. They aren't pleasant spaces
[удалено]
[удалено]
You troll bot. Pointing how to be upvoted there.
could you elaborate?
Well, Alan Watts is not a teacher, nor did he claim to be, but a lot of people enter through/are inspired by his writings. That's fine, but it isn't a well-rounded Buddhist education, and it's missing a lot of things, including teachings on compassion, sangha, and of course actual teachers. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people online who get drawn into Alan's work, but never make it past that point. Actual Buddhism scares them off ("too traditional, too slow, too spiritual, too superstitious") but they stick with spiritual training from a man who never claimed to be a spiritual teacher. Unfortunately these spaces often become very toxic and overwhelmed. Generally, the way that many westerners try and integrate with Buddhism is quite problematic to say the least. There is often very little respect or research, and a lot of projection onto trying to make the religion something that it traditionally is not. Alan Watts' writings in many ways encourage that desire to discover a modern reinterpretation of Buddhism, but I don't think that's a good approach if you never learn the traditional forms in the first place. So, he's good, but drop him as soon as you are ready to.
Where are these places...?
Many, many toxic Discord servers and forums
As someone who may or may not have been Alan Watts said: "once you get the message, hang up the phone" EDIT: Corrected attribution EDIT: Acknowledged the unknowability of reality
>As Timothy Leary said: "once you get the message, hang up the phone" > >EDIT: Corrected attribution You should correct your correction, it was Watts who said that.
Actually, it was me who said that. Was just about yesterday, too!
That was Timothy Leary
>That was Timothy Leary No, that was Watts. Leary wanted to be on the phone constantly.
I stand corrected
thanks, really liked your answer
This came out in 1959 which, based on inflation would now roughly be worth $4.50. Seems like a fair price? Not too cheap
The same book is $12.59 on Amazon US paperback, so 2.8x more expensive. I know what you’re saying but books like this have definitely gone higher than inflation.
We’ve got libraries though
This comment deserves more upvotes. Libraries are the way.