the show must go on
so what?
(so don't give it away?)

"anybody can have ecstasy. anybody as a matter of fact can become aware that he is one with the eternal ground of the universe. but since that's what you are anyway, I'm going to ask - so what? 

...when a hero goes on an adventure and he leaves his people and is going to a strange land, he can go away and hide himself around the corner in an obscure house and then appear a year later and say I've been on a heroic journey and tell all sorts of tales. and they say prove it because they expect him to bring back something, something that no one has seen before. then they'll believe he's been on a journey. so, in the same way exactly, anybody who goes on a spiritual journey must bring something back because if you just say, 'oh man, it was a gas!' anyone can say that

...but truth has a way of leaking, it gets out. but the important thing is, you see, when the truth gets out, those who catch hold of it must find a way of staying in contact with what society calls reality. that is to say, if you have a radio, you don't only need an antenna, you need a ground. so what happens in the world of mysticism, of psychedelic visions and so on, needs to be grounded

...the function of a guru, that is to say a spiritual teacher in India, is to give you a funny look in the eye because you come to him and say, mister guru, i have problems, i suffer and it's a mess and i can't control my mind and i'm miserable and depressed and so on, and he gives you a funny look and you feel a bit nervous about the way he looks at you because you think he's reading your thoughts and this man is a great magician, he can read everything that's in you, he knows right down into your unconscious and you know all the dreadful things you've thought and all the awful desires you have and you're rather embarrassed that this man sees right through you and sees them all. 

...but that's not what he's looking at. he's giving you a funny look for quite another reason altogether because he sees in you the Brahman, the god-head, just claiming it's poor little me, and he's going to use all sorts of subtle techniques that are called in Sanskrit upaya, that in politics means chicanery, and in spiritual education means skillful pedagogy, he's going to try to kid you back into realizing who you really are. that's why he gives you a funny look and why he seems to see right through you, as if to say Shiva, oh boy, don't kid me, i know who you are but you're coming on beautifully in this act as if you're somebody else all together and i congratulate you, you're doing a wonderful job playing this part which you call the person

...you know a person is a thing, the word means a mask, so if you read books on how to be a real person you're reading books on how to be a genuine fake. the word persona, you know, means a mask worn in Greek or Roman drama...now then, in these Asiatic traditions it is well recognized that people who get the knowledge that you're IT may very well run amuck and therefore they couple any method of gaining this, whether it is yoga, whether it is smoking something or drinking something or whatever is the method, they always couple it with a discipline 

...now i know that the word discipline isn't very popular these days and i would like to have a new word for it because most people who teach disciplines don't teach them very well. they teach it with a kind of violence, as if a discipline is something that's going to be extremely unpleasant to you, that you're going to have to put up with, but that isn't the real secret of discipline. i would prefer to use the word skill. discipline is a way of expression. let's say you want to express your feelings in stone. now stone doesn't give way very easily. it's tough stuff so you have to learn the skill, the discipline of a sculptor in order to express yourself in stone. so, in every other way, in everything you do, you require a skill

...let's suppose while you were very very high on LSD you looked into a filthy ashtray and you saw the beatific vision, which is of course the case, because wherever you look, if your eyes are open, you will see the face of the divine. then you come out of your ecstasy with the dirty ashtray and say to everybody, 'here it is!' Now, there is a possibility, if you are an extraordinarily skillful painter or even photographer, of presenting the dirty ashtray so everybody else will see almost what you saw in it. but you will have to have a technique that will transform every grain of ash into a jewel because that's what you actually saw. but that requires mastery of an art and I'm afraid all that people think is necessary to do is just throw out any old thing because under that transformed state of consciousness any old thing is the works but nobody else can see it if they haven't shared that point of view

...we are living in a scientific world where secrets cannot be kept and anyone at anytime can pick up something which will short-circuit all the ancient religious techniques, yoga practice, meditation, etc., etc., it's all very embarrassing but it will happen, not for everybody but for a lot of people, and they will see what all those sages and Buddhas and yogis and prophets saw in ancient times and it will be very clear.  so what? 

...so, you see, you can say look at all these people who haven't seen it. this is a temptation. look at them all going about their business earning money and grinding it out at the bank or the insurance office or whatever it is every day, and how serious they look all about it and they don't really know it's a game. you can cultivate a certain level of contempt for people like that but it's very very bad to do that because, of course don't forget, they have a certain level of contempt for you

...so when you see the people you think are not in on the secret, if you really understand, you have to revise your opinion completely and say that the 'squares' are the people who are really far-out because they don't even know where they started. see, an enlightened Hindu or Buddhist looks at the 'ignorant people' of this world and says 'my respects!' because here I see the divine essence having altogether forgotten what it is and playing the most far-out game of being completely lost - congratulations! how far out can you get! 

...so if you understand that, you don't start a war with people you might say are 'square.' don't challenge them, don't bug them, don't frighten them. the reason is not because they are immature because they are babies and you mustn't scare babies, it's nothing to do with that. you mustn't frighten them because they are doing a very far-out act, they are walking on a tightrope miles up and they've got to do that balancing act, and if you shout they may lose their nerve. See, that's what we call the responsible people of the world are doing. it's an act, a game just like the tightrope walker, but it's a risky one and you can get ulcers from it and all sorts of troubles, but you must respect it and say, 'congratulations on being so far-out!' "      - alan watts 


Many interesting and insightful things in this passage from one of Alan Watts' many lectures. Too bad he's not alive to ask questions. For example, he says we're to "congratulate" those who we think "are not in on the secret" because they're playing the game so bloody well, yet earlier he claims the role of a spiritual teacher is to use subtle techniques "to kid you back into realizing who you really are." So which is it? Be impressed at those who are playing "the game" so well they've forgotten who they are (thus producing fears, desires, pain, illusions), or help awaken as many as possible to who they really are (thus allowing them to gift themselves with a peace and understanding that dissolves their distress)?

I agree he's right on pointing out that anyone can find a way to ego-dissolving ecstasy and that process can be accomplished quickly given the science and knowledge that's readily available. But as Carl Jung warned, be wary of wisdom that is not earned. Perhaps that's why Watts emphasized discipline or skill in the undertaking, along with a grounding in this reality. The experience is also of little value unless, as Watts points out, something can be brought back and integrated into the here and now, whether simply for oneself or as an attempted communication with others. If such a communication is attempted, it better follow from some skill or discipline if it stands any chance of being understood at all, much less being effective.

But the question arises - effective at what and why? What intrinsic value is there is "saving" people from themselves when who they are at worst is simply playing out the divine cosmic game? While not addressed directly in this lecture, Watts carries an implicit tone of acceptance that the "game" must go on, even if by being lost in the role of a "person" the results are greed, desire, and illusion. 

This is an extraordinary concept to consider since it sees a definite purpose and nobility in the eternal game of hide-and-seek that the Brahman apparently does with itself. If this is part of the eternal dance of creation, of Being, of unfolding expressions of divine will, then not giving the game away, even staying lost in the game, might be just as divinely driven as the attainment of transcendence. 

In fact, how could it be otherwise unless we're to start believing the here and now is not the result of divine will?  Could this be another layer, a meta-level to cosmic duality with amnesia of the game and the clarity of transcendence needing each other like two sides of a coin and both being necessary and valid ways to express oneself. 

You'll probably shrug and conclude -- so what?
quite a question indeed - for all of existence is wrapped up in it.