In just the same way as you can't bite your own teeth, you can't look into your own eyes without a mirror...you cannot define Self
Alan Watts
I listened to Alan Watts speak of something I heard him speak about many times but it was a wonderful reminder and it came at a relevant time. He spoke of the three major points in Taoism I am so interested in this idea of "Chi', just as I am interested in this idea of "shakti"...they are actually, I beleive , the same thing spoken about in different cultures.
To understand "shakti" one attempts to understand yoga. To understand chi, one attempts to undersatnd the Tao.
The Tao
Really though, this understanding of yoga and the Tao is an oxymoron in itself because the Tao especially cannot be defined or explained.
The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao
That which is absolutely basic...the basic energy of the universe, according to Alan Watts...what you are. cannot be defined. As in the quote above, the hand cannot get a hold of itself. He tells us that what we say we are is not what we are. This role, this description of self, this character we call "me" is something we are playing with...What we are is consciousness.
What is the nature of consciousness? No one can say because it is common to all experience.
I like this explanation of consciousness as fundamental. Often, when things are so fundamental we do not notice them. The Tao is the basis of everything, to all that is going on and we don't notice it.
We don't notice anything from which we cannot see a limit...
It can't be named or explained. It can, however, be experienced. The Tao can be experienced; Yoga can be experienced. Chi can be felt and experienced; Shakti and Sat Chit Ananda can be experienced. Once we experience it...we see everything so clearly. We see that what we thought was real was never real.
Once you experience it, you are no longer taken in by the game that you are playing. You see through that game [of the ego]
Unity and Opposites
You cannot have one without the other
We see duality everywhere and we fear because of it. We see that there in "being" and non-being" and we are terrified of the "non-being" [death]. We close our eyes to that reality and cling to life with all our might. In reality, there is so much more "non-being" than there is "being"...so much more "space" and "emptiness" than there is solid matter. This terrifies us because we feel non-being, space, emptiness is the end of everything. We forget to see that being and non-being are sides of the same coin...cannot have one without the other. We need to be able to hear and apprecaite the intervals between the notes of music.
"Space is real" ...but...reality is identified with the solid
He suggests we need to better understand that key line from Shakespeare's Hamlet: "To be or not to be" is not the question we need to be asking.
We make these distinctions with the vibrations we pick up with our senses. But he explains
All your senses are really one type of sense...a type of touching...we touch light with the eyes...all sensation is a vibration...that goes on and off...
To see wisdom is to see the secret conspiracy between the opposites
Wisdom comes from understanding the unity of everything...Only those with an innate intelligence will believe in the unity of everything.
Death is the most life giving thing there is...if you die before you die...you come alive
Wu Wei
He then speaks to one of the greatest concepts Taoism tecahes: Wu Wei, Effortless acton.
He tells us
Life is something that is always falling apart...but if you get with it...you flow with it you become alive
Wu Wei is about going with the flow, with the Toa and not fighting it. It is about not acting against the grain of nature. He offers an example by explaining that sailing is much more aligned with the Tao than rowing is. One requires effort, the other requires a simple going with nature.
When you sail you cannot sail directly against the wind.
Anyway, worth a listen.
All is well.
Alan Watts/ Be Here Now (2025) Philsophy of the Tao. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmeipXO7O_E
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