Ep. 40 – Nature of Consciousness
Summary
In this episode of Being in the Way, host Mark Watts presents a second session from Alan Watts’ late 1960s seminar, The Nature of Consciousness. Watts explores the "dramatic myth" of the self, arguing that we are the universe playing hide-and-seek by arbitrarily separating voluntary actions from involuntary processes. He explains that recognizing the continuity between the body and the cosmos dissolves the ego, revealing that birth and death are merely patterns in a single, ongoing energy flow. Watts concludes by urging listeners to re-examine common sense assumptions to realize they are al…
Topics discussed
Introduction to The Nature of Consciousness
The dramatic myth and the game of hide-and-seek
The arbitrary line between voluntary and involuntary
You are the universe: body and cosmos as one
Omnipotence, superconsciousness, and awareness
Birth, death, and the experience of nothingness
The ego as a radar and the harmony of discord
Life as pattern and the rejection of spooky knowledge
The present moment as eternity and the 'wrong question'
The danger of spiritual inflation and the holy man syndrome
The transactional relationship between organism and environment
The electric circuit analogy and implicit intelligence
Re-examining common sense and the future of technology
Outro and credits
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