In 1981 was wandering around Camden Town and popped into an alternative bookshop, just for an idle browse really. After over a decade of 'not quite an atheist / not quite an agnostic' a level of disquieted soul searching had begun bearing down. The paradoxical nature of its title The Wisdom of Insecurity made me pick it up, buy it, come home, be excited whilst reading it. A complete novice about eastern religions, I had no idea who Alan Watts and what Taoism were. The subject matter was a revelation. It spoke to the insecurity and dissatisfaction I was consumed by at the time. Saying - you know it's alright feeling insecure, just stop making it a lot worse than it need be. For a few years is was a touchstone that I regularly returned too.
Alan Watts was English and a largely self-taught spiritual practitioner. His early contact with Theosophy and The Buddhist Society led him to Zen where for a while to found his spiritual home. Watt's continued exploring Taoism and other religions. Later in life becoming an Episcopalian priest, until involvement in a sex scandal forced him to step down. Watt's 'universalist' approach, religious snacking wherever he wanted from the spiritual supermarket chimed with the late 1960's zeitgeist. This gained him wider fame in middle age.
These days, having read more widely about Taosim, Zen and Buddhism, I see The Wisdom of Insecurity with quite different eyes. It is what it is, light on the othodoxy, entry level spirituality, quite clearly and accessibly written. There are places where he goes 'off piste' and indulges in his favourite religious syncretisms. There is also something about a public school educated man turning himself into a guru with long hair, beard and a pipe, bedecking himself in malas and necklaces, that strikes you these days as a bit dubious. Still, I have to express my gratitude to Alan Watt's for The Wisdom of Insecurity, because his book kick started my spiritual life.
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