Alan Watts’ Philosophy of Consciousness

‘Like a wave from the ocean, you are not a stranger here.’

Josh Chandler Morris
The Apeiron Blog

Consciousness, our individual, internal experience of reality, is still one of the greatest mysteries of our time. Scientists and philosophers continue to argue about its origins, its importance, and even its definition. Yet I find one of the most compelling theories to be that of the British philosopher Alan Watts.

Watts, inspired by Eastern philosophy and theology, often described our individual consciousness as being similar to a wave in the ocean. We appear out of the void, rising up into an individualized self, make our journey across the seas and then return back into the whole.

This wasn’t a new idea, many similar explanations can be found across the East, particularly in Hinduism and also on the margins of Christian thought, from thinkers like Meister Eckhart.

‘All creatures flow back and return to their origin’ —
Meister Eckhart quoting Solomon (Eckhart, Selected Writings, 1994: 70).

In fact, the idea of some sort of universal oneness seems to be the foundation of most mystical experiences, regardless of religious doctrine. Aldous Huxley’s book The Perennial Philosophy does a brilliant job of outlining the fundamental similarities in…

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