The Wisdom of Insecurity (1951)

What can possibly be the “wisdom” of insecurity? Watts says it’s the truth that lies behind some of our deepest anxieties, the sense that there is no higher order, and no larger meaning to life. Rather than attempt to deny the feeling of existential angst, the feeling of ‘why are we here?’, Watts starts by embracing these feelings as valid.

The dilemma, as he puts it, is this: “Man, as a being of sense, wants his life to make sense, and he has found it hard to believe that it does so unless there is more than what he sees – unless there is an eternal order and an eternal life behind the uncertain and momentary experience of life-and-death.”

What are the coping mechanisms he suggests? First, recognize that we’re all part of a larger whole, and our individual selves are all a bit illusory. Next, stop worrying about trying to define a meaning; trying to grasp the meaning of life is as pointless as trying to pinch water between one’s fingers. Instead, be in this moment, and live in this now. Let go. Let go of your ego, let go of your clinging to conventional morality and religion, and let go of the past. Connect to a higher meaning by no longer seeking a meaning. Connect to one’s self by releasing it, and embracing everything around you.

Watts puts it much more eloquently and profoundly than that. :) He was ahead of his time in writing this in 1951, and his message is just as true today as it was 61 years ago.

Quotes:
On God:
“The modern scientist is not so naïve as to deny God because he cannot be found with a telescope, or the soul because it is not revealed by the scalpel. He has merely noted that the idea of God is logically unnecessary. He even doubts that it has any meaning. It does not help him to explain anything which he cannot explain in some other, and simpler, way.”

On living in the now, and happiness:
“The art of living in this ‘predicament’ is neither careless drifting on the one hand nor fearful clinging to the past and the known on the other. It consists in being completely sensitive to each moment, in regarding it as utterly new and unique, in having the mind open and wholly receptive.”

On morality:
“Nothing is really more inhuman than human relations based on morals. When a man gives bread in order to be charitable, lives with a woman in order to be faithful, eats with a Negro in order to be unprejudiced, and refuses to kill in order to be peaceful, he is as cold as a clam. He does not actually see the other person. … But there is no formula for generating the authentic warmth of love. It cannot be copied. … This conviction will not come through condemnations, through hating oneself, through calling self-love all the bad names in the universe. It comes only in the awareness that one has no self to love.”

On religion:
“’Most atheists and agnostics are neurotic, whereas most simple Catholics are happy and at peace with themselves. Therefore the views of the former are false, and of the latter true.’
Even if the observation is correct, the reasoning based on it is absurd. It is as if to say, ‘You say there is a fire in the basement. You are upset about it. Because you are upset, there is obviously no fire.’ The agnostic, the sceptic, is neurotic, but this does not imply a false philosophy; it implies the discovery of facts to which he does not know how to adapt himself.”

And:
“That is why all philosophical and theological systems must ultimately fall apart. To ‘know’ reality you cannot stand outside it and define it; you must enter into it, be it, and feel it.”

On security:
“Belief clings, but faith lets go. In this sense of the word, faith is the essential virtue of science, and likewise of any religion that is not self-deception.
Most of us believe in order to feel secure, in order to make our individual lives seem valuable and meaningful. Belief has thus become an attempt to hang on to life, to grasp and keep it for one’s own. But you cannot understand life and its mysteries as long as you try to grasp it. Indeed, you cannot grasp it, just as you cannot walk off with a river in a bucket.”

On transience:
“Perhaps the most exasperating thing about ‘me,’ about nature and the universe, is that it will never ‘stay put.’ It is like a beautiful woman who will never be caught, and whose very flightiness is her charm.” ( )

Breathtaking. I bought this years ago and never read it. Very few books have seemed so clear, so concise, and so clear to me. I think I'm going to recommend this to every coaching client I have. ( )

Found it in a used book store; ragged and worn; was drawn by the title; a great book that offered much solace, and still does--so many inspiring gems in this one treasure chest. ( )

An exploration of man's quest for psychological security and spiritual certainty in religion and philosophy.

About the Author:

Alan Wilson Watts (January 6, 1915 – November 16, 1973) was a British philosopher, writer, and speaker, best known as an interpreter and popularizer of Eastern philosophy for a Western audience.

He wrote more than 25 books and numerous articles on subjects such as personal identity, the true nature of reality, higher consciousness, meaning of life, concepts and images of God and the non-material pursuit of happiness. In his books he relates his experience to scientific knowledge and to the teachings of Eastern and Western religion and philosophy.

Written nearly sixty years ago, some of Watts's wisdom can seem outdated (the metaphor where he notes electrons have never been seen fails today) on the surface, but this is only if you expect it to change you in great ways while reading this short treatise. In today's post-70s guru-saturated, post-EST, seminar-flooded, self-help-flooded society with any number of tools designed to help you fix what is wrong with you, Watts can actually seem downright counterintuitive.

Watts is not offering concrete plans, he is not offering three keys to being more successful, nor is he even offering a real path to stand on for any type of success, happiness or other -ess. Instead, this is a mix of eastern philosophy, a backing of science as a companion to faith, and a clear-cut difference between faith and belief. There is some guidance on how not to implement these ideas, but for the most part, it is designed to be thought-provoking.

In today's age of guaranteed quick-fixes that fall short, something that's simply thought-provoking may just be the thing we need. ( )