Why do we suffer? Alan Watts explores the Buddhist teaching that the root of human suffering is âšclingingâš – our tendency to grasp at life, control it, and hold on too tightly. Just as you canât hold onto your breath without losing it, life, too, must be allowed to flow.
In this segment from âThe Voidâ, part of the âEastern Wisdom & Modern Lifeâ series, Watts explains the meaning of âNirvanaâ which literally means âto blow outâ đš and how letting go is the key to true freedom.
Segment quote âYou know, it was a basic teaching in Buddhism that the root of all human suffering is clinging or grasping. Just in the same way as I was suggesting on a previous program, that you canât cling to your breath without losing it. You have to let go of your breath. And for that reason, the word that is used in Buddhism for this experience, itâs another word familiar to you all. Nirvana literally means blow out, donât hang on, donât clutch life. And so one of the great problems is how on earth to get ourselves to give up clutching, to give up clinging. But you see, if thatâs something you eagerly want to do because you want to get something good out of it, this is still a grasping attitude. Well, you know, in Zen they have a means of teaching people how to stop clinging.â
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âPerhaps the foremost interpreter of Eastern disciplines for the contemporary West, Alan Watts had the rare gift of âwriting beautifully the un-writableâ. Watts begins with scholarship and intellect and proceeds with art and eloquence to the frontiers of the spirit. A fascinating entry into the deepest ways of knowing.â â Los Angeles Times
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