In this full talk, Alan Watts unpacks the paradox at the heart of self-improvement: the mind cannot truly control the mind. With humor and clarity, he moves between theology, Buddhism, and modern philosophy to show how the search for grace, virtue, or a “higher self” often circles back into the very ego we are trying to transcend. Along the way, Watts explores the futility of forcing self-transformation, the dangers of righteousness, and the freedom that comes when we stop interfering and allow awareness to unfold on its own.
This talk is part of the Comparative Philosophy series, featured in the Essential Lectures (Remastered) Collection, available also in the complete audio collection, The Works (including 189 recordings / 135+ hours). Now downloadable and streamable to your personal audio collection with a one time purchase.
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“Perhaps the foremost interpreter of Eastern disciplines for the contemporary West, Alan Watts had the rare gift of ‘writing beautifully the un-writable’. 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.” — Los Angeles Times
This video is the first of an all natural video series. Recorded at Pecatu, Bali, Indonesia by Logan Dennison, 2025
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