"Alan Watts was one of the most famous and endearing writers and speakers of the twentieth century on the subjects of Eastern thought and meditation. He was born in England in 1915 and died in his home in northern California in 1973."

-from "Still the Mind: An Introduction to Meditation"

If you wish to learn more about Alan Watts and his philosophy, please visit www.alanwatts.com. Here you can also order Alan Watts audio tapes/CDs (highly recommended by ElfTrance!).

In the first presentation, Alan Watts discusses that just as an apple tree grows apples, the Earth grows people. He illustrates that human beings are a function of the current state of the universe. People are not separate from the world, they are an outgrowth of it. I'd suggest (if I may) that you try to internalize this feeling-- it is intellectually and emotionally refreshing.

And I'd like to personally add that this idea should not be dismissed as some transparent New Age crap. ;) Quite to the contrary, this is how the world is. Any reasonably intelligent mammal who does his or her homework will come to the same conclusion.

In the second presentation, Alan Watts tells us of how the world is necessarily split into polar opposites: good/evil, light/dark, life/death, here/there, heads/tails etc... Such is the nature of reality. Recognizing this fact of existence is the first step in developing a healthy attitude towards life. One is encouraged to cultivate a mindset that is based on faith in the unknown, where reality flows naturally as an interconnected life process.