Watts Alan W. Libri

A provocative, enduring work that reexamines humanity's place in the natural world--& the spirit's relation to the flesh--in the light of Chinese Taoism. That human beings stand separate from a nature that must be controlled, that the mind is somehow superior to the body & that all sexuality entails a seduction--a danger & a problem--are all assumptions upon which much of Western thought & culture is based. All of them in some way underlie our exploitation of the earth, distrust of emotion, loneliness & reluctance to love. Few books have challenged those assumptions as directly as this erudite & engaging work by the author of The Way of Zen. Drawing on the precepts of Taoism, Watts offers an alternative vision of humans & the universe--one in which the distinctions between self & other, spirit & matter give way to a more holistic way of seeing. Nature, Man & Woman is a book of elegance & far-reaching implication--one of those rare texts that can change the way we think, feel & love.

Six essays dealing with the relationship of mystical experience to ordinary life.

In this fascinating book, Alan Watts explores man's quest for psychological security, examining our efforts to find spiritual and intellectual certainty in the realms of religion and philosophy. The Wisdom of Insecurity underlines the importance of our search for stability in an age where human life seems particularly vulnerable and uncertain. Watts argues our insecurity is the consequence of trying to be secure and that, ironically, salvation and sanity lie in the recognition that we have no way of saving ourselves.