Learning the Human Game

“You can’t catch a wave in a bucket and walk off with it,” teaches Alan Watts, “and so, you cannot understand life and its mysteries as long as you persist in trying to.” In Learning the Human Game, Watts starts with this Taoist insight; then takes his audience into a mind-expanding inquiry into the human condition. This four-session collection offers the best of Watts’ celebrated Tao of Philosophy lecture series, recorded during live seminars and radio broadcasts spanning two decades. Here, Watts offers clear delineations of Taoist, Buddhist, and Hindu teachings on what it means to be human; insights into the hidden order behind the apparent chaos of the universe; what nature can teach us about how to live our lives, and much more. Perhaps more than anyone else this century, Alan Watts is credited with helping the modern West gain access to the spiritual traditions of the Far East. Now, join this renowned scholar and beloved “spiritual entertainer” at his best, offering his listeners a rich and completely unpredictable investigation into our place in the cosmos and our great common task – at once formidable and effortless: Learning the Human Game.

Alan Watts was born in London, studied with D.T. Suzuki and Christmas Humphreys, and later moved to the United States, where he became famous as a leader of the San Francisco counterculture in the 1960s. Watts played a crucial role in integrating of Oriental philosophy into the emerging world view of the late 20th century, helping to awaken millions to new ways of knowing. He is the author of The Way of Zen; This Is It; The Wisdom of Insecurity; The Book: On the Taboo against Knowing Who You Are; and a vast collection of audio recordings.