After these last 4+ years living a nomadic life, often under vast skies of burning stars deep in nature, it has become difficult to distinguish clear lines of what has been Alan’s whispering words of ultimate truths, and the wisdom whispers of the universe itself when it can be heard among the deafening silence. Then again, I suppose there never was a distinction. However, when the universe did show up to speak through Alan, it sure gave us a voice of lullaby that one could listen to for eternity. What a gift.
Alan’s bold exploration and discoveries were as radical in his time, as it is in ours, as it will be for generations to come. What made him an unusually bright star was the combination of his audacious and genuinely suited cosmic humor, along with the capacity and sensitivity to grasp at questions that can’t not change a person. However, unlike most, he didn’t merely stop at the doorway of a question. He asked fiercely, kicking the door wide open, charging through, over the threshold, and into room after room of unknown, bringing back uncovered gem after gem.
The collection of his contributed gems brilliantly reveals just how marvelous, colorful, and beautiful life, and living it in full, can and should be. He helped show us that there is no ultimate point to get hung up about, and that this is simply why everything is amazing. The mere fact that every moment, thought, action, and intention has come together since the beginning of eternity to bring you and I to where we sit today. Able to talk about talking, consciousness embodied, simply able to experience the presence of love and beauty… this is the absolute miracle. The point. And the gift, not to be taken for granted.
My heart beats fuller, my lungs breathe easier, my smile grins wider, and my own light shines brighter from having experienced the blinding ray of stardust that called itself Alan Watts.