Become Who You Are - Alan W. Watts

WRITING: @bookishself 

If you’re trying to get into Eastern philosophy but you don’t want to get a lot of information thrown your way and get overwhelmed, this is the right pick for you. Alan Watts is famously known as a self-proclaimed “spiritual entertainer” who interpreted Eastern philosophy for Westerners. He contributed to the “Zen boom” or better known as the “counterculture” of the 1960s.

In his book Become Who You Are, a collection of essays, articles and recorded lectures between the late 1930s and 1955, Watts argues that some of us will always be trying to improve ourselves in one way or another. This is due to a part of us that is never quite satisfied with the little achievements we’ve made. Thus, any attempts to change oneself it’s impossible. As much as we might reject that part exist or engage in self-acceptance, all you end up doing it’s wasting time. Creating a duality in return, between wanting to become something you’re not and the person you are now. As a solution to this, he puts forward the idea: to lose yourself, is to find yourself. To lose yourself or die (metaphorically) meaning to self-surrender to the present state.

There are times when we get lost striving for comfort, whether it be changing the way we speak or how we present ourselves. We lean towards to believe if we get the chance to eradicate those flaws, eventually, we’ll gain the security we desperately need. Yet, that is not a guaranteed condition. These tend to spawn self-consciousness of how mediocre we are at times. Then comes the overwhelming need to control and manipulate everything in order to achieve those high standards. Sadly, life doesn’t work that way, and we only end up with another headache. It’s through understanding that pain, we reach the Ultimate Goal. Not salvation and security through pretending to be something you’re not in the present, but instead Enlightenment—to be reborn. To become who you are you must take a courageous enough step towards the deepest and darkest corners of your being. Understanding ourselves, the virtues and the vices, through love and compassion.

It’s taking initiative at this very moment to understand that suffering and pain is one with ordinary reality. It’s trying to be a little bit more compassionate with yourself when you’re not moving at the pace dictated by those high standards. Through this detachment, you free yourself of being shameful of past regrets, because you understand the root of the problem, or at least you’re trying. As well as understanding those fears for the future. Another thing he mentions that really struck me was the analogy he used to describe how philosophical principals are ought to be taken. He compared philosophy, religious practices and psychotherapy to a raft meant to be used to cross a river. Meaning, we must use them hastily, if not we get caught in the comfort they present, and the river will wash us away. Once we’re done with the raft, we are meant to leave it behind, and be on our way. That it is up us to apply what wisdom they presented and move forward.

I bought this book as a graduation gift for myself and let it sit on the shelf for almost 2 years. It wasn’t until the absurdity of life came knocking at my door, that I decided to give it a chance. In Become What You Are, Watts takes you by the hand and guides you through understanding things as they are. He emphasizes in the idea of who you are is enough and loving yourself is impossible without loving everything defined as other than yourself. His ideas capture the attention of many people and has encourages them to take the initiative to look within. At parts it got repetitive, I skipped through a couple chapters, but at least the many examples helped to contextualize the bigger picture.

This book is a great introduction to Alan Watts’ works, it changes your perspective and it leaves you thinking long after you’re done with it.