“I have realized that the past and future are real illusions, that they exist in the present, which is what there is and all there is.”
Future
“No valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now.”
FutureAll Quotes by Alan Watts
“The religious idea of God cannot do full duty for the metaphysical infinity.”
God“Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes.”
God“No work or love will flourish out of guilt, fear, or hollowness of heart, just as no valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now.”
Fear“But the attitude of faith is to let go, and become open to truth, whatever it might turn out to be.”
Attitude“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.”
Change“So then, the relationship of self to other is the complete realization that loving yourself is impossible without loving everything defined as other than yourself.”
Relationship“Technology is destructive only in the hands of people who do not realize that they are one and the same process as the universe.”
Technology“And the attitude of faith is the very opposite of clinging to belief, of holding on.”
Attitude“In known history, nobody has had such capacity for altering the universe than the people of the United States of America. And nobody has gone about it in such an aggressive way.”
History“To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. When you swim you don't grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead you relax, and float.”
Faith“You are that vast thing that you see far, far off with great telescopes.”
Great“No valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now.”
Future“Religion is not a department of life it is something that enters into the whole of it.”
Religion“Faith is a state of openness or trust.”
Faith“The style of God venerated in the church, mosque, or synagogue seems completely different from the style of the natural universe.”
God“How is it possible that a being with such sensitive jewels as the eyes, such enchanted musical instruments as the ears, and such fabulous arabesque of nerves as the brain can experience itself anything less than a god.”
Experience“You don't look out there for God, something in the sky, you look in you.”
God“In other words, a person who is fanatic in matters of religion, and clings to certain ideas about the nature of God and the universe, becomes a person who has no faith at all.”
Faith“But to me nothing - the negative, the empty - is exceedingly powerful.”
Power