Discover the pearls of wisdom of one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century.
Have you ever read something that made you rethink the world and reality?
That happened when I read Allan Watts’ book Out of the Trap.
And I want to share with you 4 of his most disturbing thoughts that will blow your mind if you internalize them.
Let’s start.
1. About the reality we inhabit.
Relativity is the very nature of life. It is a kind of balancing act, which differs from normal equilibria in that the system always balances. As much as we may move away to one side, life usually manifests itself to another. — Allan Watts.
According to Allan Watts, life is self-regulating and represents a whole even though we do not see it.
To Watts, “Space and solid are reciprocally related because we cannot conceive of any solid body without it being in Space. And, conversely, we cannot conceive of Space except as occupied by solids.”
This blew my mind because if so, not only can there be no good without evil, but we cannot perceive good without evil and vice versa.
On the other hand, this balance between good and evil is balanced in an infinite cyclical process, in which sometimes there is more light and sometimes more darkness, but that ends up tending to the balance of forces.
This would explain phrases like, “there is always light at the end of the tunnel” and “after the storm always comes the calm” because our life is automated looking for that balance, and many times it seems that something has no solution but somehow the universe orders all that entropy that has us against the floor.
Application to your life:
You have to celebrate your victories to honor all your defeats.
There is no happiness without sadness, nor can you do well without ever doing badly. Light and darkness seek balance in your life, and you must experience both to appreciate the good things.
So 1) when you have a bad patch, remember that because of relativity, your life will eventually find balance, and light will return to your life, and 2) learn from the bad times because they are necessary to savor the good times.
2. About the famous hamster wheel.
What has to be understood is that a trap only exists if someone or something is caught. If there is no difference between you and the trap, then you are not caught. — Allan Watts.
Albert Einstein said, “The fish, of course, is unaware of the water.” And this is precisely what Watts is referring to. One cannot be imprisoned by anything unless one feels imprisoned. Perception is the key.
Allan Watts explains in his book Out of the Trap that Dukkha is a Buddhist term that means something like being frustrated by living in a cage where no matter how hard we run, we can’t get out.
This is also known as Samsara or bhava chakra (bhava = to become, and chakra = wheel). Or, as we call it in the self-help world, the hamster wheel.
We are repeating a cycle, running on a wheel from which we cannot escape, and it becomes our prison, filling us with pain and frustration.
We try to escape by fulfilling desires, but those desires only generate more inertia in the wheel, and it goes faster and faster, and we are more frustrated and unsatisfied.
But it’s great to find out because it changes everything: it takes you off the hamster wheel.
Application to your life:
Let go of expectations, don’t let your desires keep you in the wheel of frustration and suffering, and change your perception of life. Instead, stop signing contracts against yourself and flow.
3. On being true to ourselves
People who love by force create resentment and hostility on both sides. — Alan Watts.
We are not a gold coin for everyone to like us. In the same way, we don’t have to like everyone.
And forcing things doesn’t make them better.
When there is no chemistry with someone, and we force the relationship, it generates mixed feelings between both parties.
And maybe this is something obvious, but I think Watts is not only referring to relationships between people but to go against our nature.
We are all born with particular inclinations and aversions. When we are unfaithful to ourselves to comply with society, we do enormous damage that takes years of therapy to repair.
Application to your life:
Be true to your nature. Don’t do things you wouldn’t do just because social pressure pushes you to do them. Reveal yourself peacefully against everything you disagree with, and always maintain a trained and critical conscience. Think for yourself, and do not let yourself be manipulated. Because to preserve authenticity is to take care of the garden of happiness.
4. About the truth
You can always point out hidden things, but it is tough to point out something that everyone looks at but no one sees. — Alan Watts.
The difference between looking and seeing is enormous, although it may not seem so. By definition, to look is to direct the sight to an object, and to see is to perceive something with the eyes through light; to perceive something with intelligence, to understand it.
As Watts tells us, we look at most things but do not understand them: we do not see them. And that which is hidden in front of us is what can harm us the most.
In the book Out of the Trap, Alan Watts tells us, “Suppose we have been brought up to think of the moon as a plate. And one day, someone wakes up and realizes it is a ball. That person would experience great difficulty in making that clear to the rest.”
We have been educated (programmed) with a vision of reality: who are the good guys, who are the bad guys, what is right, what is wrong, and all that jazz.
And we don’t have a clue about anything. We only judge based on our experiences and knowledge acquired from other people who received it from others. So that’s why discovering that we are wrong and modifying it is so difficult.
For this reason, for example, Galileo was condemned by the Inquisition for maintaining that the earth was round.
People do not want the truth; they want the same beliefs that allow them to maintain their power over the rest. They do not want to change.
Application to your life:
Do not believe things without checking them first. Instead, study what interests you from the perspective of several authors, confront their opinions, and decide for yourself; only in this way will you eliminate programming and social conditioning and unlearn what you have learned.
Dare to think.
A virtual hug
AG
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