ALAN W. WATTS (1915-1973) was a British author and lecturer whose interpretations of Eastern philosophy—Zen Buddhism in particular, and Indian and Chinese philosophy in general—influenced the beat and hippie generations and helped popularize Zen in the United States.  One of the great "gnostic intermediaries" of the 20th century, the New York Times deemed Watts "the foremost Western interpreter of Eastern thought for the modern mind."

A child of religious conservatives in rural England, and holding both a master’s degree in theology and a doctorate of divinity, Watts became a freewheeling spiritual teacher who challenged Westerners to defy convention and think for themselves.  His fascination with the Zen (or Ch'an) tradition began during the 1930s and developed because it embodied the spiritual interwoven with the practical.  His work became especially influential amidst the burgeoning youth culture in the 1950s and 60s, introducing readers to THE WAY OF ZEN (1957), one of the first bestselling books on Buddhism, and PSYCHOTHERAPY EAST AND WEST (1961), in which he proposed that Buddhism could be thought of as a form of psychotherapy and not a religion.  His writings are noteworthy for their literateness and wit, and according to Erik Davis, "still shimmer with a profound and galvanizing lucidity."

Though known for his discourses on Zen, he was also influenced by ancient Hindu scriptures, especially Vedanta.  He spoke extensively about the nature of the divine reality which people miss: how the contradiction of opposites is the method of life and the means of cosmic and human evolution, how our fundamental Ignorance is rooted in the exclusive nature of mind and ego, how to come in touch with the Field of Consciousness and Light, and other cosmic principles.  He was also adept in the composition of haiku, the 17‐syllable poem that is a literary expression of Zen.

His critics—and there were many—deplored some of his interpretations and reproached him for his admitted disinclination to practice any of Zen's formal disciplines, especially the ascetic ones.  He was not abashed, however, describing himself in his autobiography, IN MY OWN WAY (1972), as "a sedentary and contemplative character, an intellectual, a Brahmin, a mystic and also somewhat of a disreputable epicurean who has three wives, seven children and five grandchildren."


The following books are in ePUB format unless otherwise noted:

* Become What You Are (Shambhala, 2014)
* Behold the Spirit (Vintage, 2011)
* Beyond Theology: The Art of Godmanship (Vintage, 1973) -- PDF
* Book, The (Vintage, 1989)
* Buddhism: The Religion of No-Religion (Tuttle, 1999)
* Cloud-Hidden, Whereabouts Unknown (Vintage, 1974)
* Collected Letters (New World Library, 2017). Joan Watts, ed.
* Does It Matter? (New World Library, 2007) -- ePUB + PDF
* Early Writings of Alan Watts (Celestial Arts, 1987). John Snelling, ed. -- PDF
* Eastern Wisdom: Three Classics in One Volume (MJF, 2000) -- PDF
* Eastern Wisdom, Modern Life: Collected Talks, 1960-69 (New World Library, 2006)
* Essence of Alan Watts, The (Celestial Arts, 1977) -- PDF
* Essential Alan Watts, The (Celestial Arts, 1977) -- PDF
* In My Own Way: An Autobiography (New World Library, 2007)
* In the Academy - Essays & Lectures (SUNY, 2017) -- ePUB + PDF
* Joyous Cosmology, The (New World Library, 2013) -- ePUB + PDF
* Legacy of Asia and Western Man, The (John Murray, 1937) -- PDF
* Meaning of Happiness, The (New World Library, 2018)sq
* Myth and Religion (Tuttle, 1996) -- PDF (by @Mohamed5438)
* Myth and Ritual in Christianity (Grove, 1960) -- PDF
* Nature, Man and Woman (Vintage, 1991)
* Out of the Trap: Selected Lectures (And Books, 1985). Mark Watts, ed. -- PDF
* Out of Your Mind (Sounds True, 2017)
* Philosophies of Asia (Tuttle, 1999) -- PDF (by @Mohamed5438)
* Play to Live: Selected Seminars (And Books, 1982).  Mark Watts, ed. -- PDF
* Psychotherapy East & West (New World Library, 2017)
* Spirit of Zen, The (Grove, 1960) -- PDF
* Still the Mind: An Introduction to Meditation (New World Library, 2002) -- ePUB + PDF
* Talking Zen (Weatherhill, 1994) -- PDF
* Tao of Philosophy, The (Tuttle, 1995)
* Tao: The Watercourse Way (Souvenir, 2011)
* Taoism: Way Beyond Seeking (Tuttle, 1998) -- PDF (by @Mohamed5438)
* This Is It & Other Essays on Zen (Vintage, 1973)
* Two Hands of God, The (Braziller, 1963) -- PDF
* Way of Liberation, The (Weatherhill,  1983) -- PDF
* Way of Zen, The (Vintage, 1989) -- ePUB + PDF
* What Is Tao? (New World Library, 2000)
* What Is Zen? (New World Library, 2000)
* Wisdom of Insecurity, The (Vintage, 2011)
* Zen: A Short Introduction (New World Library, 2019) -- PDF
* Zen and the Beat Way (Tuttle, 1997)

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