Ep. 38 – What Is It?
Alan Watts Being in the Way
Be Here Now Network / Love Serve Remember Foundation
4.9 • 748 Ratings
🗓️ 17 April 2026
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Alan Watts explores the inseparable dance between structure and formlessness, revealing why the universe can never be fully captured by words alone.
Today’s episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/alan and get on your way to being your best self.
This time on Being in the Way, Alan Watts outlines:
- Two distinct schools of thought: those who focus on structure, and those who focus on what Watts calls ‘goo’
- How fixating on practicality is like knowing all the words to a song without ever truly hearing the music
- The difference between a scientific perspective and a spiritual perspective
- Why structure and formlessness are inseparable aspects of the same cosmic process
- Understanding that the universe cannot be explained with words alone
This series is brought to you by the Alan Watts Organization and Ram Dass’ Love Serve Remember Foundation. Visit Alanwatts.org for full talks from Alan Watts.
"What is it? What is this universe? What is an atom? What is energy? The only answer that would really please me wouldn't be an ordinary answer, because it wouldn't be in words." –Alan Watts
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | A good meditation teacher isn't just someone who meditates a lot. |
| 0:06.0 | Guiding someone else through the experience of sitting with their own mind is a genuine skill, |
| 0:12.0 | one that requires real training and an ongoing commitment to your own growth as a teacher and practitioner. |
| 0:20.0 | Join renowned Buddhist teacher David Nicturn for a free |
| 0:23.4 | online event on Tuesday, May 5th at 6 p.m. Eastern, exploring the key elements of teaching mindfulness |
| 0:31.6 | meditation. He'll also discuss the upcoming Dharma Moon 100-hour mindfulness meditation teacher training. |
| 0:40.5 | You'll have a chance to ask questions, meet the teaching team, and find out whether the program |
| 0:45.7 | might be a good fit for you. |
| 0:48.9 | Visit Dharmamoon.com backslash elements. |
| 0:52.0 | That's Dharmamoon.com backslash elements. |
| 0:55.4 | For more information, |
| 0:57.0 | and to reserve your spot |
| 0:58.3 | for the free event on Tuesday, May 5th. |
| 1:05.0 | Music Welcome to Being in the Way, the Alan Watts podcast. |
| 1:19.7 | I'm your host, Mark Watts, and today we've got some more treats for you from the archives. |
| 1:25.0 | These are some recordings that have not ever been distributed, including a |
| 1:29.9 | talk from 1962 or 63 entitled What Is It? These are recent discoveries from the Blasdell Institute |
| 1:38.6 | from the early 60s. I'm sure recently many of you have noticed the proliferation of AI copies of my father's works, |
| 1:47.2 | and my response to this has been to dig into the archives and find recordings that we have never heard before. |
| 1:53.8 | If you appreciate this work and want to support it, please visit us at allanwats.org and contribute to our archival and ongoing production efforts. |
| 2:03.6 | As the last consultant in psychology for the fiscal year of 1962 or 63 is about to appear before you today, |
| 2:16.6 | and he is very well known in the generic field of philosophy, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Be Here Now Network / Love Serve Remember Foundation, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Be Here Now Network / Love Serve Remember Foundation and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.