Zen & the Beat Way

Alan Watts was the unofficial spiritual leader of the Hippies and an intimate of the Beat Poets. Since Watts's untimely death in 1973, his son Mark has devoted himself to bringing out his father's work in new editions by transcribing this master's tapes into exceptional little books. This book is another in that labor of love. These six lectures are among the best and least heard of Watts's tapes. ""Introduction to the Way Beyond the West"" comes from his early Berkeley radio show and shows an affable Watts full of reminiscence. ""The Beat Way of Life"" is one of the most valuable statements of Beat consciousness. Watts's early thinking on Zen meditation and his struggle to reconcile it with modern psychology is found in ""Consciousness and Concentration,"" one of a trio of essays on Buddhist subjects. The last transcription, ""Return to the Forest,"" is an early discourse on his friend Joseph Campbell's work. This book is an excellent record of the early Watts, and a delightful read. (July)