The joyous cosmology
adventures in the chemistry of consciousness
by Alan Watts · first published 1962
100% recommend
Medical, legal, and religious experts have recently been confronted with the problem of the so-called "mystic drugs," that seem to produce, without any apparent physical harm, changes of consciousness comparable to the highest forms of aesthetic and religious experience. This book, by one of the world's leading investigators of the psychology of religion, is an evaluation of these drugs both objectively and from the vantage of the author's own personal experiments. The author's record of his own experiments is a vivid, lyrical account of valuable transformations that can occur in the human
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Great quote, Watts is truly inspirational. What a happy surprise when Ctrl+F takes you right to the first comment ;) If anyone doesn't have the time or attention span to commit to a full-blown book, The Joyous Cosmology [0] and Become What You Are [1] present some of Watt's ideas in a more condensed format. The former is a ~30 page essay freely available online. The latter is a collection of ~15 very short essays (1-12pg…
on “Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?” ↗…thing I like about his writing is that it's written with an outsider's perspective and critical thinking is never discarded unlike most other books on eastern philosophy. I highly recommend his book "The Joyous Cosmology" where he talks about psychedelic experiences and their effects on spirituality.
on “Zen Buddhism and Alan Watts” ↗