Alan Watts & Ego-Awakening
- Day 3 of 3 -
Awakening 101
Definitions: Awakening
Non-Duality and ego awakening are a little tricky to grasp, because you can't get it in the way you normally learn things or abilities. It's paradoxical.
Awakening is not a mechanical process, but that doesn't mean you have to be vague and abstract when you explain non-duality.
>> Play the video next to this text
Video 1: "Definition: Awakening"
Video 2: "Watts' summary"
Watts' summary
The non-duality of Alan Watts seems like an immensely wide ranging topic of difficult concepts. Yet, upon a closer look, it's absolutely no rocket science.
It's pretty much a finite set of topics you need to (really, really) understand well. When you do, you're also quite likely to experience ego awakening.
"If you say you understand me but you don't feel it, I'd argue that you don't really understand me"
~ Alan Watts
About Ego Awakening with the works of Alan Watts
Even after 50+ years, the works of Alan Watts are still very much alive.
You might be one of the many people who enjoy his lectures, youtube shorts or his books. But do you really get it?
"If you believe you understand what I say, but just can't feel it, then it means you haven't understood what I said" ~ Alan Watts
Since 2017, we've been assisting people in turning their understanding of Alan Watts into a felt experience called: Ego Awakening.
We help you use the mind to get past the mind; concepts to get past conceptual thinking. With dialectics, diagrams and whatever it takes to get you past the paradox.
We don't offer a spiritual lifestyle with meditations, mindfulness, yoga, mantras, prayer, a vegetarian diet, etc. This is a yin, or feminine, approach.
While this certainly works for some, it didn't work for Alan Watts. Nor does it work for anyone else with a strong inclination to use the mind.
Using the mind to overcome identification with mind is the yang, or masculine, approach of Alan Watts – an approach without much popular spirituality.
This path entails a temporary change in attitude from the wandering of the ordinary mind into a consistent exploration (and adoption) of all the practical implications of the non-dual philosophy: Practical Non-Duality.
About Alan Watts Academy
If the ego is indeed a distorted lens of your (self)perception - one with short term benefits but long term problems – than you might want to get rid of it.
This is usually called 'ego awakening'. It has nothing to do with abilities to explore higher dimensions or other supernatural skills.
Ego awakening is just a waking up from a hypnotic thought-pattern that is making it more difficult to follow your intuition – the path of who you're naturally inclined to be.
Video 3: "About Alan Watts Academy"
Watts' philosophy in 8 Quotes
“You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at itself”
This 3-Days Course
“After awakening... there is nothing left but to have a good laugh!”
~ Alan Watts
"
We host guru-free ego awakening programs based on the work of Alan Watts & Friends. Using the mind to get past the identification with mind. And humor. Like Watts.
Designed for Ego Awakening
Very few tools help you regain the egoless perspective on a frequent basis ~ with personal feedback ~ without interrupting every-day life ~ while being affordable ~ with fun. We do.
Focus the Mind on Mind
Rather than trying to silence your mind, we focus your conceptual thinking mind exclusively on itself until your perception of this conceptual self shifts.
Down-to-Earth
We refrain from spiritual dogma and semantic bypassing games of conflating the absolute and relative perspective. Just radically honest, playful blind spotting.
Frequent repetition
Regain the non-egoic perspective several times a week with personal feedback instead of long stretches between costly, holiday-requiring retreats.
Small groups
Ask many questions in a small setting and receive personal feedback instead of having to compete for attention and add a challenge of large audiences watching you.
Live Retreats: pre-subscribe!
We'll start our renewed 1-week integration retreats in the Fall of 2026 in Europe. These retreats builds on the content in the fundamentals course. More information will follow this Spring. Leave your details if you like to receive an update about it.
“After awakening, you soon discover that you are able to continue with ordinary activities — to work and make decisions as ever, though somehow this is less of a drag. …
In the words of a Chinese Zen master: nothing is left at this moment but to have a good laugh.”
"
~ Alan Watts
Video 4: "The Awakening roadmap"
Thanks for participating in this course!
Thank you for participating in our online course! We’re excited to let you know that you have finished this online course.
Keep an eye on your inbox, as an email with a thank you note will be sent.
We look forward to seeing you there!