alan watts

“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” — Alan Watts

Alan Watts, a self-proclaimed “philosophical entertainer,” was a western conduit to eastern thinking, specifically, Buddhism, Taoism, and Hinduism. The English writer was known for his books, among them: The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for an Age of Anxiety and The Meaning of Happiness and The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are. He was also a speaker, popular for his widely broadcasted radio show “Way Beyond the West.” Watts used his captivating voice and humor to deliver eastern culture in an accessible way.

His charismatic personality caught the attention of Stanford professor Frederic Spiegelberg, who invited Watts to teach at what was the forerunner of today’s California Institute of Integral Studies. At that time, Watts’ evening talks and programs on public radio were coinciding with the emergence of the counterculture and the “Zen Boom.” His talks made their way into Bay Area coffee houses filled with Beat poets and writers. Stanford students-turned Esalen co-founders, Michael Murphy and Dick Price, were captivated by Spiegelberg who himself was captivated by Watts, and ultimately connected the men.

“Alan had a tremendous gift for spontaneous conversation, and people wanted to just be around to hear him talk. The lasting power and beauty of his conversation was quite remarkable. It was an endless performance, filled with humor, and could land somewhere between speech and song. Dick Price and I knew Alan Watts before we started Esalen. I met him in the early fifties when I was a student at Stanford.

“We had many memorable programs with Alan. I remember one where he was carrying on with George Harrison and Ringo Starr, who arrived here to Esalen by helicopter. They came to be with Ravi Shankar who was already here as one of our earliest artists in residence. Alan was talking, and they were making music. That was a day to remember.

He was sometimes put down by academics for not being precise in his descriptions of this or that Buddhist or Taoist proposition. But when you heard him talk, you heard enchanting music that revealed timeless truths.

The way Alan spoke, sometimes like Oscar Wilde, was like a garment of lamé — red when you see it one way and gold when you see it another. That kind of speech, like music, bypasses the conceptual side of the brain.

Alan had wanted to buy the Big House (Murphy House) from my grandmother Vinnie after my grandfather died. This was years before we started Esalen. Alan had already fallen in love with the place here in Big Sur. He was a ton of fun and very generous.

— Michael Murphy, 2022 and 2024.

The Watts sleeping bag room was a meeting room then known as “Room 35.” This was where Esalen co-founder Dick Price typically held his drop-in “open seat” Gestalt groups.