Suppressing the fear of death makes it all the stronger. The point is only to know, beyond any shadow of doubt, that "I" and all other "things" now present will vanish, until this knowledge compels you to release them - to know it now as surely as if you had just fallen off the rim of the Grand Canyon. Indeed you were kicked off the edge of a precipice when you were born, and it's no help to cling to the rocks falling with you. If you are afraid of death, be afraid. The point is to get with it, to let it take over - fear, ghosts, pains, transience, dissolution, and all.

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About Alan W. Watts

Alan W. Watts was a 20th-century writer and lecturer. Alan Wilson Watts was a British and American writer, speaker, and self-styled "philosophical entertainer", known for interpreting and popularising Buddhist, Taoist, and Hindu philosophy for a Western audience. Read more on Wikipedia →

Themes

  • Death — Contemplations on mortality, loss, and the legacy we leave
  • Fear — Understanding and overcoming the anxieties that hold us back
  • Life — Reflections on the meaning, challenges, and beauty of life

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