"Spoilers" Of The Present - Deepstash
The Philosophy Of Alan Watts

Learn more about philosophy with this collection

Understanding the concept of the self

The importance of living in the present moment

The illusion of control

The Philosophy Of Alan Watts

Discover 61 similar ideas in

It takes just

8 mins to read

"Spoilers" Of The Present

The real problem doesn't come from feeling pain the in moment, but from the way we use memory and anticipation.

The object or event we fear is not always something happening in the immediate future. It may be the problem of next month’s bills, a social or natural disaster, or even death. It may even be something from the past, a memory that torments the present and makes us feel bitterness or guilt.

576

3.76K reads

MORE IDEAS ON THIS

The Happiness Consumerism

The Happiness Consumerism

The brain is in pursuit of happiness, and because it is much more preoccupied with the future than the present, it sees happiness as an assurance of a future with pleasures, that must be cramped into the span of a few years.

And the “brainy” economy...

586

2.19K reads

The Pain And Pleasure Spectrum

In order to really enjoy the pleasures of life, we need to face the painful parts, too.

Pain and pleasure take turns: constant pleasure is a stimulus that must either lose strength or grow. And this growth will either harden the sense buds with its friction, or turn into pa...

648

4.37K reads

There Is No Security In Life

So, rather than feeling anxious about it, accept this insecurity as a part of life by being aware of the present moment. This will help you find peace and contentment.

We have no reassurance regarding what the future will bring and even the best predictions are stil...

651

3.1K reads

ALAN WATTS

"If we are open only to discoveries which will accord with what we know already, we may as well stay shut. (...) It is in vain that we can predict and control the course of events in the future, unless we know how to live in the present. It is in vain that doctors prolong life if we spend the...

ALAN WATTS

592

1.77K reads

What Awareness Is

Being aware of life means experiencing it as it is in the present moment, without judgments or ideas about it.

You have to see and feel what you are "experiencing as it is, and not as it is named".

609

2.25K reads

Making Sense Out Of Life

We think that making sense out of life means we have in some way to fit the sequence of events into a rigid framework.

Life is meaningful to us if we can understand it in terms of fixed codes, rules and law. But if this is what “making sense out of life” means, we have ...

563

2.92K reads

Rationalizing Life

There is a viewpoint from which the “rationalization” of life is not rational. The brain is clever enough to see the vicious circle which it has made for itself. But it can't do nothing about it.

You may acknowledge that worrying brings no benefits, but that doesn't sto...

591

2.28K reads

Giving Power To Silence

Giving Power To Silence

Silence is the only way to discover something new to talk about. The person constantly talking, without stopping to look and listen, is repeating himself over and over again.

The same thing happens with thinking, which is really silent talking. Thinking is by nature not ope...

640

1.83K reads

Instinctual Wisdom

We usually don't trust the “snap” solutions our wandering minds find, but the truth is that these easy and almost unconscious solutions is what the brain is supposed to deliver.

When it's functioning the right way, the brain is the highest form of “instinctual wisdom.”

567

2.16K reads

Understanding Comes Through Awareness

Understanding Comes Through Awareness

If a problem can be solved, to understand it and to know what to do about it are the same thing.

Doing something about a problem that you don't understand is like trying to clear away darkness by thrusting it aside with your hands.

578

2.21K reads

The Two Ways Of Understanding An Experience

  1. Compare it with the memories of other experiences, to name and define it. This is to interpret it in accordance with the the past.
  2. Be aware of it as it is, forget past and future, let the present be all, and thus do not even stop to think, "I am ...

559

1.84K reads

Memories Never Truly Succeed In “Catching” Reality

Memories are abstract things: they symbolize knowledge about things rather than of things. Memory never captures the core and the tangible reality of an experience.

"It is, as it were, the corpse of an experience, from which the life has vanished. What we know by memory...

580

2.02K reads

Alan Watts

"Tomorrow and plans for tomorrow can have no significance at all unless you are in full contact with the reality of the present, since it is in the present and only in the present that you live. There is no other reality than present reality, so that, even if one were to live for endless ages...

ALAN WATTS

777

6.41K reads

Tying Our Happiness To Future Events

Tying Our Happiness To Future Events

Humans seem to be happy just as long as they have something in the future to look forward to, whether this is a good time tomorrow or an eternal life beyond physical death.

595

5.31K reads

Related collections

More like this

Thinking about the end of our lives

Thinking about the end of our lives

Death is a timeless subject: no matter what is currently happening, death is constantly present in our mind: whether for fear of not losing someone we love or for fear of not dying ourselves.

However, people tend to think more about this topic whenever tragic events happen in their li...

The Importance Of The Date

Writing a date while penning one’s thoughts makes us subconsciously process that it is an event in the past, providing a certain detachment from the problem, especially if one is trying to get over something.

Our negative experiences and things we regret are neatly tagged as the past, remo...

Fear The Fear Of Death - Day 136

  • Death is scary because it is such an unknown. No one can come back and tell us what it is like. We are in the dark about it.
  • There is a helpful consideration about death from the Stoics. If death is truly the end, then what is there exactly to fear? For everything from your fears to ...

Read & Learn

20x Faster

without
deepstash

with
deepstash

with

deepstash

Access to 200,000+ ideas

Access to the mobile app

Unlimited idea saving & library

Unlimited history

Unlimited listening to ideas

Downloading & offline access

Personalized recommendations

Supercharge your mind with one idea per day

Enter your email and spend 1 minute every day to learn something new.

Email

I agree to receive email updates