When a man no longer confuses himself with the definition of himself that others have given him, he is at once universal and unique.
Alan WattsWe are living in a culture entirely hypnotized by the illusion of time, in which the so-called present moment is felt as nothing but an infinitesimal hairline between a causative past and an absorbingly important future. We have no present. Our consciousness is almost completely preoccupied with memory and expectation. We do not realize that there never was, is, nor will be any other experience than present experience. We are therefore out of touch with reality.
Alan WattsThat's a waste of time. If you really understand Zen... you can use any book. You could use the Bible. You could use Alice in Wonderland. You could use the dictionary, because... the sound of the rain needs no translation.
Alan WattsFor the world is an ever-elusive and ever-disappointing mirage only from the standpoint of someone standing aside from itโas if it were quite other than himselfโand then trying to grasp it. But a third response is possible. Not withdrawal, not stewardship on the hypothesis of a future reward, but the fullest collaboration with the world as a harmonious system of contained conflictsโbased on the realization that the only real "I" is the whole endless process.
Alan Watts