Religion vs Addiction

[squirell nutkin]

Originally Posted by Spexxvet

I've read some Watts. I think I'll try the Aitken. Thanks.

I'm curious to hear what you think of Aitken. The main criticism of Watts is that he was an observer and thinker about the ideas of Zen, many of which he didn't understand or over-intellectualized. One of the key things about Zen is "Don't take my word for it, find out for yourself." i.e. personal verification. Watts is like a guy who studied all the great woodworkers, read all the tool catalogs, knew the names of all the trees., but had never picked up a tool or been in the woods.
A classic example of "the map is not the territory."

Still, his books did help spread familiarity with Zen in the west.