You've probably seen the clips. A grainy, black-and-white video of a man with a goatee, holding a glass of sherry, laughing about how the universe is just a game of hide-and-seek. That’s Alan Watts. But here’s the thing: most people stumbling across the Out of Your Mind book think they’re getting a standard self-help manual. They aren't. Not even close.
It’s actually a bit of a trick.
This isn't a book Watts sat down and wrote with a quill in a quiet study. It’s a curated collection of his most essential lectures, transcribed and edited to preserve that specific, rhythmic "British-professor-at-a-cocktail-party" vibe he was famous for. If you’re looking for a 10-step plan to reduce stress, you’re going to be disappointed. But if you want to realize that the "you" who is stressed doesn't actually exist in the way you think it does? Well, then you’re in the right place.
The Problem With "Self-Improvement"
We spend our lives trying to fix ourselves. We buy planners. We track macros. We try to "get out of our heads." Watts basically argues that the person trying to do the fixing is the same person who created the problem in the first place. It’s like trying to bite your own teeth.
In the Out of Your Mind book, Watts leans heavily into the idea of "The Great Game." He suggests that the universe is essentially playing a prank on itself. You are the cosmos pretending to be a person named Dave or Sarah who has a mortgage and an email inbox. When you finally "get" this, the anxiety doesn't necessarily vanish, but it loses its teeth. It becomes part of the play.
Honestly, it’s a terrifying thought for some. We like our control. We like our lists. Watts argues that our insistence on being "in control" is exactly what makes us feel so out of control. It’s a paradox. You have to let go to get a grip.
Why Transcripts Work Better Than Prose
There is something visceral about reading a lecture. You can almost hear the ice clinking in his glass. Watts was a performer. He knew that the philosophy of the East—specifically Vedanta and Zen Buddhism—couldn't just be taught through dry academic papers. It had to be felt.
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The structure of the Out of Your Mind book follows his legendary audio series. It covers the nature of consciousness, the "web of life," and the inevitable "game of yes and no." It’s messy. Sometimes he repeats himself. Sometimes he goes off on a tangent about how we define "nothingness." But that’s the point. Life is messy. Philosophy should be, too.
The Myth of the Ego
Most of us live inside a "skin-encapsulated ego." That’s a Watts-ism. We think we are a little bag of flesh and bone pushed around by a world that is "outside" of us.
Watts spends a massive chunk of the Out of Your Mind book dismantling this. He uses the example of a whirlpool. Is a whirlpool a thing? Sorta. But it’s actually just a pattern of water. If the water stops moving, the whirlpool is gone. We are the same. We are a pattern of the entire universe happening "here" for a little while.
Does This Actually Help With Modern Stress?
Maybe. Probably not in the way a Xanax does.
But there’s a specific relief in realizing you aren't a stranger in a hostile universe. If you are the universe, you can't really be "kicked out" of it. Death, in the Watts view, is just the universe taking a breath. It’s the end of one chapter of the game so a new one can start.
People often mistake this for nihilism. It’s the opposite. It’s a radical form of engagement. If nothing matters in the way we’ve been told—if there’s no "score" being kept by a cosmic judge—then the only thing that matters is the quality of your presence right now.
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What the Out of Your Mind Book Gets Right About Zen
Zen is notoriously hard to explain. If you explain it, you’ve missed it. That’s the old joke.
Watts was often criticized by "serious" Zen scholars for being a "Zennist"—someone who talked about it but didn't do the grueling work of sitting in meditation for twenty hours a day. He didn't care. He saw himself as a "philosophical entertainer."
In the Out of Your Mind book, he breaks down the concept of wu wei, or "non-doing." This isn't about being lazy. It’s about acting without friction. It’s like a sailor who uses the wind rather than trying to row against it. Most of us are rowing until our hands bleed, wondering why we’re exhausted.
Real-World Application of Watts' Ideas
- Stop trying to "find yourself." You aren't lost. You’re right there. The "self" you are looking for is the one doing the looking.
- Look at your problems as "happening" rather than "happening to you." It’s a subtle shift in grammar that changes your entire psychology.
- Embrace the "cluck." Watts often talked about how we are like chickens clucking about our problems. It’s okay to cluck. Just don't take the clucking so seriously.
The Controversy of the "Messenger"
It’s worth noting that Alan Watts was a flawed human being. He struggled with alcohol. He had a complicated personal life. Some people use this to dismiss the Out of Your Mind book entirely.
But that misses the core of his teaching. Watts never claimed to be a saint. He claimed to be a finger pointing at the moon. You don't look at the finger; you look at where it’s pointing. The fact that he was a "rascal" (his own word) actually makes the philosophy more accessible. It’s a philosophy for people who live in the real world, not for monks on a mountain top.
Beyond the Text
The Out of Your Mind book is essentially a gateway drug. It leads you into the deeper waters of the Upanishads, the Tao Te Ching, and the platform sutras. But it does so without the jargon.
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He explains the "Internal Revenue Service" of the mind—that little voice that is always checking to see if you are happy enough, or good enough, or spiritual enough. He tells you to fire that guy.
Practical Next Steps for the Reader
If you’ve picked up the book or are thinking about it, don't read it like a textbook. Don't highlight it. Don't try to memorize the definitions of "Atman" or "Brahman."
Instead, read it while you’re on the bus. Read it when you’re waiting for a doctor's appointment. Let the words wash over you until you realize that the person reading the book and the book itself are part of the same continuous process.
Start by practicing "listening" to the world the way you listen to music. You don't listen to a song to get to the end of it. The point of the song is the music itself while it’s playing. If you can treat your Tuesday morning like a symphony rather than a hurdle to be cleared, you’ve understood the Out of Your Mind book better than any scholar ever could.
The next time you feel overwhelmed, stop. Realize that you are a temporary arrangement of stardust and atoms, trying to figure out how to be a "person." Take a breath. Notice the absurdity of it all. And then, as Watts would suggest, have a good laugh at the cosmic joke.
Key Takeaways to Implement Immediately:
- Shift your perspective from "I am a victim of circumstances" to "I am the circumstances." This reduces the friction between you and your environment.
- Recognize the "Backwards Law." The more you pursue a feeling (like happiness), the more you reinforce the fact that you don't have it. Let the pursuit go.
- Audit your "mental noise." Spend five minutes a day just listening to sounds without labeling them as "good" or "bad." Just vibrations in the air.
- Read the primary sources. If Watts sparks an interest, move on to the Tao Te Ching (Stephen Mitchell's translation is a good start) to see where these ideas originated.