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Two Things Alan Watts Said That Changed The Way I Live

A lesson on pro-awareness.

Thomas Oppong
5 min readNov 4, 2024
Photo by Mathieu Odin on Unsplash

I’ve always been a bit of a thinker. I like to reflect on my place in the universe, human existence, and the meaning of life. I’ve read many books and watched a lot of documentaries. Many great thinkers before us had much to say about the way of life.

I want to share two quick ideas by philosopher and author of The Way of Zen, Alan Watts, that have transformed my reality the most. They didn’t just change how I live — they’ve changed how I experience reality.

Watts dared us to question our very reality of life: to look beyond what we know to be the only truth. He believed life was a mystery to experience. These two quotes have enough power to change your perception of life.

“A person who thinks all the time has nothing to think about except thoughts, so he loses touch with reality and lives in a world of illusion.” — Alan Watts

Thoughts get us closer to reality or further away from it. Our mental drama will keep piling glass until we rise above them.

The moment you start mistaking your thoughts as the only reality, you’ve hit peak illusion. When that happens, you begin to miss life as it is. You are trapped in life as you want it to be. It gets worse.

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Thomas Oppong
Thomas Oppong

Written by Thomas Oppong

Making the wisdom of great thinkers instantly accessible. As seen on Forbes, Inc. and Business Insider. For my popular essays, go here: https://thomasoppong.com

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