Nature, Man, and WomanA provocative and enduring work that reexamines humanity's place in the natural world -- and the spirit's relation to the flesh -- in the light of Chinese Taoism. That human beings stand separate from a nature that must be controlled, that the mind is somehow superior to the body, and that all sexuality entails a seduction -- a danger and a problem-are all assumptions upon which much of Western thought and culture is based. And all of them in some way underlie our exploitation of the earth, our distrust of emotion, and our loneliness and reluctance to love. Few books have challenged those assumptions as directly as this erudite and engaging work by the author of The Way of Zen. Drawing on the precepts of Taoism, Alan Watts offers an alternative vision of man and the universe -- one in which the distinctions between self and other, spirit and matter give way to a more holistic way of seeing. Nature, Man and Woman is a book of great elegance and far-reaching implication -- one of those rare texts that can change the way we think, feel, and love. |
Contents
Urbanism and Paganism 35 259 97 | 25 |
Science and Nature | 51 |
The Art of Feeling | 70 |
Copyright | |
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abstract action advaita algolagnia attention attitude awareness become Bodhisattva body Buddhist Cathars Chinese Chinese philosophy Christianity Chuang-tzu Church coitus reservatus confusion consciousness contemplative courtly love culture death difference distinct divine double bind ecstasy empty endless knot eternal evil experience fact feeling force freedom Furthermore grasp heaven historical Holy human idea ideal identified identity inner karezza knowledge kuan lust maithuna male orgasm Manichaeism marriage matrimony maya means merely mind Möbius strip mode motion mutually mystical natural world ness never nirvana nondual object off-scene one's ordinarily organism orgasm ourselves pain pantheism person pleasure political prajna problem profane reality realization reason relation relationship religion role sacred sciousness seek seen sensation sense sexual love simply social spirit and nature spiritual spontaneity strain suffering symbol Taoist philosophy things thought tion tradition true unconscious universe Western whole woman words yoga