
Ep. 38 – What Is It?
From Alan Watts Being in the Way by Be Here Now Network / Love Serve Remember Foundation
April 17, 2026 · 25 min · Episode 38
About this episode
Alan Watts explores the relationship between structure and formlessness in understanding the universe.
Alan Watts explores the inseparable dance between structure and formlessness, revealing why the universe can never be fully captured by words alone. Today’s episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/alan and get on your way to being your best self. This time on Being in the Way, Alan Watts outlines: Two distinct schools of thought: those who focus on structure, and those who focus on what Watts calls ‘goo’ How fixating on practicality is like knowing all the words to a song without ever truly hearing the music The difference between a scientific perspective and a spiritual perspective Why structure and formlessness are inseparable aspects of the same cosmic process Understanding that the universe cannot be explained with words alone This series is brought to you by the Alan Watts Organization and Ram Dass’ Love Serve Remember Foundation. Visit Alanwatts.org for full talks from Alan Watts. "What is it? What is this universe? What is an atom? What is energy? The only answer that would really please me wouldn't be an ordinary answer, because it wouldn't be in words." –Alan Watts See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and…
People in this episode
Host: Alan Watts
Topics covered
- structure
- formlessness
- universe
- spiritual perspective
- scientific perspective
- cosmic process
Keywords
- universe
- structure
- formlessness
- spirituality
- science
- Alan Watts
Sponsors
BetterHelp
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Alan Watts Organization, Love Serve Remember Foundation
Books & works: Being in the Way
More episodes of Alan Watts Being in the Way
- Ep. 39 – What Am I? · May 15, 2026 · 53 min
- Ep. 37 – Reality, Art and Illusion · February 25, 2026 · 48 min
- Ep. 36 – Seeing through The Net · August 27, 2025 · 46 min
- Ep. 35 – Dreaming the World · May 15, 2025 · 54 min
- Ep. 34 – Confucianism vs. Taoism · January 30, 2025 · 60 min
- Ep. 33 – Zen Reconsidered · November 22, 2024 · 51 min
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