Behold the Spirit

A Study in the Necessity of Mystical Religion

By: Alan Watts

Narrated by: Jeremy Stockwell

"The perfect guide for a course correction in life" (Deepak Chopra) that teaches us how to enjoy a deeper, more meaningful relationship with the spiritual in our present troubled times.

Drawing on his experiences as a former priest, Watts skillfully explains how the intuition of Eastern religion—Zen Buddhism, in particular—can be incorporated into the doctrines of Western Christianity, offering a timeless argument for the place of mystical religion in today’s world.

©2011 Alan Watts (P)2022 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"I regard [the] book as one of the best—in fact the only first-rate—book in recent years in the field of religion. It gets to the fundamental problem, it honestly sees the weaknesses of contemporary Protestantism, and it attempts to diagnose and cure the evil in the only way a cure can be effected, namely by a doctrine with content at the basic metaphysical level. It also goes further than this, recognizing contributions from Oriental religion which simply are not present in contemporary Western religion. More than this it shows how the traditional Western doctrine of the Incarnation and the Atonement can be reconciled with and combined with the intuitive religion of the Orient, such as that of Zen Buddhism. These are exceedingly important and outstanding achievements."—F.S.C. Northrop

"Behold the Spirit will, I think, prove to be one of the half-dozen most significant books on religion published in the twentieth century."—Canon Iddings Bell

Alan’s book is phenomenal. I really enjoyed it.

If you enjoy Alan’s lectures and commentary on life, you may enjoy this well written book on the necessity of Mysticism in religion. He reviews Christianity honestly and shows how religious dogma is a dead end, unless it is rooted in the core of being.

Ahead of It's Time!

In this thesis, Watt's ingeniously puts forward the necessity of a Mystical Theoligical perspective. Truly ahead of It's Time....it is highly applicable to the present dilemmas of modern minds when considering world Religions! Highly recommend!

A great book

I think this will be a great book for anybody. That's coming from the evangelical Christian perspective. That has yet to have a Mystical encounter with the spirit yet.
I've read the comments Of some of these types of people. And they seem to think that the devil is everywhere And around every corner.
Trying to trick them. It Is my opinion That this book should put some of these fears aside. Because i've suffered them as well ...Prior to my satori.
Also, this book is great in a sense that it gives the intellectual rigor and scaffolding of it's language to explain what satori is. All the way from the throne of lights to the comments that you're reading right now. The transcendent and the Imminent.

Excellent examination of the nature of God

The book is enlightening and well-presented. The subject matter is pertinent to the issues resulting from the mechanical approach to religion today.

This should be taught by all catechists

Great book. This is how Christianity should be taught and explains it’s connection to the other religions of the world.

NEEDS TO BE STUDIED

I highly recommend listening/ reading this book for those who are interested in studying Christianity and philosophy of religion.
It is not an easy book. I am glad that I could follow the narrative with the physical book.
Helpful to make notes.
I will certainly refer to this book in the future.
Alan Watts was and still is, due to his legacy, an amazing person.
The narrator, mr. Jeremy Stockwell did an excellent job.
My thanks to all involved, JK.

Brilliant Christian Insights

Incredible metaphors and very vivid descriptions of inexplicable spiritual phenomena. Watts does an incredible job preaching Christianity here, and although he ultimately refused to embrace the label, he most certainly got the message! Highly recommended for all Christians!

Balderdash

Dated. Pre-scientific. Shows the limitations of logic and the kind of nonsense it can lead to when you don't demand evidence.