“Anyone whose life needs a course correction would be fortunate to be guided by The Wisdom of Insecurity . My life still is, some thirty years later." —Deepak Chopra, from the Introduction

Alan W. Watts’s “message for an age of anxiety” is as powerful today as it waswhen this modern classic was first published.

We spend too much time trying to anticipate and plan for the future; too much time lamenting the past. We often miss the pleasures of the moment in our anxious efforts to ensure the next moment is as enjoyable. Drawing from Eastern philosophy and religion, Watts argues that it is only by acknowledging what we do not and cannot know, that we can find something truly worth knowing. In order to lead a fulfilling life, one must embrace the present—live fully in the now.

Elegantly reasoned and lucidly written, this philosophical achievement contains all the wisdom and spirit that distinguished Watts’s long career and resonates with us still.

阿倫• 瓦茲(1915—1973)，美國神學博士，禪宗信徒，對印度與中國的哲學宗教有精深的瞭解。他的思想受到鈴木大拙的影響，同時又不局限於東西方宗教和哲學的某一領域，這也讓瓦茲贏得瞭“二十世紀最具原創性、最‘離經叛道’哲學傢之一”的頭銜。

瓦茲生前齣版有二十多部有關宗教 哲學和心理學的著作，在美國幾乎每一部都是暢銷書，並被以多種語言在全球翻譯齣版，其中包括他最著名的作品《禪道》。作為一個狂熱的演講者，瓦茲在二十世紀六十年代定期齣現在廣播節目中，並主持瞭熱門的係列電視節目《東方智慧與現代生活》。他在美國的影響力甚至超過瞭吉杜• 剋裏希那穆提。在1959 年齣版的《垮掉禪、方形禪與禪》中，瓦茲為美國“垮掉一代”的禪修實踐命瞭名。他與美國著名生態詩人加裏• 斯奈德之間也有深厚的友誼，為美國環境保護運動的興起提供瞭哲學上的助力。