Peter J. Columbus is administrator of Shantigar Foundation in Rowe, MA, USA, and formerly served on psychology faculties at Assumption College and Greenfield Community College, USA.

"Columbus (formerly, Assumption College; Greenfield Community College; currently, Shantigar Foundation) brings together a rich collection of 14 essays concerning the place of Alan Watts's thought in humanistic psychology, comparative religion and philosophy, and the arts and humanities. Watts was a synoptic thinker, a brilliant synthesizer of ideas from the Daoist and Zen traditions (and beyond), but he remains a figure whose contribution is shrouded by controversy. Some scholars have waved him aside as no more than an opportunistic guru or an Orientalist appropriator, but others, such as the contributors to this volume, see his relevance for fields as diverse as psychotherapy, music theory, and queer theory. The majority of the essays appeared in 2017 in special issues of the academic journal Self & Society, yet here the editor usefully reframes them in terms of future directions for research. An introduction develops Watts's relationship to 20th-century existentialism and to the current milieu of consumer capitalism. This book will be most valuable to scholars of psychology and the history of religion and to practitioners of psychotherapy who wish to broaden their therapeutic possibilities to encompass the contemporary space of mindfulness-informed practice." - M. Uebel, University of Texas, CHOICE Optional

• Editor’s IntroductionAlan Watts in the Twenty-first CenturyPeter J. ColumbusPart 1: Humanistic PsychologyChapter OneJung Watts: Notes on C. G. Jung’s Formative Influence on Alan WattsEllen F. Franklin & Peter J. ColumbusChapter TwoAlan Watts and the Re-visioning of PsychotherapyColin James SandersChapter ThreePsychotherapy East and West: A Retrospective Review Peter J. ColumbusChapter FourAlan Watts and NeurophenomenologySusan GordonChapter FiveAlan Watts and the Infinite Game: Playing EverythingNathan L. HulseyPart 2: Comparative Religion and PhilosophyChapter SixAlan Watts, Psychedelic Buddhism, and Religious Play in Postwar AmericaMorgan ShipleyChapter SevenAlan Watts and the Occultism of Aquarian Religion: Square Gnosis, Beat ErosChristopher W. ChaseChapter EightAlan Watts and Secular Competence in Religious PraxisGerald OstdiekChapter NineThe Holistic Negation of Alan Watts: Reclaiming Value in the VoidAdrian MooreChapter TenAlan Watts’ "Dramatic Model" and the Pursuit of PeaceJuliet BennetPart 3: Arts & HumanitiesChapter ElevenReminiscences of Alan Watts’ Last Summer - "You Can Tell a Yogi by His Laugh" Kenneth S. CohenChapter TwelveLiterary Nonsense as Enactment of Alan Watts’ Philosophy - "Not just blathering balderdash"Michael HeymanChapter ThirteenAlan Watts, Ali Akbar Khan, and Hindustani Music in the Psychedelic Sixties Samuel B. CushmanChapter FourteenAlan Watts and his Queer Readers: Not So Strange BedfellowsPhilip Longo Editor’s Conclusion Alan Watts: A Revised Bibliographic ResourcePeter J. Columbus

Peter J. Columbus is administrator of Shantigar Foundation in Rowe, MA, USA, and formerly served on psychology faculties at Assumption College and Greenfield Community College, USA.

"Columbus (formerly, Assumption College; Greenfield Community College; currently, Shantigar Foundation) brings together a rich collection of 14 essays concerning the place of Alan Watts's thought in humanistic psychology, comparative religion and philosophy, and the arts and humanities. Watts was a synoptic thinker, a brilliant synthesizer of ideas from the Daoist and Zen traditions (and beyond), but he remains a figure whose contribution is shrouded by controversy. Some scholars have waved him aside as no more than an opportunistic guru or an Orientalist appropriator, but others, such as the contributors to this volume, see his relevance for fields as diverse as psychotherapy, music theory, and queer theory. The majority of the essays appeared in 2017 in special issues of the academic journal Self & Society, yet here the editor usefully reframes them in terms of future directions for research. An introduction develops Watts's relationship to 20th-century existentialism and to the current milieu of consumer capitalism. This book will be most valuable to scholars of psychology and the history of religion and to practitioners of psychotherapy who wish to broaden their therapeutic possibilities to encompass the contemporary space of mindfulness-informed practice." - M. Uebel, University of Texas, CHOICE Optional

• Editor’s IntroductionAlan Watts in the Twenty-first CenturyPeter J. ColumbusPart 1: Humanistic PsychologyChapter OneJung Watts: Notes on C. G. Jung’s Formative Influence on Alan WattsEllen F. Franklin & Peter J. ColumbusChapter TwoAlan Watts and the Re-visioning of PsychotherapyColin James SandersChapter ThreePsychotherapy East and West: A Retrospective Review Peter J. ColumbusChapter FourAlan Watts and NeurophenomenologySusan GordonChapter FiveAlan Watts and the Infinite Game: Playing EverythingNathan L. HulseyPart 2: Comparative Religion and PhilosophyChapter SixAlan Watts, Psychedelic Buddhism, and Religious Play in Postwar AmericaMorgan ShipleyChapter SevenAlan Watts and the Occultism of Aquarian Religion: Square Gnosis, Beat ErosChristopher W. ChaseChapter EightAlan Watts and Secular Competence in Religious PraxisGerald OstdiekChapter NineThe Holistic Negation of Alan Watts: Reclaiming Value in the VoidAdrian MooreChapter TenAlan Watts’ "Dramatic Model" and the Pursuit of PeaceJuliet BennetPart 3: Arts & HumanitiesChapter ElevenReminiscences of Alan Watts’ Last Summer - "You Can Tell a Yogi by His Laugh" Kenneth S. CohenChapter TwelveLiterary Nonsense as Enactment of Alan Watts’ Philosophy - "Not just blathering balderdash"Michael HeymanChapter ThirteenAlan Watts, Ali Akbar Khan, and Hindustani Music in the Psychedelic Sixties Samuel B. CushmanChapter FourteenAlan Watts and his Queer Readers: Not So Strange BedfellowsPhilip Longo Editor’s Conclusion Alan Watts: A Revised Bibliographic ResourcePeter J. Columbus

Peter J. Columbus is administrator of Shantigar Foundation in Rowe, MA, USA, and formerly served on psychology faculties at Assumption College and Greenfield Community College, USA.

"Columbus (formerly, Assumption College; Greenfield Community College; currently, Shantigar Foundation) brings together a rich collection of 14 essays concerning the place of Alan Watts's thought in humanistic psychology, comparative religion and philosophy, and the arts and humanities. Watts was a synoptic thinker, a brilliant synthesizer of ideas from the Daoist and Zen traditions (and beyond), but he remains a figure whose contribution is shrouded by controversy. Some scholars have waved him aside as no more than an opportunistic guru or an Orientalist appropriator, but others, such as the contributors to this volume, see his relevance for fields as diverse as psychotherapy, music theory, and queer theory. The majority of the essays appeared in 2017 in special issues of the academic journal Self & Society, yet here the editor usefully reframes them in terms of future directions for research. An introduction develops Watts's relationship to 20th-century existentialism and to the current milieu of consumer capitalism. This book will be most valuable to scholars of psychology and the history of religion and to practitioners of psychotherapy who wish to broaden their therapeutic possibilities to encompass the contemporary space of mindfulness-informed practice." - M. Uebel, University of Texas, CHOICE Optional

• Editor’s IntroductionAlan Watts in the Twenty-first CenturyPeter J. ColumbusPart 1: Humanistic PsychologyChapter OneJung Watts: Notes on C. G. Jung’s Formative Influence on Alan WattsEllen F. Franklin & Peter J. ColumbusChapter TwoAlan Watts and the Re-visioning of PsychotherapyColin James SandersChapter ThreePsychotherapy East and West: A Retrospective Review Peter J. ColumbusChapter FourAlan Watts and NeurophenomenologySusan GordonChapter FiveAlan Watts and the Infinite Game: Playing EverythingNathan L. HulseyPart 2: Comparative Religion and PhilosophyChapter SixAlan Watts, Psychedelic Buddhism, and Religious Play in Postwar AmericaMorgan ShipleyChapter SevenAlan Watts and the Occultism of Aquarian Religion: Square Gnosis, Beat ErosChristopher W. ChaseChapter EightAlan Watts and Secular Competence in Religious PraxisGerald OstdiekChapter NineThe Holistic Negation of Alan Watts: Reclaiming Value in the VoidAdrian MooreChapter TenAlan Watts’ "Dramatic Model" and the Pursuit of PeaceJuliet BennetPart 3: Arts & HumanitiesChapter ElevenReminiscences of Alan Watts’ Last Summer - "You Can Tell a Yogi by His Laugh" Kenneth S. CohenChapter TwelveLiterary Nonsense as Enactment of Alan Watts’ Philosophy - "Not just blathering balderdash"Michael HeymanChapter ThirteenAlan Watts, Ali Akbar Khan, and Hindustani Music in the Psychedelic Sixties Samuel B. CushmanChapter FourteenAlan Watts and his Queer Readers: Not So Strange BedfellowsPhilip Longo Editor’s Conclusion Alan Watts: A Revised Bibliographic ResourcePeter J. Columbus