The Joyous Cosmology (revisited #2)

This book, The Joyous Cosmology, (see here – and here) is fascinating. In the prologue, Alan Watts discusses a method of taking a small dosage of LSD, mescaline or psilocybin, under supervision and then having a long period of contemplation and meditation on the experience. The bulk of the book is accounts of his experiences.

Several years ago, I borrowed the film Europa by Lars von Trier from my friend Robert. I didn’t manage to see it, but I saw the beginning of it. It starts with a “scene” showing railroad tracks whizzing by, as if the camera was strapped to the front of a train. Somewhere I read, later, that von Trier’s intention was to hyptnotize the viewer, to install the appropriate mental state for seeing the film.

Watts’ writing does this. It focuses my attention and fades away the world around me. He describes how he perceives things, like music and nature, his consciousness being altered, more open. I can’t say anything about how well he accomplishes to describe this state of mind, but it doesn’t really matter to me. Weaved into his renditions in text of his experiences are accounts of the insights he made, which is nothing new if you’ve read/heard Watts before, but because of the focused attention his writing establishes, they seem new, like I understand them better.