The Way of Zen

这不是一本教你打坐修行的手册，而是一部把禅从神坛上请下来、放回日常生活的思想史。Watts 的独特处在于：他让读者看清禅如何在印度大乘的“空”里出生，又在中国道教与艺术的土壤里落地，最终把“开悟”与“烦恼”并置——最高境界不是消灭欲望，而是带着尘劳入世。书中最长的一章梳理禅宗源流与公案，末章谈禅与艺术，选的俳句尤为精致。读者反复提及的，是那种“放下、行动”的流动感：禅是不拘的、无目的的生活之道。作为西方人讲东方哲学，它反而把“空性”“无念”这类概念讲得通透可感，让不少读者觉得比本土佛学著作更易入口。它适合想系统了解禅的思想脉络、又厌倦教条式说读的读者。

Alan W. Watts, who held both a master’s degree in theology and a doctorate of divinity, is best remembered as an interpreter of Zen Buddhism in particular, and of Indian and Chinese philosophy in general. Standing apart, however, from sectarian membership, he has earned the reputation of being one of the most original and “unrutted” philosophers of the twentieth century. Watts was the author of some twenty books on the philosophy and psychology of religion that have been published in many languages throughout the world, including the bestselling The Way of Zen. An avid lecturer, Watts appeared regularly on the radio and hosted the popular television series, Eastern Wisdom and Modern Life,in the 1960s. He died in 1973.