
In "Become What You Are," Alan Watts bridges Eastern and Western philosophies, inviting you to embrace your authentic self. Called the "godfather of Zen in America," Watts challenges conventional identity - what if true freedom lies in accepting who you already are?
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Have you ever noticed how we spend our lives trying to become something we suspect we already are? This contradiction forms the heart of Alan Watts' philosophical masterpiece. The wisdom traditions have long pointed to this peculiar human dilemma: "He that loseth his soul shall find it." But this isn't some moral prescription-it's a profound psychological insight into the mechanics of transformation. The problem emerges when we attempt self-improvement through self-renunciation. How can the self that needs changing also be the agent of change? It's as impossible as "a needle pricking its own point." Spiritual teachings that emphasize self-denial function as upaya (skillful means)-roundabout methods leading to the humiliating discovery that self-improvement is impossible. This very realization constitutes the death to self from which new life emerges. In Zen terms, transformation happens when "the iron hide of the bull finally and absolutely rejects the mosquito's frail proboscis." Those who have genuinely died to themselves make no claims to spiritual achievement. They see themselves as merely lazy and lucky, recognizing a universal truth available to anyone. When we finally surrender to what we cannot resist-like our terror of mortality-it transforms alchemically into freedom. This happens precisely when we discover we cannot surrender ourselves, when all striving ceases like "a naked man trying to lose his shirt."