|
quotes
main |
15 NOV 2005
More Alan Watts on laughter
I find
it hard to take myself and my work seriously, even though I am dealing
with what are supposed to be the most serious subjects. I am sincere but
not serious, and one of my most sincere convictions is that God is not
serious. Irreverent and idolatrous as it may be, it is sometimes useful
to speak of God anthropomorphically, as a person. I cannot conceive any
zealous earnestness or missionary dedication, much less solemnity or pomposity,
in the mind of One who has created the hippopotamus, the toucan, the giraffe,
and the Brazilian bell-bird. (The latter creature, about the size of a
pigeon, puffs itself up into a complete sphere, opens its beak, and returns
suddenly to normal shape with a high, penetrating "Dong!") And
when I contemplate such ordinary creatures as pigs, chickens, ducks, lazy
cats, sparrows, goldfish, and squids, I begin to have irrepressibly odd
notions as to the true shapes of angels.
.... we should not
be surprised at the verbal similarity of cosmic and comic. One thinks
of The Divine Comedy in which Dante likened the song of the angels to
the laughter of the universe. Chesterton finished his essay by observing
that those who think that faith is nonsense may have the tables turned
on them when it comes back in the form that nonsense is faith.
.... Basically, my
own laughter at myself has something to do with the incongruity of such
a clown being God in disguise, of the "big act" called Alan
Watts being a manifestation of the infinite energy of the universe. For
behind the scenes you see all the string, tacks, wire, and masking tape
that prop up the show, and as I witness the universe getting away with
me I wonder what other uproarious deceptions it will perpetrate. I say
this mainly so that you -- dear reader -- possibly ashamed of your own
string and wire, may have the courage to go on with your show.
-- p.223-5
In My Own Way:
An Autobiography 1972
10952
10934
Earlier quotations from same book
|
|