Book SummaryThe Book, by Alan Watts

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of The Book

Many people in the West internalize the idea that each of us is an individual—an entity separate from others and our surroundings. This basic understanding of identity is so foundational to Western society that most people never question it. However, in The Book, Alan Watts argues that the idea of humans as separate beings is an illusion: the ego illusion. According to Watts and the Vedanta Eastern spiritual philosophy, each of us is a manifestation of one Cosmic Being that encompasses everything in the universe. (Vedanta is a teaching from the Upanishads: a collection of Hindu texts composed around 800 BC.)

Watts asserts that the ego illusion alienates people from the rest of creation and causes destructive tendencies. Ignorance of our interdependence puts Westerners in conflict with other people and nature, causes chronic dissatisfaction with the present, and makes...

The Book Summary The Ego Illusion and Our True Nature

We’ll start by describing the ego, the ego illusion (Watts calls it the “ego trick”) as well as how Watts defines our true identity as being one with the universe—which we’ll call the Cosmic Being.

The ego is essentially feeling like an “I”—an individual consciousness contained in a body. Watts defines the ego illusion as the false sense of being an individual who exists as an entity separate from other people and the environment. Watts argues that this is the fundamental assumption that guides Westerners’ relationship with the rest of the world, causing them to feel isolated and at odds with nature.

(Shortform note: This idea of the ego illusion comes from religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism, which both deny the existence of a “self” and identify the ego as the source of human suffering. By contrast, Western philosophy and religions generally believe in an analogous concept of individual egos, although the terminology varies. For example, the French philosopher René Descartes believed that the [mind is the...

The Book Summary The Cosmic Being Framework: Everything Is Relative

Despite the limitations of language for describing the Cosmic Being, Watts elaborates on his Cosmic Being framework by explaining that everything in the universe exists in relationship to its environment and other beings.

In other words, we can’t define anything except in relative terms. For example, we can only describe warm in comparison to something cold. We can only define ourselves as human by comparison to other types of organisms. Even in terms of the way our senses perceive things, we can only see a circle on a piece of paper if there’s a different-colored background that evokes the circle. Thus, everything is interconnected, and nothing can have an identity in isolation, including humans.

Watts also explains that organisms are really a process of interacting with their environment. For example, a person has to breathe air, eat food, and walk on solid ground, and people only...

The Book Summary What Perpetuates the Ego Illusion?

Now that we’ve defined the ego illusion as well as Watts’s concept of the Cosmic Being, we’ll explore what perpetuates the ego illusion in Western society: How does an entire culture maintain this false idea about the nature of existence? Watts claims that the myth of the individual ego is reinforced by language and by having a narrow scope of attention that focuses on components rather than connections. Then, the ego illusion manifests in Western society through paradoxical cultural expectations for each person to be an individual.

Language and a Narrow Scope of Attention

First, Watts asserts that Westerners create the ego illusion by putting boundaries on things that don’t really have them and by narrowing their field of view. For example, people create a false boundary when they refer to a river as one discrete object, even though it’s constantly changing in composition, shape, and size.

(Shortform note: This idea that everything is constantly changing is called the philosophy of flux. The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus popularized this...

The Book Summary Consequences of the Ego Illusion

After explaining the ego illusion and how Westerners fall into the trap of the ego illusion, Watts explores what all of this means for people practically. Watts writes that ignorance of interdependence and the Cosmic Being makes Westerners feel alienated from the rest of the world and constantly in competition with others. (Shortform note: In Lost Connections, Johann Hari suggests that spending more time in nature may help us tap into the feeling of interdependence that makes us feel connected to other beings. Hari writes that seeing a natural landscape reminds us that our pain is insignificant in the grander scheme of things and therefore helps us de-center our ego.)

Because Westerners feel alienated from others, they try to destroy nature and their human enemies, experience dissatisfaction with the present, and fear death as the ultimate endpoint of their existence.

Destroying Nature and Enemies

Watts claims that the ego illusion is a driving force for environmental destruction. When Westerners believe they’re...

The Book Summary Path to Abandoning the Ego

Now that we’ve explored why the ego illusion causes so much destruction and hardship in Western society, we’ll discuss Watts’s recommendation for how people can escape from the ego illusion. Watts claims that there’s no surefire way to experience cosmic unity, but people can get closer to it by steering clear of rigid religious doctrines, doing more things for pure enjoyment, and increasing their own self-awareness around their egos.

Organized Religion Reinforces the Ego

First, Watts advises against organized religion as a pathway to releasing the ego. This is because religions reaffirm a person’s sense of self rather than allowing them to reject it. Religions, or even specific techniques like yoga meditation, tend to make people feel like they’re part of an in-group. This hinders the experience of feeling unified with the Cosmic Being because the group is defined in contrast to outsiders.

(Shortform note: One research study supports Watts’s idea that yoga meditation actually enhances the ego. Researchers followed yoga students for four months and found...

Shortform Exercise: Identify the Ego Problems in Your Life

Watts asserts that the ego illusion causes three major problems in Western Society: destructive tendencies toward nature and other people, dissatisfaction with the present moment, and fear of death. The first two problems in particular stem from a sense of alienation caused by the ego.

Describe an occasion when you acted destructively toward nature or other people. This could include a time when you accidentally did something damaging, like walking on plants, or when you intentionally did something harmful, like lashing out at someone in frustration.

Shortform Exercise: Release Your Ego

Watts acknowledges that releasing the ego isn’t a process that you can achieve simply by wanting to release it. However, he makes two general recommendations: Increase your self-consciousness regarding your ego, and do more activities for pure enjoyment.

Write down a few activities that tend to enhance your ego or sense of identity. For example, attending gatherings for a club, participating in a sport, performing, or introducing yourself to new people. When you’re in those scenarios, try reflecting on your ego for a few moments and observe whether the ego feeling dissipates.