I've seen a few Alan Watts videos of his lectures and remember some of them on more progressive radio stations way back when. A distinguishing mark of his is that he's 'accessible', he doesn't run the information into avenues that the layman would scratch his head at. Even when it comes to 'philosophers' he jokes by calling them 'yokels' (an uneducated and unsophisticated person from the countryside) who gawks at things that sensible people take for granted. Personally, if Watts had still been around and I had the chance of meeting him I would have asked him to define, 'sensible'. Either he would have engaged with the question or after some basic courtesies walked away thinking of another yokel he met today.
"When the great doctor, DT Suzuki was asked what it is it like to be enlightened he said it's just like ordinary everyday experience except about two inches off the ground. Because what is altered is not the way your senses perceive, what is altered is what you think about it, your definitions of what you see, your evaluation of it."
After many years of existence, I can relate to the two inches; though I must admit at times feels like only a quarter of an inch. It is a different level, subtle, almost as if it's not there - but it is. It's not something you want to go shouting from the rooftops, you just understand the rooftops a little better. It is inspiring, but at the same time one realizes that the activity of, "chop wood, carry water", still continues.
The video ends with Watts saying, "And if you want to stay in the state of illusion, stay in it - but you can always wake up." The question there from me would then be how do you wake up? And how did I get to this state of illusion? think Watts would have considered that question not so, "yokelly".
Anyway, it's a short video, around 22 minutes and I think it touches on various facets of which many of us - whether forum members or others - are aware of.
Daniel V.
(Note: You can turn on the subtitles if you want but there are instances where the automatic translation shows wrong words.)