Originally published in 1963, The Two Hands of God: The Myths of Polarity is Alan Watts’s forgotten book on world mythology — myths of light and darkness, good and evil, and the mystical unity that sees the transcendent whole behind apparent opposites. Alan Watts is one of the world’s most popular interpreters of Eastern philosophy for a Western audience. Fans of the mythologist Joseph Campbell will immediately notice his influence throughout this book. Campbell and Watts were in fact friends during its writing, and Campbell shared notes and feedback on several chapters. 

In this brand-new, never-before-published collection, we get to take a deep, personal dive into the thoughts and feelings of one of the Western world’s most beloved philosophers, Alan Watts. His daughters Joan and Anne Watts put together this fascinating archive of letters, newsletters, and other correspondence that covers everything from his early years in a British boarding school to the last months of his life living in Northern California. 

In the following excerpt, we get an early look at the fascinating interfaith connections Alan Watts was already making in his thoughts and ideas. In 1939, he was just twenty-four years old with a baby daughter (Joan Watts, one of the coeditors of this collection) and had freshly arrived in America after the rumblings of war in Europe became too loud to ignore.

are no match for its fluid power. 

I recently had the pleasure of hanging out with Shyalpa Tenzin Rinpoche, the author of Living Fully: Finding Joy in Every Breath.

I’ve edited his words slightly or you can watch the video and hear him for yourself. His enthusiasm is wonderful and inspiring — and shows that there’s hope for all of us!