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Jesus, His Religion (1967) (alanwatts.org)
1 point by squircle on Aug 13, 2024 | hide | past | favorite | 5 comments


Date is unclear, and I cannot find an attribution for this particular lecture.

Alan Watts died in 1973, and was broadcasting publicly over KPFA in the SF Bay Area from 1953. The talk mentions Billy Graham who was just becoming prominent in the late 1950s.

There's mention of Watts appearing on Canadian Television. I find three such instances, in 1966 (book tour), 1967 (interview), and 1971 (5-part series "On Living"):

<https://alanwatts.org/visual/>

<https://broadcasting-history.ca/alan-watts-on-living/>

Which would suggest sometime in the range 1968--1973 for this piece, though that's still iffy.


Based on what you found I'm guessing 1967. Total guess.

Maybe someone else can refine this?


Further lead: there's a reference to "Jesus, and his Religion" in Learning Today, Vol. 6, p. 11, 1973, though I can't find an online accessible copy.

Via Google Books (useless preview): <https://www.google.com/books/edition/Learning_Today/eaZOAAAA...>

Hathi Trust has the edition but I've no access to it. Someone with university affiliation should be able to check the reference:

<https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000678503>

Fuck copyright.

Worldcat: <https://search.worldcat.org/title/178530>

Library of Congress Call No.: Z675.U5 L5

OCLC: 1785308, 214449214, or 567480646

US Library of Congress: <https://lccn.loc.gov/73641566>

The essay appears in Myth and Religion: The Edited Transcripts (1996), edited by Watts's son Mark Watts, but without any indication of the initial publication / broadcast / lecture date:

<https://archive.org/details/mythreligionedit00watt>

I've left an inquiry with the Alan Watts Organisation <https://alanwatts.org/>


I'd put it a year or so later, but that's still a guess. Let's leave it for now and see if anyone can pin it down further.


I appreciate you looking into this.




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