The Truth You Don’t Know: You Will Never See Your Own Death – Alan Watts and the Eternal Mystery

Souce:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ea998uiL2wA

he video, "The Truth You Don’t Know: You Will Never See Your Own Death – Alan Watts and the Eternal Mystery," explores the concept that individuals can never truly experience their own death. Alan Watts argues that the idea of experiencing one's own absence is a logical impossibility, similar to trying to bite one's own teeth or see one's own face without a mirror.

Key points from the video include:

The Contradiction of Fearing Death: People often fear "being dead," which implies experiencing a state of no experience. This is a contradiction, as experience requires consciousness. Watts likens it to a child fearing "nothing" in a dark room, when "nothing" is not something to be afraid of.

The Mind's Joke: When attempting to imagine non-existence, the mind inadvertently includes an observer, thus smuggling consciousness into the very concept of its absence. True death, from a materialist perspective, would mean no observer.

Death as an Unknowable Mirror: Death is presented as a mirror that reflects everything except itself. We project our fears, hopes, and beliefs onto it, but death itself remains unknown firsthand. It's described as nature's koan, a Zen puzzle designed to exhaust the rational mind because we try to understand death with the tools of life.

The Eternal Present: The video emphasizes that life only ever happens in the "now," which has no duration and is not in time at all. Death is always anticipated in a future that never truly arrives as "future"; when it happens, it's always "now." Therefore, from the standpoint of one's own experience, there is only the eternal present.

Consciousness as Fundamental: Watts suggests that consciousness cannot conceive of its own absence because the very act of imagining it requires consciousness. He proposes that awareness might be fundamental to the universe, not merely a product of the brain.

Eastern Perspectives: The video draws on Eastern philosophies like Hinduism's Maya (illusion) and Buddhism's Anatta (no-self), suggesting that the "separate self" that fears death is itself part of a dream or a temporary identification. The concept of the "unborn" points to an unchanging pure awareness that witnesses life without being part of the birth-and-death process.

Birth and Death as Aspects of a Process: Instead of opposites, birth and death are seen as two aspects of the same continuous process, like the crest and trough of a wave. Just as we don't remember being born, death might be a similar fading out, a transition rather than an abrupt end.

Identity with the Universe: The video posits that we are not merely in the universe but are the universe, with our bodies composed of stellar matter. Our consciousness is the universe becoming aware of itself. Death, in this view, is the dissolution of a temporary form, with the fundamental energy and consciousness transforming but not being destroyed.

Death of the Ego: Contemplative traditions encourage a "death" of the ego while living—the loosening of identification with the temporary self-image, stories, and possessions. This practice reveals a deeper, borderless awareness that does not fear death because it doesn't perceive itself as a separate entity that can die.

Freedom from Fear: If death cannot be truly known or experienced, then the fear of it is based on concepts rather than reality. This recognition can lead to profound freedom, encouraging a life lived with curiosity and a graceful acceptance of impermanence, rather than clinging desperately to a temporary form.

The video ultimately suggests that the paradox of death is a gift, reminding us that life is a mystery to be lived, and that a deeper understanding may reveal death not as an ending, but as a homecoming to a more fundamental reality.